What you see below is a typical early stage of a build at our house. Those are the contents of set 7571, The Fight for the Dagger freshly freed from their packaging. You might note that the minifigure parts have been divided into two sets at opposite sides of the table to ensure each young builder gets an equal share. Patiently waiting in the middle is a pile of parts for the next stage.
The build itself is a mix of chasing parts from mini MOCs that show up during the main build and moderating turns at adding pieces to the actual build, without losing too many of them to the floor. Typically at the end of, the result is something fun to play with together.
This stage of the play is distinct from the first as it starts to exercise the imagination in a different way. It is usually at this point that other parts and minifigures start making appearances to create very interesting anachronisms. It is tough to say if the white classic space guy doing a Matrix impression, Woody from Toy Story, or the jet ski with a flower growing on it is my favorite addition to this particular Prince of Persia market scene.
We also see an example that princesses are far from helpless in our house. Not only is this princess able to fly, which is obvious since she has a cape, she also wears claws for rescuing others. The box art had her waiting to be rescued by one of the other characters.
And lest anyone thinks little girls are always sweet and innocent, we see a person here who has been turned into "a scary monster guy" with a skeleton face by one daughter. In the meantime her sister decided it was quite appropriate to decapitate the poor axe guard. But what can you expect from a guy carrying two swords on his back while wielding a third?
