Give Your Child The Ultimate Gift - Imagination
May 05 '01
The Bottom Line .
Before we get into this review – lets define construction toys. I'm assuming that this means toys like Lego’s, K’Nex and Zoob; not construction play sets like Tonka. With that being said, brace yourself for yet another toy related review.
Growing up we had different types of toys than those available today. I had a modest Barbie Cruise Ship; my brothers had science kits, a primitive video game system and walkie-talkies. My sisters had the assorted dolls and doll related items, kitchen sets and cheap make up. I was always jealous of the kids who had Lincoln Logs or Lego’s – they never got bored with them, never had the desire to throw them off a cliff – my resentment towards Barbie started young – and I only thank what ever higher power there is that all my children were boys. I couldn’t stomach the fact that if I had girls I’d have to buy a Barbie.
The wide world on construction toys seems to be limitless; from birth there are sets that can stimulate children with the myriad of colors, shapes and characters. Some of the more popular sets would be Duplo Winnie The Pooh and the Duplo Stackable Ball. The blocks utilize bright colors; red, yellow, blue and green to open a new door to you’re child imagination. I’m not a big fan of the black and white toys so please don’t try to argue that those toys are better. My second son refused any toys and played with cardboard boxes – go figure. Introducing any type of toy that stimulates and challenges your child can only improve dexterity, hand and eye coordination as well as a great introduction to the basic colors. While I’m certainly not saying you child will be doing advanced calculus at age three if introduced to construction type toys at an early age – it certainly can’t hurt now can it.
The Duplo and Duplo-like pieces are large, easy to grip and virtually choke proof. While no toy is 100% safe, I’ve never seen a child manage to get one stuck in his or her mouth. Parental supervision is a must with any type of toy since the little offspring love to chew, suck and taste everything in their path – like termites only cuter.
Outside the realm of building and construction blocks is a whole new world of discovery for the little bundles of joy. The Stacking Rings Tower by Schylling and the Super Rocking Rings made by Chicco are great introductions to the contrast of shapes, the order of size and the ability to pass things through the middle. I found that these rings when used with the Duplo blocks helped them determine size and depth perception as well. Than again, they could have just been playing with me. One warning – little guys and girls imitate everything they see [not that you didn’t know that]. My son was watching me put on a bracelet one morning and decided he was going to do the same with a stacker ring – the result – a plastic ring wedged on his wrist. Solution: Cut a series of small holes on the outer part of the ring, this reduces the overall strength of the plastic. Once you’ve cut about five holes you should be able to pull it apart enough to slide it over your childs wrist. Do NOT start yanking on it to get it off, this will leave a bruise as well as traumatize an already frightened child. Don’t but butter or oil on it either, that just makes it harder to grab on to.
Sure there are Mega Bloks that can be used to make walls and castles but I think they are useless. If they get banged or bent they’ll stick together and are extremely hard to “unlock”. Some baby wipe manufacturers also make their boxes to resemble the Mega Bloks, with only two nubs on the two and two indents on the bottom. These are great to use for toys, picture cards or for “busy toys” while on the road. You can personalize them with paints but they do peel off so be careful around smaller children. You can apply a few coats of clear nail polish over the paints (acrylics or t-shirt paint / puffy paint) to preserve the design or childs name.
Before we jump into Lego’s there are a few other construction toys to deal with. Lincoln Logs were a staple for almost every kid, regardless of where you grew up or what they were called, there was something about the wooden pieces with the crude notches carved on the ends that seemed to inspire every child to create – it didn’t matter what you built – just that you constructed something. While most kids today turn their nose up at these types of building toys they can be a welcome change to the vast expanse of plastic construction items. I mean, face it, who didn’t want to build a log cabin from Lincoln Logs? The pitfalls are obvious; smaller kids will chew on them, which could present a real issue with splinters. The choking hazard is also a huge concern in my eyes. If a small child happened upon a Lincoln Log and started gnawing away at it – it would only be a matter of time before the piece became weak (soaked with saliva) and could be bitten off and swallowed. I don’t think I have to go any further with my example. Don’t get me wrong, these toys are great but again, adult supervision is a must. Some toy manufacturers have copied the original Lincoln Log concept and created a whole new line – only in plastic rather then wood form.
