Get Down to Duplo Level
Hey, Parents! This Duplo story is directed at you. This is for parents who want some ideas on how to get down and dirty in the play world of their child. This story is for the parents who are searching for a way to play. You are searching for a story.
Our Story begins with a good character, or two, or three. A character can be animal, vegetable, or mineral. For instance, a single red Duplo block can be a character, if it has a name and a personality.
The name is very important. I suggest using the names of states, cities, national monuments, natural phenomena, or foreign words and phrases. So, for instance, we will name the red Duplo block,” Lavarocks”, or, “Lava” , for short. Lavarocks is a good name, because long names are funnier than short names. And, it will be fun hearing your kid try to say Lavarocks, especially if they succeed, because, now you’ve gotten your 2 year old kid to say Lavarocks, like it was a name, and not a gas grill accoutrement.
Which brings up a word about fun. That is what this is all about. There are no lessons to be learned. There is no moral to this Duplo story. Unless you count the moral that is the most important one to your child: that you, the most important person in their world, are enjoying hanging out with them. Because you like them, unconditionally. So, there, I snuck in a moral for the adults who prefer such things.
Don’t forget that most stories are new to a two year old. Don’t be afraid to throw cliche’s at them. They don’t have cliche’s, yet!
So, back to work. Lava needs a buddy. Let’s say we use that little Duplo Squirrel. We’ll name her something cute, like Nutcase.
Now we will throw in the most important character, our Comic Relief Sidekick. The Comic Relief Sidekick causes trouble, gets into jams, jumps to wildly unfounded conclusions, creates misunderstandings, and, occasionally, saves the day.
In this case, we have chosen for our Sidekick a red Duplo airplane with a yellow propeller. We will name him, Hyperbole, or Hyper, for short.
The personalities are found in their names. Lava is our hot headed hero. He is an Everyman, who does not suffer fools easily. Nutcase is his sweet, slightly goofy neighbor and friend. Hyperbole is hyper, all the time, which leads to inevitable mistakes in judgement. Now all they need is an adventure.
Here I suggest we follow the definition of the word, ‘Hyperbole ‘ : “ Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. “ ( New Oxford American Dictionary) If there is a mountain, it is the highest mountain; if there is a cave , it is the darkest cave, located behind the tallest waterfall. Or, perhaps, the most magnificent treehouse, containing the most detailed treasure map, and so on. And, we are dealing with Duplos. There are no serious injuries to be had in these settings.
On to the story! Don’t be afraid to be silly. Lava says to Nutcase, “Hey, let’s go on a trip!” Hyper the Airplane overhears them , and scoops them up and says, “ Let’s go!” and hits rocket power by mistake. The G Forces are tremendous. Lava yells,” Slow down, slow down!!”. Hyper says, “ Oh, okay, sorry. I didn’t know my own strength.” Hyper hits the brakes too hard, and Nutcase goes tumbling out, onto the surface of a strange island, into a forest of Broccoli. Nutcase starts swimming in Broccoli, and finds out this Broccoli is alive, and is nipping at her tail. Hyper swoops down and gives the Broccoli a haircut with his propeller.
By now, your child should be full of suggestions and or comments about the action, so far. Whatever they suggest, go with it. The goal is to keep the story going. You will be surprised how often these stories have a way of resolving, naturally. If it is a success, your child will want to do the whole thing all over again. Basically, you are just providing a little of your imagination, so that their imagination can take off.
And don’t forget, this is supposed to be fun for you, too. Try to make your story a little interesting to you. But, in a kid way. Kids have way more fun than adults. Take advantage, and share their fun, if you can.
Oh, and, you will get bored. That’s not a bad thing, it’s an inevitable thing. That’s when I start building Duplo sculptures. Yes, they will be knocked over, but you have also supplied five more minutes of playtime. That’s five more minutes of doing the most important thing that you will do all day.
Featuring:
Duplo Set 10913: Brick Box
Duplo Set 10907: World Animals.
Duplo Set 10908: Plane.
Duplo Set 10818: My First Truck.