LEGO sets are brilliant for boosting children's building skills, co-ordination, patience and concentration. Of course, from a parent's perspective, they can help keep them busy when your hands are full. They also offer the opportunity for you to get stuck in with them, so you can build something together.

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The building bricks are a classic toy and LEGO sets in particular are popular choices for children and adults alike. Although notoriously pricey compared to other toys, there are some really imaginative options to get kids involved in building and there's always plenty of collaborations with some of their favourites characters too.

From Frozen castles and superhero cars to STEAM kits and exploding volcanoes, there should be something suitable to get your little one excited. Below, we explain which set is suitable for their age group and round up 10 popular kits we think they'll love.

If you're after other fun things to get kids away from screens and playing creatively, we've found some of the best board games for kids as well as the best spy kits and garden toys.

Best LEGO sets for kids at a glance:

  • Great LEGO set for ages 6+: LEGO Adventures with Mario Starter Course. £54.99
  • Great LEGO set for ages 7+: LEGO Vacation Beach House, £59.99
  • Great LEGO set for ages 8+: LEGO Hogwarts Magical Trunk, £54.99
  • Great LEGO set for ages 8+: LEGO Big Message Board, £34.99
  • Great LEGO set for ages 10+: LEGO Star Wars The Child, £69.99
  • Great LEGO set for ages 8+: LEGO Brick-Built Minions and Their Lair, £44.99
  • Great LEGO set for ages 8+: LEGO 3-in-1 Fish Tank, £24.99
  • Great LEGO set for ages 6+: LEGO Ariel's Underwater Palace, £74.99
  • Great LEGO set for ages 8+: LEGO 1970 Ferrari 512 M, £17.99
  • Great LEGO set for ages 6+: LEGO Lunar Space Station, £54.99

What ages are LEGO sets suitable for?

There are various LEGO sets available which are designed for a range of children's age brackets, depending on what they should be able to manage. The regular LEGO sets will tend to be suited to those age 16 and over into adulthood.

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These are the different collections designed specifically for children:

  • LEGO DUPLO - for 18 months and up
  • LEGO Juniors - for ages 4 to 7
  • LEGO City - for ages 5 to 12
  • LEGO Friends - for ages 6 to 12
  • LEGO Ninjago - for ages 7 to 14
  • LEGO Creator - for ages 7 to 16
  • LEGO Technic - for ages 8 to 16

10 of the best LEGO sets for kids

1. LEGO Adventures with Mario Starter Course, £54.99

Age: 6+

Little boy tester playing wih LEGO Adventures with Mario Starter Course

What is it: A 231-piece Super Mario-themed LEGO set which aims to bring the video game to life. Includes a speaker which plays music and sounds from the game and a responsive Mario figure with LCD screens on his eyes, mouth and stomach plus colour sensors. Requires 2 AAA batteries (not included).

Why we love it: Once you've finished building this set, there's lots more fun to be had as it turns into a Super Mario game you can play in your living room. The Mario figure travels around the LEGO course, earning virtual coins which you collect through a free app – you'll also need this for the instructions as there's no paper booklet included.

Available from: LEGO, John Lewis and Argos

2. LEGO Vacation Beach House, £59.99

Age: 7+

LEGO Vacation Beach House

What is it: A 686-piece modular beach house set with 2 bedrooms, a balcony, a rooftop pool, living room, kitchen. Outside, there's a table-tennis table, jetty and an inflatable banana boat. The set includes 4 characters and 2 scooters. It also is packed-full of accessories. Kids can download the building instructions app to access interactive construction guides that let them rotate and view the model as you build.

Why we love it: As each element is modular, kids can build the house and configure the building however they like, letting their creativity flourish. Also, with the many accessories once the house is built they can play with all the accessories for hours.

Available from: LEGO, John Lewis and Selfridges

3. LEGO Hogwarts Magical Trunk, £54.99

Age: 8+

LEGO Hogwarts Magical Trunk

What is it: A 603-piece LEGO Harry Potter-themed set to build a Magical Trunk. The set includes a large selection of mini-figures in a diverse range of skin tones so kids can create characters from the films and their very own students. There's also a wide assortment of customizable furniture and accessories from the movies.

Why we love it: As the furniture and accessories are customizable, kids who are fans of Harry Potter can make them their favourite house colours. After the trunk is built, the fun doesn't stop there, they can act out 3 scenes; The Sorting Ceremony, A Great Hall Feast and The Common Room. Once they are done playing it can all be neatly packed away into the trunk, so it's easy to take out and about.

Available from: LEGO, Selfridges and Very

4. LEGO Big Message Board, £34.99

Age: 8+

LEGO Big Message Board

What is it: It's a 4 16 x 16 plates with 2 hangers, a blue frame and lots of fun coloured tiles which allow kids to create different messages and styles. Children can decorate their boards however they like, with messages, designs or anything that comes to mind. They can then display the message in their room or wherever and change it when they like.

