Which LEGO Juniors set is best?

LEGO makes some of the world’s most popular toys. For children ages 4-7, LEGO Juniors is the perfect introduction to big-time LEGO building. Juniors sets contain quick-start elements and numbered, prepacked bags that can be built without the help of adults. If you are looking for a LEGO Junior/LEGO 4+ set for kids who love airplanes, the LEGO Juniors City Central Airport 10764 set has an airliner with two pilots, a terminal and two baggage handlers loading luggage from a conveyor belt to a baggage cart.

What to know before you buy a LEGO Juniors set

The LEGO Juniors line of products was retired in 2019

The LEGO Juniors brand was focused on a targeted age group, not on a single style or area of interest. The Juniors brand was retired in favor of package labels that say this playset is suitable for kids ages 4 and up. Don’t be confused when you don’t see a Juniors section on the LEGO website or a Juniors label on the box. Everything you need to know about LEGO Juniors sets can be found under its new name: LEGO 4+.

LEGO 4+ sets

All LEGO 4+ sets are created around stories, themes and characters younger kids already love, from princesses and superheroes to dinosaurs and teenage role models.

LEGO 4+ sets are sorted, packaged and labeled to make the building experience easy for kids as young as age 4. Parents and children love the digital interactive guide, LEGO Instructions Plus, which is a part of the free LEGO Life app. You can zoom, rotate and view your model in 3D and ghost view modes to see how far you’ve come and where you are in the building process. This app also keeps track of complex builds and saves your building steps online, so you can recycle instruction books.

What to look for in a quality LEGO Juniors/4+ set

Start by choosing a broad category, then explore the subcategories within the overall theme.

Superheroes

This LEGO Juniors series features Spider-Man, Batman, Superman and many more superhero pals that kids take on daring missions to defeat supervillains so good triumphs over evil. Kids can recreate scenes from movies or create their own adventures with mini-sized action figures, weapons, gadgets, vehicles and buildings.

Friends

This series is built around the lives of teenage role models Andrea, Emma, Mia, Olivia and Stephanie. These mini-dolls live in the fictional town of Heartlake City and have their own personalities, interests and storylines that intertwine in their lives. All stories have happy endings that involve working together to help others.

City

These LEGO Juniors sets focus on activities that are going on in the fictional LEGO City every day. Buildings are under construction, people are flying in and out of the airport and coming and going in cars, trains and buses. Police and rescue crews respond to emergencies. This popular series split into dozens of wildly diverging subthemes like Harbor, Jungle, Mining, Farm, Arctic and Volcano.

Space

The sets in this series include both fantasy and real-world space interests. On the one hand, you can get sets based on starships, light cruisers, starfighters, the Millenium Falcon, Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing Fighter, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse’s Space Rocket and R2-D2. Real-world space-based sets include NASA space shuttles, Apollo lunar landers, the International Space Station and more.

How much you can expect to spend on a LEGO Juniors/4+ set

Most LEGO Junior and LEGO 4+ sets cost between $20-$50. For $20 or less, you can find smaller and simpler sets. LEGO Junior and LEGO 4+ sets over $50 have the most pieces and are the most elaborate and challenging.

LEGO Juniors set FAQ

What’s the difference between LEGO Juniors sets and regular LEGO sets?

A. LEGO Juniors sets have slightly bigger pieces, fewer pieces per set and less complex designs that are simpler to build.

Wasn’t the LEGO Juniors line of products retired in 2019?

A. Yes, but there are still plenty of them around to choose from. Most kids like to play with them, while some treat them as collector items.

What’s the best LEGO Juniors set to buy?

Top LEGO Juniors set

LEGO Juniors City Central Airport 10764

What you need to know: This discontinued set is for kids ages 4 and older who have an interest in airplanes and flying.

What you’ll love: The planes pull up to the airport terminal, and the baggage handlers unload the passengers’ luggage from the conveyor belt to the baggage cart. This set includes five mini-dolls: two pilots, two airport workers and a tourist. This 376-piece starter set can be connected to all other LEGO bricks and construction toys.

What you should consider: This set is a little pricey for some.

Top LEGO Juniors set for the money

LEGO Juniors Jurassic World Pteranodon Escape 10756

What you need to know: This 84-piece LEGO set is made for kids who love prehistoric creatures.

