Building blocks for the future

By Jaime Hoonsan, Las Vegas

Thursday, March 13, 2014 | 2:01 a.m.

I want to commend you for printing Charlotte Allen’s column, “How Lego earned the wrath of the ‘gender-neutral toys’ crowd.”

People need to do a little research before they jump on any bandwagon. Set gender neutrality aside and look at what Legos really are and how they help a child develop hand-eye coordination and fine motor development, and help a child grow artistically.

When a child’s eyes watch where his hands are moving to line up Lego pieces, his brain is making valuable nerve connections. When a child plays with Legos, she is strengthening the muscles in her hands. Those muscles will one day grip a pencil as a child does algebra homework.

What difference does it make if the Legos are primary colors or shades of pastels?

It is important for children to have a choice and a brilliant plan for Lego to widen their marketing base by offering a wider variety of choices for children to make.

Maybe a child will become a neurosurgeon, architect or city planner because he or she learned to love to work with pink Legos. Who knows how else this move will benefit society as children who play with Legos grow older.

Perhaps the gender-neutral toy crowd should take a step back and look at the bigger picture: how Legos help children develop skills they need later in life, rather than looking at the color of the blocks in a child’s hands.