Building Toys
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LEGOs: Founded in 1932, Lego offers numerous connecting toys for boy and girl builders. The brand name is the abbreviation for "leg godt," which means "play well. " Legos are plastic bricks of a variety of shapes and figurines that allow children to build tower constructions or character sets. Some of Legos most common themed sets are Star Wars, DC Super Heroes, Ninjago, Dimensions, Disney, and BrickHeadz. -
Mega Brands: Mega Brands was formerly called Mega Bloks. This company offers connecting sets that include figurines of cartoon and movie characters, such as Despicable Me, Blaze and the Monster Machines, Pokemon, American Girl, Barbie Dreamtopia, and Monster High. Mega Brands also sell Mega Construx building toys with action figures for boys and girls. -
KNex: KNex is another brand of building toys that offers themed sets of some of your favorite animated characters, like Super Mario, Lincoln Logs, and My Little Pony. KNex building sets include rods and connectors to build elaborate models. The KNex Education toys for building are ideal for classrooms that study STEM topics.
Choosing Kids Building Toys
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The Creator series of LEGO building sets are geared towards older builders, aged 18 and up. They usually have numerous pieces and come in large sizes, and you can build large models like the Taj Mahal or Palace Cinema. -
LEGO Architecture building designs are challenging for builders aged 12 and over. Many replicate famous landmarks, such as Big Ben or the Statue of Liberty. -
Enhanced sets add even more excitement to building comes in the form of the Technic series, which allows builders to advance their skills by creating elaborate designs that can actually move, gears that turn, and cars that can race. There are different sets for various ages.
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Toys for kids include the LEGO City series, which kids as young as 3 can engage in successfully. The blocks are bigger and the sets have fewer pieces for ease of building. -
Make it a breeze for kids to build with Magna-Tiles. Unlike the interlocking design of LEGOs, these fit together with magnetic pieces and come in different designs, colors, and sets with easy-to-follow directions. -
DUPLO sets are made by the LEGO brand and meant for young builders as young as 1 year old. Colorful, big, and fun, they allow infants to begin creating early on.
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LEGO makes sets geared towards kids of all ages that include characters like Batman, Star Wars, and Wonder Woman, and compatible minifigures add to construction play. -
Check out KNEX for educational sets that focus on everything from STEM to creating rollercoasters. This brand also makes Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys, old-fashioned blocks that are still a joy to play with. -
ZOOB makes blocks for older kids with differently-sized pieces that can create endless buildings or designs to enrich the imagination.