Another wooden toy that’s a little safer – the alphabet block. You can stack them, make a wall or spin them on their sides – anyway you slice it or dice it – these things are staples. Some companies have given way to the modern era and started making them in plastic rather than wood – a win / win situation. Why are the plastic ones better? Easier to clean, no chance of splinters, can be sanitized if used by more than one child, hurt less when an angry child hurls them at you [personal experience when I lost the “ice cream war”], are available in a wide variety of colors and designs and less expensive to replace if lost. I toyed with the thought of giving my boys the wooden blocks I had as a child, I opted to use the blocks to create picture frames for their rooms – I don’t think I could live with myself if they were injured – or worse – just because I wanted to take a few pictures of them playing with the same blocks I did.
Deciding when to cross over from Duplo to Lego is a case-by-case scenario. Each child learns at a different pace so you have to be the judge of when the smaller, more intricate Lego sets should be introduced. Be extra cautious if there are younger children present since 99% of the Lego pieces can easily be swallowed and lodged in a preschooler’s throat. I found that the Snappit line of toys are a great way of transitioning between the Duplo style and Lego sets. The pieces aren’t “Lego-like” but they are smaller than Duplo yet larger than Lego. They introduce the child into full scale building rather than just simple assembly. I also started getting the boys into a habit of only pulling out one set at a time so that the sets wouldn’t get mixed up and it made for an easier end of the day clean up.
Another construction toy to consider is Interstar Links by Edushape. They resemble the Zoob line of toys but they are easier to assemble and have slotted ends which increases the number of things that can be created. Made from a softer plastic these rarely break – rarely being the key word. Check the connection pieces on the ends for signs of wear and tear and make sure you don’t stop on one of these in the middle of the night. If your child likes the Interstar Links you can enhance them with the addition of Rokenbok System Balls. They are small round balls that resemble the end and middle connectors. The basic set contains 100 balls, 50 red and 50 blue. The balls were designed for use with the Rokenbok line of toys however these toys are more complex than the Interstar Link and Zoob toys.
BRIO is also a great line of toys to check out. These are combinations of plastic and wood and extremely sturdy. I really thought the boys would love these but they passed on them after about ten minutes. The BRIO line is vast – ranging from city scenes to construction vehicles – the sets are interesting but limited in the number of different items that can be created from a single set. The pieces are very durable but do contain small locking nuts, bolts and pins – these items are usually found in the construction vehicle sets but are present in other sets as well.
When your child is ready for the responsibility of advanced sets, Lego is the frontrunner in design, concept sets and overall availability. Ranging from the smaller introduction sets that usually range between 20 and 30 pieces to the advanced Technic designs – Lego is the premier name in construction toys. The Lego systems are completely compatible with other “knock off” brands such as Mega Blok although there are difference in color and the feel of the plastic. The standard Lego sets are sturdy and if taken care of will provide years of enjoyment. If the pieces become dirty simply pop them into a small weave laundry bag and throw them in the washer with a mild laundry soap. Don’t let them go through the rinse cycle since this may force the bag open and you’ll be picking Lego’s out of your laundry for weeks. Again, there are pieces that are small so police the play area if smaller children will be near the pieces. Encourage your child to check for smaller pieces that may end up under the bed, dresser or in with other toys. You can never bee too careful.
The Lego sets are limitless. From Star Wars to Life on Mars – there’s even talk of a new line for girls that’s due to hit the market mid summer. My boys play with Lego’s more than any other toy. Sure Buzz Lightyear and Luke Skywalker get some playtime but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that 80% of the time they are engrossed in Lego’s. Beyond the obvious things they are learning from these toys [structure, design, creativity and following instruction books] they get a tremendous amount of pleasure and self-confidence from creating new designs on their own. Several design books are on the market to help children create new pieces but the that does involve looking for a variety of pieces which translates to a lot of noise.
Construction and building toys are a great way for kids to let their inaginatioon run wild. Sometimes I can guess the creation of the day and other times I have to guess and be sternly corrected. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to buy toys other than Lego’s since they are often a passing fad. If your child has a love of building things explore the world of Lego’s, K’Nex and Mega Bloks – they are a fantastic, inexpensive way to promote essential skills as well as provide hours of constructive playtime [no pun intended].
Thanks for enduring yet another toy review… ^V^ Freak ^V^
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