What you’ll love: A Jurassic World pilot and tracker go dinosaur hunting for a flying pteranodon in their helicopter with an actual spinning rotor, while avoiding an erupting volcano. The pteranodon has a 7-inch wingspan.

What you should consider: This set requires the skills of kids who have assembled LEGO sets before.

Worth checking out

LEGO Juniors Mia’s Organic Food Market 10749

What you need to know: Fans of LEGO Friends will have fun building Mia’s mobile food market truck.

What you’ll love: Mia’s food truck has a rotating sign, a side that opens up and wheels that roll. Around the truck, Mia and bunny friend Twister have a picnic table and chairs, a box of vegetables and a merry-go-round that actually spins.

What you should consider: Kids can do a lot with just 115 pieces.

Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.

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The Minnesota Wild had a new defenseman make his debut in red and green last weekend, and hardly anyone noticed. Seriously.

Amid all of the much-deserved hype about Quinn Hughes coming to Minnesota and taking his place on the Wild blue line, the local NHL club also welcomed Matt Kiersted back to his home state for his first game on the rink where every local kid dreams of playing.

“There was a lot going on, but it was pretty cool,” Kiersted said on Tuesday, reflecting on his time as a youth hockey player in Elk River. “Being from Minnesota, I grew up watching the Wild. To actually get into a game, to get to play for them in the regular season is pretty special.”

With regular defensemen Jonas Brodin, Jake Middleton and now Zach Bogosian all missing due to injury, and Zeev Buium now playing for Vancouver, Kiersted was back on the ice at Grand Casino Arena on Tuesday versus the Capitals.

While he never made it to St. Paul on a state tournament team, he had played at the Wild’s home rink as a freshman at North Dakota, where he played four years. Saturday’s game versus Ottawa was actually his 40th on a NHL roster, having played the previous five seasons in the Florida Panthers organization, although he was not on their roster for either of the team’s runs to the Stanley Cup in 2024 or 2025.

Over the summer, he signed a two-year deal with the Wild worth $1.55 million and after being sent down during training camp, he notched three assists in 23 games with the Iowa Wild. His call-up to Minnesota was a last minute transaction, but Kiersted still had around 15 friends and family at the rink on Saturday to see his on-ice homecoming. Be became the 37th Minnesota-born player to appear in a regular season game for the Wild in their 25-year history.

He heard from several of his former Fighting Hawks teammates on his way to St. Paul for the debut.

“Everyone’s excited. They were congratulating me on the recall and hoping I can get into a game,” Kiersted said. He logged more than 20 minutes versus the Senators, getting 26 shifts. “I’m just doing anything I can to help the team win.”

He admitted that when he got the chance to sign with Minnesota and play closer to home, it was an easy choice to make.

Injury update

Wild coach John Hynes usually spends 20 seconds or so on gamedays updating the media about the current state of the team’s injured players and when they might return. On Tuesday morning, the team’s health report took a full minute and a half, and the coach joked that he’s starting to lose track amid all of the injuries.

He had good news, with Marcus Foligno returning after missing the previous nine contests with a lower body injury. Then came the bad news:

— Forward Marcus Johansson is day-to-day with a lower body injury.

— Defenseman Zach Bogosian is day-to-day with a lower body injury.

— Defenseman Jonas Brodin is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

— Defenseman Jake Middleton had testing done on Tuesday but remains day-to-day with an upper body injury.

— Forward Mats Zuccarello has begun skating but remains out day-to-day with an upper body injury.

— Forward Vinnie Hinostroza, who has missed the past dozen games with a lower body injury, has begun skating and is day-to-day.

The Wild came into Tuesday’s meeting with the Capitals having missed 111 man-games to injury so far. And that number grew as soon as the puck was dropped.

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By CHRISTINE FERNANDO

CHICAGO (AP) — Senior Border Patrol official Greg Bovino returned to the Chicago area on Tuesday, about a month after leaving to lead immigration enforcements in other cities, immigration advocates say.

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Bovino, the face of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, was photographed Tuesday in the predominantly Mexican American neighborhood of Little Village by the Chicago Sun-Times as neighbors and activists blew whistles and shouted.

Videos obtained by The Associated Press showed several unmarked cars and Border Patrol agents deploying pepper balls and detaining a man in the neighborhood’s business corridor.

