Play tips

Help Them Play

Parent-child play is ultimately about fun. But it’s also hugely beneficial for children’s development and learning. Kids as young as 16 months can infer crucial information about a toy, simply by observing adults playing with it first.

You (that’s right, you!) have the chance to be their great playtime facilitator, helping them reinforce what they already know, and teach them new lessons.

To help you on your way, on this page you’ll find tons of play tips and activities that we’ve drawn on 50 years of experience to create.

Three Simple Tips for Parent Play

Let’s start out with three general tips on how to get to get the most out of shared play experiences with your toddler.

1. Unboxing

No, we’re not talking about that confusingly persistent online trend (but while we’re on the subject, have you seen how many hits those videos get?!)

Unboxing is a really important step for a child to contextualize their new toy. Even if it takes more time unboxing together, this will only sustain their joyful surprise as they gradually discover the contents of this mysterious, colorful cardboard box that’s suddenly appeared in their lives.

Play Tip: Ask your child to find a few bricks in the same color, as you unbox your new set. This will engage them, thereby encouraging confidence in this new world.

2. Role-play

Don’t worry, we won’t ask you to do any drama school-level exercises…. Although don’t knock them ‘til you’ve tried them, darling…

We design DUPLO® bricks to offer a wealth of opportunities for role-play, through recognizable characters (like firefighters or doctors), exciting vehicles (like trucks, tractors or submarines) or even animals (like… animals). So really, it’ll probably be harder to avoid role-play than getting stuck in it!

Play Tip: Ask your kid to find their favorite element and give it a name. Ask them questions like what their favorite food or color would be, or who their best friend is. Soon enough, you’ll be watching your child unfold little stories, strengthening their creativity, communication and self-expression!

3. Appreciate the effort, not just the result

It goes without saying that when your child builds their first, big tower, you have our full support to lose your mind with pride.

But focusing all positive reinforcement on the result can almost suggest there’s a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way of playing with DUPLO bricks.

Focusing instead on the effort it took to build the tower (as well as the tower itself) is a perfect way to spread the love.

Play tip: Hand your child three random bricks and gently encourage them to add them to their creation, without instruction as to where. As they locate space for the new bricks, their resilience will strengthen. And your admiration of their innovative building techniques will boost their confidence!

Parent-Child Play Exercises

Here you’ll find three videos filled with awesome DUPLO play activities that’ll delight your child and confirm your well-deserved status as their playtime superhero!

One DUPLO Set, Four Important Skills

This video features four specific shared play exercises that focus on developing their (and your…) teamwork, resilience, emotional skills and creative skills. Happy building!

7 no-prep activities

Fun. Quick. Fun. Easy. Fun. Time-efficient. Fun. Did we mention that these seven, no-prep-required play activities featured in the video below are fun?

The 50 Best DUPLO Play Ideas

You read that right: F-I-F-T-Y DUPLO play ideas await in the video below! How many will your child pick out for you to play together?

Head home

Learn more about the value (and values) of LEGO® DUPLO® and find out which set is perfect for your little builder!