As part of the Garden range of DUPLO, The LEGO Group has designed the My First Organic Garden 10984 set to introduce the concept of growing produce to young learners, conveying the idea that our food can come from the work of our hands rather than just off the shelves.
With a growing interest in cultivating our own produce, I found myself particularly pleased that there is a dirt-free way of teaching my toddler about gardening at a young age.
LEGO DUPLO My First Organic Garden – The Unboxing
With 43 brick pieces fitted into a pastel yellow and green box, it appeals to any parent wanting to encourage their child to stash away the toys neatly after a play session.
This DUPLO set includes a mix of weather elements like a rain cloud and rainbow, as well as colourful flora and fauna.
These elements of an organic garden help to give context to the environment where carrots and other organic vegetables can grow.
As the bricks are big and suitable for gripping with small chubby hands, they are age appropriate for any child 1-and-a-half-years old and above.
My 3-year-old son immediately recognised ‘Carrot’ from the Growing Carrot set 10981 that he played with prior to this latest set.
This made it easier for me to introduce Carrot’s friends into the play frame. Characters like Tomato and Watermelon all have emoji expressions that make them relatable, not just to the young ones but adults like me who think they are insta-worthy.
Where Our Food Comes From
After briefing my son about how this toy teaches us where our food comes from, one of the first things he did was to stack bricks to make Carrot and Tomato – vegetables he remembers eating happily.
I was glad that the set included two soil beds and a grass patch so that we could ‘plant’ the vegetables and a tree there.
We built the rest of the set quickly and proceeded to do some role-play where ladybugs, snails and bees, all of which help a garden to grow healthily, were introduced.
That climaxed with a self-initiated photo-taking session as my son proceeded to line the characters up and found them to be photo-worthy.
I was amused that he could come up with this idea of play on his own, perhaps because I was taking photos alongside him. It dawned on me that should I want to encourage him to grow his own food and eat healthily, it would also require some effort on my part to walk the talk.
How Produce Turns To Food
To reinforce what we learnt from our play session, I decided to make carrot porridge for lunch the following day.
This exercise helped my son to understand how carrots in the soil can be brought into the kitchen to be prepped and cooked. I am secretly hoping he would learn to cook for the family in the future!
Creative Learning With LEGO DUPLO Organic Garden 10984 Review
LEGO DUPLO My First Organic Garden 10984 , which is compatible with other sets in the Garden range, is a great way to introduce little learners to how edibles grow and how critters like ladybugs and bees help to contribute to the health of the garden, all while having fun creating their own little garden.
If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy this other one about a DUPLO farm play set or the Organic Market Stall play set.
