Lego Digital Designer Adds a New Dimension to a Classic Toy

by Dana Hinders on March 13, 2012

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Two of my son’s favorite activities are playing on the computer and building with Legos. Lego Digital Designer lets him do both.

Lego Digital Designer is a free downloadable application that lets you create virtual Lego models. The pieces fit together just like real Lego bricks, which makes the interface very easy for young children to use.

You can design cars, buildings, people, or entire Lego landscapes. There is a free build option or you can use a template and alter the pieces to suit your own creative whims. When you’re finished, you can print and save your creations so you’ll have a record of what you’ve made.

With Lego Digital Designer, your finished Lego creations can be as simple or elaborate as you wish and there are no tiny Lego pieces to pick up when you’re done. You also never need to worry about running out of bricks in a specific size or color. This makes Lego Digital Designer equally fun for grown-ups to play. (I admit I sometimes like to play the game while my son is off at school!)

The only aspect of Lego Digital Designer I don’t like is that the program seems to require frequent updates. On our Internet connection, the updates seem to download slowly and create one very frustrated child. I try to avoid meltdowns by remembering to check for updates when he’s doing something else, but I don’t always remember. Still, it’s a small price to pay for the hours of entertainment the program has provided.

Have your children tried Lego Digital Designer? If so, please tell us what you think!

photo credit: Lego Digital Designer

  • http://www.CuteBeltz.com Kristen’s Cute Beltz

    My little architect will love this program. She loves her legos, but this will be a great way for her to save her creations and keep her busy! :-) She is always drawing and creating tall buildings out of boxes, so this will give her another way to create, yay!! Thanks!

  • http://www.thebricklife.com Inger – The Brick Life

    Hi Dana
    Lego Digital Designer is a fantastic program and I can’t believe Lego lets us use it for free. My son adores Lego, both as a play and building tool. LDD allows him to create on another level and is closer to CAD or computer aided design more than anything. It’s a great complement to Google’s Sketch-Up as well (Scratch is also good if your son likes to create in 3D).
    My son loves creating his own designs but also downloads instructions of newly released sets off Lego.com and builds them in the computer, just to see different building techniques.
    cheers
    Inger

  • http://www.livingthescream.com Living The Scream

    This looks pretty awesome. having a family of girls I don;t have a lot of toys like this but I think my girls would love it as well.

  • http://www.livingthescream.com Living The Scream

    lol I meant they would love this computer program. :)

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