I Fort It Looked Good. (Lego 6242 Pirates: Soldiers Fort)

Member Name: Emmald

Product:	Lego 6242 Pirates: Soldiers Fort
Date:	21/08/09 (77 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The construction of the fort incorporates many skills.

Disadvantages: Nothing major.

I was recently surfing the net in search of a present for my young nephew and I came across the Lego Pirate Fort set which was priced at just over £36.
My initial thought was that it seemed to be an enormous amount of money to spend on a 7 year old lad who has more toys than `Toys r Us` in his playroom. But after reading the details about the fort it sounded impressive and it would allow him to let his imagination run riot.
He has already been given some Lego and is a Playmobil fanatic.

The Lego Pirate fort set comes in a large cardboard box, so you are already imagining that this fort must be a good size when it is fully constructed.
I had to wait until my nephew was visiting on the following Sunday so that he could open the box and then we would help him to build the fort for the first time.

I must say that when he opened the box I was mildly disappointed, inside were three clear cellophane bags that were filled with the colourful Lego blocks.
The Pirate fort is built in three sections and each bag contains the blocks for one section.
The Pirates money, the jewels, a monkey, a fish, a rowing boat, a crocodile, a treasure chest, a palm tree, a flag pole and flag and two pirate figures are neatly packed into smaller separate cellophane bags. There are also a few stickers that need to be applied to different parts to make it look authentic.
The majority of the Lego pieces are durable but some of the smaller pieces ( the accessories ) are a little bit flimsy.

Lego have put a comprehensive instruction booklet inside of the box, the instructions are relatively easy to follow and within no time at all we were up and running.
My nephew has tiny hands so he was able to clasp the small Lego blocks well, though he could not have built the fort without adult help.
The larger sections of the fort ( i.e. The white wall panels ) were strong and they slotted together well but as we started to incorporate the smaller blocks we suddenly found that the fort kept falling apart.
This was a problem that continued throughout the construction process.

Those tiny hands were really put to the test as we kept on building, his powers of manipulation and his fine motor skills were brought into play. But each time a section was completed he was very obviously chuffed to bits.
Lego is very popular in his school and his teacher is always keen for them to practise building.
There were frustrations during the build, I was prepared to be patient but my nephew wanted to see the fort up and working.

Eventually after a good couple of hours work we had managed to construct the three sections, bear in mind that I am a total Lego novice.
The three sections slot together to make the full sized fortress.
One section is a prison with gates that open and close, then there is a lookout section and a tower that has a working winch sat on the top.
One thing I forget to tell you is that on top of the prison there is an area that is set aside for a cannon and cannon ball.

Once the fort is up and running then the remainder of the game is left entirely up to the child's imagination. This is the interesting part, every time the game was played it was played very differently.
Although the Pirate fort only includes a couple of figures he has other Lego figures that can be brought into play. The fact that Lego sets are compatible means that my nephew can stretch his imagination and even have Star Wars pirates if he chooses.

The set will be added to his collection and his Mum has been buying cloth bags from Ikea to store the sets safely.
I must say that I thought the set was small but maybe I just expect too much for my money!

But as a present is scores ten out of ten, it will be played with over and over again and give many hours of pleasure.
(The fortress measures 12 inches long and seven inches high )

Lego acts as a good teaching tool in more than one way, it teaches patience, it hones fine motor skills and it certainly makes the imagination work well.

Summary: A kit that will be used for a few years to come..hopefully!