"I can do it, Daddy!" This is what Bronwyn said as she was building her own creation with LEGO Friends bricks, after the original set designs were taken apart.
Building while following detailed instructions helps kids with comprehension, staying on-task and other skills. Free-building, while using mental concepts which must be transferred using spatial visualization, develops additional skills.
Learning the multitude of angle placement possibilities for the various bricks which come in these sets is where the true brain-power comes into play. Contrary to what some casual LEGO commenters say about the sets having only one way to be assembled, polygons have endless possibilities of combinations. It takes imagination. It requires visualization.
Blending the various bricks from more than one Friends set is a great way to further extend the creative outcome. Just as she did with her own version of a house. This process of building is what's called a MOC (My Own Creation) in LEGO fan/builder's lingo.
No matter which aspect of LEGO Friends attracts girls into construction play -- whether it's the new colors, such as Azure Blue, Lavender, cute animals, new figures, or the 10% of pink elements in each set -- connecting brick-to-brick is what matters. It matters because girls need a foundation in engineering too. A LEGO base-plate can be that foundation.