Bovino arrived in the Chicago area in September amid Operation Midway Blitz, which has yielded thousands of arrests and fueled fear among immigrant communities. The operation has become known for its aggressive tactics, including the use of chemical munitions and car chases. Since the operation began, federal agents deployed tear gas in neighborhood streets, hit protesters and journalists with pepper balls and shot at least two people, killing one.

Bovino left Chicago in November to lead immigration operations in New Orleans and North Carolina. While immigration operations had continued in Chicago, they were noticeably subdued with fewer tense confrontations, and Tuesday’s enforcements were among the most visible since Bovino left town.

“As we said a month ago, we aren’t leaving Chicago and operations are ongoing,” said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker complained that he was not given notice that Bovino and additional Border Patrol agents were returning to the Chicago area on Tuesday. And he said he doesn’t know how long they’ll stay.

Pritzker also called on Bovino to testify in front of an Illinois commission created in October to document misconduct by federal agents.

“I’m so proud of the people of Illinois, for doing as they have, which is to protect their neighborhoods and their neighbors, to do the right thing,” Pritzker said Tuesday. “And so, I think we’re in a much better position.”

At a Tuesday news conference, activists vowed to continue supporting immigrant communities in the Chicago area. Advocates said 15 people, including day laborers and a tamale vendor, were detained Tuesday on the city’s Southwest side and in suburban Berwyn and Cicero.

“We are tired but we are not weary,” said Illinois State Senator Celina Villanueva. “… Every single time that they come, we are going to show up.”

Victor Rodriguez II, a lifelong resident of Little Village, said he helped a woman when her husband was detained after a “caravan of masked agents began terrorizing our community,” including using pepper balls in neighborhood streets. Rodriguez accused Bovino of “targeted political theater.”

Bob Reiter, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, said Border Patrol agents questioned striking laborers on Chicago’s Southwest side and accused Bovino of “coming to our picket line to chill union activity.”

“We have seen the first act of this political theater they have brought,” he said. “Now it’s the second act, and we’re ready.”

By BILL BARROW

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles offered an unusually candid look inside President Donald Trump’s administration in a series of interviews published Tuesday by Vanity Fair magazine, delivering details and reservations that presidential aides usually save for memoirs.

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From criticizing Attorney General Pam Bondi as having “whiffed” on the Jeffrey Epstein case to saying that no rational person could believe Elon Musk did a good job dismantling the United States Agency for International Development, Wiles revealed her own thoughts about her boss and the work of his aggressive administration. The assessments are even more notable because Wiles, before now, has maintained a low profile.

Wiles dismissed Vanity Fair’s work as a “hit piece,” and a number of Cabinet officials and other aides rushed to her defense. But Wiles notably has not denied any details or quotes.

Here are some takeaways from Wiles’ interview:

Wiles defends Trump while comparing him to an alcoholic

Wiles described Trump as an intense figure who thinks in broad strokes yet is often unconcerned about process and policy details.

She assessed Trump as having “an alcoholic’s personality,” even though the president does not drink. But the personality trait is something she recognizes from her father, the famous sports broadcaster Pat Summerall.

“High-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink. And so I’m a little bit of an expert in big personalities,” she said.

Said Wiles: “I’m not an enabler. … I try to be thoughtful about what I even engage in. I guess time will tell whether I’ve been effective.”

Trump’s revenge crusade has gone longer than Wiles initially wanted

Wiles affirmed Trump’s ruthlessness and determination to achieve retribution against those he considers his political enemies, especially those who prosecuted him.

“We have a loose agreement that the score settling will end before the first 90 days are over,” Wiles said early in Trump’s second administration, telling Vanity Fair she did try to tamp down Trump’s penchant for retribution.

But in August 2025, she shifted. “I don’t think he’s on a retribution tour,” she said, arguing Trump has a different principle: “‘I don’t want what happened to me to happen to somebody else.’”

Still, she said, “there may be an element of that from time to time” and Trump “will go for it … when there’s an opportunity.”

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles arrives before the lighting of the National Christmas Tree, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

“Who would blame him?” she asked rhetorically. “Not me.”

Asked about the prosecution of New York Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud, Wiles allowed, “Well, that might be the one retribution.”

