Lego Friends Heartlake Vet 3188

(Now, up front, this review discusses my experience with this set and an older-three and younger-five girl. I wouldn't recommend this set for all three-year-olds, and not for any without major assistance. If you have a kid who puts things in their mouths, it's probably not the best, due to the number of small parts.) I love Legos. As a grownup, I don't get many opportunities to work them, but my nephew (who is 10) and I have worked Legos together on Thanksgiving since he was 3. It is a tradition both of us love. This year, my 3-year-old daughter wanted in on the action, and helped us sort pieces for a huge Harry Potter set. I was thrilled when I saw that the new Lego Friends sets were coming out, as she is both math/science inclined and a girly girl, and I knew this would be a good intro to Legos for her. We received the veterinarian set as a gift. My wife, my daughter, her five-year-old cousin and I have worked on this set together over the last two nights, and it keeps the girls' attention very well. My daughter will work on it for an hour and a half at a time, and if you know three-year-olds this is no small feat. The girls split their time between building, and more traditional 'girl' play of picking up the characters and acting out little scenes. The pieces are generally traditional, multi-purpose Legos, in new girly colors, with the addition of the new Friends figures. These are named characters with distinct, marketing-department-written personalities, with which girls can identify (think My Little Pony or Care Bear). Otherwise, the sets make a nice, colorful town in traditional Lego fashion. The set has all the sturdiness and reliability of any Lego set (if you're missing a piece, it's because you can't find it, not because they didn't include it). As we were building tonight, my daughter turned to me and said, "We're excellent builders, Daddy." That's all a Lego-phile daddy needed to hear.

My 5-year old daughter and I were thrilled to hear that Lego was finally introducing a new line for her age group and were counting down the days until the launch. We went to our local Lego store today, when the doors opened, to buy our first Lego Friends set. My daughter chose the Heartlake Vet set, came home, and immediately started to build. Over the course of 4 hours, she constructed most of it herself and then enjoyed playing with it. The directions were easy for her to follow, and the process was manageable because the Legos were divided among 4 sequential bags. She seems extremely eager to play "vet" with the 2 figures and 3 animals. There are lots of fun accessories such as an x-ray machine, scale, computer, phone, pet bed, treats for the animals, exam table and instruments, and cart to transport animals. The set even includes a mail slot with a piece of mail that drops into a mailbox on the inside. So much fun!

My only complaint is that the set is very small and it's hard to use the tiny accessories in the small space (the box makes it look a lot larger than it is when built). I wish Lego made it just a bit bigger.

I know we'll be back for more Lego Friends sets! Thank you Lego for putting so much thought into the line and making something that encourages girls, in a fun and dynamic way, to build and play!

Lego hit the nail on the head with the new Friends line. Eight year old daughter is thrilled to finally have Legos that fit her interests (veterinary clinic) and sense of style (colors, flowers, butterflies, etc.). She is happily building the set now and I'm sure will have a great time playing with this. I hope Lego will eventually develop some additional career sets in addition to the ones available, but this is a great start!