LEGO DUPLO Building Ideas {With Printable Cards!}

Let’s build with LEGO DUPLO! Here are 14 super fun DUPLO building ideas to inspire kids (and parents too)!

When our kids were small, our DUPLO bricks saw almost constant use. I loved having a building toy that was fun for my bigger kids (up through ages 6-7 or so) and also safe for babies and toddlers who put things in their mouths.

DUPLO bricks are such a fabulous toy for child development. This is why DUPLO building ideas don’t need to be complex! Kids are building fine motor coordination and developing creativity and problem solving skills every time they play.

And while I’m at it, can I just say… don’t pack away the DUPLO too soon! These bricks are not just for babies. My kids played with DUPLO from age 1 – 4 or so, and then played with both regular LEGO bricks AND DUPLO until age 7ish. Eventually they switched to only the “big kid LEGO,” but I’ll tell you that my 9 and 11 year olds sure had fun helping me design projects for this post! You’re really never too old for LEGO…

Here’s the way these DUPLO building ideas work:

• View the projects for free in this post. I’ll share photos of each of our DUPLO building ideas below, which you can use for building inspiration. Encourage your kids to make substitutions if they don’t have the exact color or type of brick shown. These ideas are meant to be a creativity starter and not rigid instructions.
• Or purchase the printable PDF file with 14 full-page building cards. View the file on a tablet (with no ads) or print the pages. It’s up to you! The PDF file is $3.50, and you can go ahead and grab it by clicking the “add to cart” button below.

 

Here’s a peek at the building cards. This image does not show all 14 cards. I would recommend printing them on card stock or laminating them for durability.

Let’s get on to the DUPLO building ideas!

BUILD A CAR TUNNEL

Build a tunnel for cars! Make your tunnel large enough for DUPLO cars to drive through, or make one for Hot Wheels or other toy cars.

This tunnel is a good length for preschoolers to push cars through. But build yours any size you want!

BUILD A TREASURE BOX

It’s so fun to have a little box to hide things in!

Start with an 8 x 8 plate on the bottom, or two 4 x 8 plates.

Put a door on your box, if you have one. Another option is to take the top off to put things in and take them out.

With the thickness of DUPLO bricks, there’s not a lot of room inside. But that’s okay!

If you have a larger baseplate, you can make your treasure box bigger.

BUILD A ROBOT

This one might be my favorite! The wheels on the car/train base make perfect eyes for a robot.

Kids can use whatever colors they want for their robots. Add bricks that are printed with buttons or lights, or whatever you have!

BUILD A SCHOOL CLASSROOM

My daughter Janie came up with this one! Her classroom has room for lots of students, and it even has a bathroom.

This project will lead to all kinds of pretend play!

Here’s a view from overhead.

BUILD A HEART

Make a simple heart shape! Use all red bricks, or use an assortment of colors. The heart won’t stand up by itself, but you can attach it to a plate.

BUILD A DINOSAUR

Make a cool looking long neck dinosaur! We made our green, but a blue dinosaur would also look awesome.

The dinosaur body is a 4 x 8 plate. I added bricks to the underside of the plate and attached two 2 x 2 bricks for each leg.

The tail is a 2 x 8 plate that I attached to the underside of the body.

Use a 2 x 4 plate for the head. Add a 2 x 2 brick with an eye and another 2 x 2 brick.

Then the neck is just a stack of four 2 x 2 bricks!

BUILD A FLOWER GARDEN

This project is especially flexible! Build flowers with the bricks and colors you have. We used 2 x 4 green plates for leaves.

BUILD A SWIMMING POOL

Here’s another fun idea for pretend play with DUPLO people! Build them a swimming pool.

BUILD SOME DUCKS

These cute little ducks are easy to build with just a few bricks!

BUILD AN AIRPLANE

Make a cute little plane in any color! A translucent brick makes a great window for the cockpit.

Here’s another view of the airplane.

BUILD A CAMERA

This is another one of my favorites! Preschoolers will have a great time pretending to take pictures with this camera. They can look through the hole in the camera and pretend it’s their viewfinder.

Here are some quick instructions for the camera:

BUILD A CARNIVAL RIDE

If you have some DUPLO gears, this is such a fun idea! Make a simple carnival ride that spins two cars in a circle.

We started with two 6 x 12 plates. We used two 2 x 8 plates underneath to hold them together. Then we added the three gears shown. These gear pieces just sit on top of the bricks and don’t attach.

Add a cylinder brick for a handle. Then add a 2 x 2 brick, a 2 x 6 plate, and two more 2 x 2 bricks.

Add two DUPLO cars, and you’re ready to go!

BUILD THE LETTERS IN YOUR NAME

Kids can build the first letter of their name, or the first letter of their last name, or just a favorite letter! If you have enough bricks, challenge them to build their whole name.

BUILD A SYMMETRICAL TOWER

Challenge kids to make a symmetrical tower. Can they build a tower that is the same on both sides?

Ready to Print your Building Cards?

The PDF file is $3.50. You can either view the building cards on a tablet (for easy building with no ads), or you can print them.

 

Need DUPLO Bricks? We recommend these sets.

Please note that there is not just ONE set you can purchase to make all the things in my building cards. We’ve accumulated a large DUPLO collection over the years! But I can recommend some sets that will give kids some good variety for building.

The LEGO DUPLO Classic Deluxe Brick Box is a great way to get started! It also comes with its own storage tub as well as a car and two people. It’s currently 20% off on Amazon, making it only $39.99!

The LEGO DUPLO Classic Heart Box contains a couple of eye bricks and a propeller.