On Epstein, Pam Bondi gets scorched and Trump was ‘wrong’ about Bill Clinton

In some of her most eye-popping commentary, Wiles said Attorney General Pam Bondi “whiffed” on handling the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case, particularly trying to manage public expectations by suggesting the Justice Department had a client list waiting to be disclosed only for the administration to later say it doesn’t exist.

Wiles also said Trump pushed false narratives that former President Bill Clinton frequented Epstein’s infamous island. “There is no evidence” those visits happened, according to Wiles, and there are no damning findings concerning Clinton at all.

“The president was wrong about that,” Wiles said.

Wiles pays attention to Trump’s inner circle — and has thoughts

Wiles often sits to the side in the Oval Office, out of camera view. But she’s paying attention.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and White House communications director Steven Cheung listen as President Donald Trump talks after meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Vice President JD Vance has been “a conspiracy theorist for a decade,” she said, and his MAGA conversion — he once compared Trump to Adolf Hitler — was “sort of political.”

Elon Musk overstepped on his Department of Government Efficiency efforts, she said. She called him “a complete solo actor … an odd, odd duck” and an “avowed ketamine user.” (Musk has acknowledged using the dissociative anesthetic.) She recalled having to explain to him that “you can’t just lock people out of their offices” and said his gutting of USAID left her “initially aghast.“

“Because I think anybody that pays attention to government and has ever paid attention to USAID believed, as I did, that they do very good work,” she said, adding that “no rational person could think the USAID process was a good one. Nobody.”

She calls Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “quirky Bobby” and White House budget chief Russell Vought “a right-wing absolute zealot.”

But in praising Kennedy, Wiles explained her embrace of the administration’s hard-liners: “He pushes the envelope — some would say too far. But I say in order to get back to the middle, you have to push it too far.”

Wiles sees Trump’s tariffs as ‘more painful’ than expected

Few events undermined Trump’s standing quite like his April 2 announcement of “Liberation Day” tariffs, in which he announced import taxes ranging from 10% to 99% on most of the world. Trump’s move sparked recession fears and a delay in imposing his wider tariff strategy, leading to a rollercoaster of negotiations and new tariff threats.

Wiles called the April rollout “so much thinking out loud” and said there were internal disputes about it among Trump’s aides. She said she told aides to “work into what he’s already thinking” and asked Vance to tell Trump to “not talk about tariffs today” until his team was “in complete unity.”

Trump proceeded on his own.

Wiles said she believed a middle ground on tariffs would be successful. But, she concluded, “It’s been more painful than I expected.”

Wiles concedes mistakes on immigration

When a federal judge chided the administration for deporting Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Trump publicly defended the approach despite the administration telling the court it was a mistake. Wiles did not mince words, telling Vanity Fair at the time, “We’ve got to look harder at our process for deportation.”

FILE – White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles waves after disembarking Air Force One, June 25, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

When the administration deported two mothers and their U.S. citizen children, including one who was a cancer patient, Wiles was even more plainspoken: “It could be an overzealous Border Patrol agent, I don’t know. I can’t understand how you make that mistake, but somebody did.”

Trump is more skeptical of Putin’s intentions than reflected in public

After nearly four years of fighting, Trump has made the case that Russian President Vladimir Putin can be persuaded to end the war in Ukraine if Kyiv agrees to cede Ukrainian land in the eastern Donbas region and if Western powers offer economic incentives that would bring Russia back into the economic world order.

“I actually think that President Putin wants to see it end,” Trump told reporters Monday.

But Wiles offered deep skepticism to Vanity Fair about Putin.

“The experts think that if he could get the rest of Donetsk, then he would be happy,” Wiles said in August, referring to the oblast that is a key part of Donbas.

“Donald Trump thinks he wants the whole country,” Wiles told her interviewer.

For Trump, boat strikes are about knocking Nicolás Maduro out of power

Wiles said in November that Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle.”

Trump has repeatedly said Maduro’s “days are numbered” as the U.S. intensifies deadly attacks on vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific. The administration alleges the targets are drug-smuggling cartels.

Still, Trump and administration officials have stopped short of saying they want to topple the Maduro regime. They insist the strikes, which have killed at least 95 people in 25 known incidents since September, are a strategy to stem the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the U.S.

Associated Press reporters Aamer Madhani and Josh Boak contributed from Washington.