Children's good intentions?

A new year is just around the corner, which means it's time for a new set of resolutions — you know, that moment when we all commit to improving our lives. Unfortunately, most of us abandon those New Year's resolutions sometime in the second week of January.

But it's the thought that counts. Or something.

This got us here at LEGO® DUPLO® thinking: how would toddlers fare if they tackled some of the most common resolutions? Would they do better than us?

Learn a new skill

In this area, toddlers undoubtedly do better than us adults. While we do our very best to keep a sourdough starter alive for literally ONE week, toddlers are learning dozens of new skills every day.

Every new number they learn, every letter of the alphabet they know, all the new friends they make.

During their first 3 years of life, children form a million new connections in their brains every second as they try to understand the world around them. Scientists suggest that the connections that stick are linked to active, pleasant experiences. In other words, having fun is one of the best ways to learn new skills.

This is of course very important to us, because as a toy company we do nothing other than give people fun experiences! That's why all our LEGO DUPLO sets are focused on learning through play , because children develop a range of emotional, physical, cognitive, social and creative skills while having fun.

So, as for your New Year's resolution to learn a new skill, even if you eventually manage to memorize those piano arpeggios, your little one will still give you the runaround.

Toddlers 1 - Adults 0

Making new friends

Well, this doesn't look good for adults right away...

Toddlers are cute and everyone wants to meet them. That's just how it is. They are passed around at every family gathering as the cutest chubby-cheeked gift ever.

Not to mention preschool, playdates and kindergarten, where they make their first friendships with children their own age.

We also know that this is the moment when their imagination shifts into high gear. Research shows that young children use creative thinking to contextualize new information and changes in their lives.

So all the characters they encounter along the way – including imaginary ones – are a useful way for them to get acquainted with the world. That's why we make sure that our sets always include lots of fun characters, from cute LEGO DUPLO figures to none other than Spider-Man...

Toddlers 2 - Adults 0

Travel more

We'll win this one by heart, right? We can't lose a travel challenge to people who are still crawling... Or can we?

Of course, everything depends on which adventures we mean by 'travel'. No adventure is as rewarding as your child's first steps. And even though they travel more through playgrounds than through airports, physically active play helps them grow stronger and is linked to academic development in later life. That's why our sets are designed to encourage children to actively explore the world around them.

Oh dear. I don't know if our trip to that wine region helped us as much...

Toddlers 3 - Adults ½ (We get half a point because airports are very stressful. Is that okay?)