Why we like it: This is so different from regular LEGO sets with instructions on how and what to build. With this message board, kids have the opportunity to express themselves and unleash their creativity as much as they like. However, if they are struggling for creativity, the kit includes a booklet with lots of inspiration to boost their inventiveness.

Available from: LEGO, Hamleys and John Lewis

5. LEGO Star Wars The Child, £69.99

Age: 10+

LEGO Star Wars The Child

What is it: At 1073 pieces, this is a challenging LEGO set to build and a large display model of The Child, often referred to as Baby Yoda. It comes with an information sign and a matching mini-figure.

Why we love it: If your child loved the Mandalorian TV series on Disney+, they're probably a fan on The Child. This is their chance to tackle a challenging build and construct a large LEGO model of their favourite with posable head, ear and mouth. The tiny mini-figure which comes with it is ridiculously cute too.

Available from: LEGO, Amazon and Argos

6. LEGO Brick-Built Minions and Their Lair, £44.99

Age: 8+

LEGO Brick-Built Minions and Their Lair

What is it: A two-in-one play and display set where large Minion models (up to 15cm tall) double up as playsets. Containing 876 bricks, children can build Kevin and Stuart and then open them up to reveal rooms for 3 Minion mini-figures with tools, hats and weapons. Kevin can also be rebuilt as Bob.

Why we love it: There's so much you can do with this set. The large Minion models look great on their own and would be a fantastic decoration for fans of the films but there's much more to them than meets the eye. The minions themselves double up as a lair for their much smaller mini-figure. The only downside if you have to take Kevin apart to build Bob.

Available from: LEGO, Very and Amazon

7. LEGO 3-in-1 Fish Tank, £24.99

Age: 8+

LEGO 3-in-1 Fish Tank

What is it: A 352-piece 3-in-1 glassless tank, easel and treasure chest kit. Kids can build a glassless tank with a clown fish, a regal blue tang, a yellow tang, a cardinal fish and an anthias fish as well as a mini submarine and some coral and aquatic plant. If that's not enough, they can rebuild it into an easel or a treasure chest or they can use their imagination and build anything.

Why we love it: It's such good value as there are 3 different things for kids to build, if they get bored of repeatedly building one they can just build one of the other items and it means it will keep them entertained for longer without having to buy multiple sets. The easel also gives them creativity to rearrange the bricks to create any picture they like.

Available from: LEGO

8. LEGO Ariel's Underwater Palace, £74.99

Age: 6+

LEGO Ariel's Underwater Palace

What is it: A 498-piece set for any Little Mermaid fans out there. They can build Ariel's palace and with the 3 mini-figures and 6 animal figures they can act out scenes in the palace. It also has interactive digital building instructions available on the app to help kids visualise the model as they build.

Why we love it: With all the mini-figures and animal figures the set doesn't just encourage imagination and creativity but it also encourages group play as well as solo play and can get friends and family involved in acting out the different scenes.

Available from: LEGO, Very and Amazon

9. LEGO 1970 Ferrari 512 M, £17.99

Age: 8+

LEGO 1970 Ferrari 512 M

What this is: This is a car enthusiast's dream. The 291-piece set comes together to build an iconic 1970 Ferrari. The kit comes with a Ferrari racing driver with race suit, wig and crash helmet. Like most of the other sets listed this too as interactive building instructions available on the app. Once the car is built it can be played with or displayed. There are other cars in the range to collect too.

Why we love it: Car enthusiasts get to look back on what racing cars in the past looked like, it's a lovely nostalgic kit that parents would enjoy building with their kids. It's also great how it allows kids to feel like engineers and see the makeup of the car.

Available from: LEGO, Very and Selfridges

10. LEGO Lunar Space Station, £54.99

Age: 6+

LEGO Lunar Space Station

What is it: A 500-piece NASA-inspired set to create the Lunar Space Station. It comes with lots of realistic features such as; science and botany labs, docking space capsule and 5 astronaut mini-figures. The set can be combines with others from the LEGO city space range for even more fun. It also comes with interactive building instructions available on the app.

Why we love it: The set is so detailed making it a great way for kids to learn about space but also play with it once it's built with the many little accessories that come with it, making it great for imaginative play.

Available from: LEGO, Very and Hamleys

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About the author

Chloe is a Digital Reviews Writer and Coordinator for Immediate Media's Parenting team. She researches and writes articles, recommending the best products for parents, ranging from best sleep aids to best playpens. She has a First-Class Honours Psychology degree where she developed a strong interest in child development.

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Authors

Picture of Chloe Brightwell
Chloe BrightwellDigital Reviews Writer and Coordinator

Chloe is a Digital Reviews Writer and Coordinator for Immediate Media's Parenting team, specialising in household and trying to help parents save money. She researches and writes articles, recommending the best products, ranging from best cordless vacuums to best playpens. She has a First-Class Honours Psychology degree where she developed a strong interest in child development. During her teenage years she worked as a play worker and Brownie volunteer to support children's play.

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