«I don't want them to break my toys»

«Why don't you ask Sarah?»

Whenever my friends come to visit, there's always a problem: they want to play with my Lego, which I've assembled into robots or vehicles. They then break everything. I don't want that.
Levin, 7 years old

Dear Levin
Wow, you must have built some great Lego stuff! That's a huge job you've done. Of course you don't want anyone to come and break it. But when your friends come to visit, that's nice too, isn't it? I think you enjoy playing with them. But you still don't want them to touch your Legos, do you?

I'm almost certain that your friends are just interested in your toys and are just as big Lego fans as you are. They want to marvel at and look at your constructions. Maybe it would help if your mum or dad stayed with you next time while you show the boys the Legos. If your parents are supervising, they certainly won't break your things. And after the «inspection» you can go and play with the other toys.

But there's a trick you could try out to ensure that nothing breaks in the future: Prepare well before your friends' next visit. Place your finished Lego vehicles and robots in another room in advance where your visitors are not allowed to go. For example, in your parents' bedroom. Ask your mum or dad if this is okay. If the children don't even see your creations, they won't get the idea of playing with them. And so there is no risk of anything falling apart or being destroyed.

Ask your friends to tell you what they have already assembled themselves at home.

You could also put the remaining Lego pieces that you haven't built in a large box or on a play mat. You can then play with them together without any arguments. Even if you don't build the Lego pieces according to a plan, you can still put great things together - there are no limits to your imagination.

As you already have a lot of experience with Lego building, you can show the other boys how it's done. They can then learn something new from you - and vice versa: let your friends tell you what they have already built at home. You can also draw new ideas from this.

Next, you can think about what else you and your visitors could have fun with. Your parents will probably know lots of fun games or activities to try out. You can search for game ideas on the internet, for example. Why not enter the following into the search engine: «birthday party game ideas».

I myself have learnt some great games this way that are suitable when a few children are together. If you have enough children, group games are also suitable. There are lots of suggestions to be found: From games to get to know each other, trust games and circle games to games without losers.

I'm sure you can all have a great time together - without breaking anything.

But maybe you'd rather play football or hide and seek outside? Build a hut out of branches or see who can make the biggest bubbles with soap bubbles? Draw a road, a skipping game or just something fun with floor chalk?

If the weather is bad, you can make something out of cardboard indoors , paint a picture together, dress up or build a giant tower with building blocks?

I'm sure you can all have a great time together - without breaking anything. After your mates have left, you can take your Lego pieces back to your own room.

Have fun at your friends' next game visit!