My grandchildren love to build things and any building set appropriate for their different ages will keep them busy for hours. They learn patients, how things work, and use their fine motor skills while playing with these educational STEM toys that help them hone a variety of skills.
I, along with their parents, are always searching for a new construction toy they will love and want to have in their collection.
Our list of building toys for kids is very helpful in discovering new options that are available in today’s market and even includes some oldies but goodies, such as building blocks and Lincoln Logs. Check out our list below of building toys for kids.
Erector
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Erector building sets are geared towards boys and girls who are ages six and up. There are many varieties of this building kit that are produced by Meccano and provides real wheels, bolts, and other high-quality pieces to allow them to complete the construction of vehicles.
Legos
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From beach houses and entire city centers to ships with pirates and airplanes, Legos never disappoint the children who love them and even collect them. Legos are by far the most popular building toy for children to learn how to build and use their problem-solving skills to create amazing artwork and toys that they can display or play with. Legos will keep them busy for hours while they are receiving an education and using their fine motor skills.
Lego Clones
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Lego clones are a Lego alternative to the original Lego building set but are more affordable for a lot of parents and grandparents when they purchase them for their children and grandchildren. Each brick is compatible with Lego bricks so you can expand your child’s collection without breaking the bank.
K’Nex Imagine
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K’Nex Imagine building sets allow your older kid to create amazing 3-D configurations, even a robot or Ferris wheel, and is a motorized building set. It offers wheels as well as connectors and rods with the pieces to allow your child to create more advanced projects.
Nanoblock Building Kits
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This construction kit features small, intricate pieces that older kids, such as your tweens, teens, and even adults, can use to create amazing projects.
IQ Builder Set
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The IQ Builders for children five years old and older contains smaller pieces that may be more difficult for a younger child to utilize. It can be used with other building sets, such as Legos and K’Nex, so you can add to your collection at a more affordable price.
Snap Circuits Building Set
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The Snap Circuits Building Set is more advanced and focuses on electronics so it is geared more towards kids who are eight years old and older. It allows kids to use an array of parts and pieces to conduct over 300 experiments, including a lie detector test, a radio and even a photosensitive electronic organ. It is a STEM educational toy that will increase your child’s knowledge in many topics.
Duplo Building Set
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A Duplo Building Set is great for small hands and increasing hand eye coordination for younger kids. It also helps them learn the different shapes that there are and fosters creative thinking. The building blocks come in a storage bucket which makes for easy cleanup.
Marble Run Building Sets
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The Marble Run building sets are great for younger children, even your toddler since the smooth edges are safe and will not scratch their hands as they build a variety of different models, including a marble track.
Wooden Blocks Construction Set
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A wooden block construction set can help a young child use their little hands to start building towers and other things and can even start them in their development of spatial reasoning. It is a great way to start young kids on their path to imaginative play.
Magnetic Tiles Building Set
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The magnetic tiles in the Magnetic Tiles Building Set can be connected together to create a house, a bridge, a castle, an airplane, or even a replica of dad’s pick-up truck. It is a great building set for ages 3 and up and can be enjoyed by the whole family while spending quality time together.
There are also magnetic toy building sets that are created for little hands of younger children who just started on their path to larger and more complicated building toys. This type of building set is a great way to foster your child’s imagination.
Tinkertoy
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Tinkertoys by Hasbro have been around for decades and is a classic building toy but kids still love this type of building set today. There are two varieties, including Tinkertoy Plastic and Tinkertoy Classic building sets. The classic version allows kids to build and create with wooden parts and sets instead of plastic. A Tinker Toy set is a colorful and fun building set for girls and boys that are age three and up.
Gears Gears Gears
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The Gears! Gears! Gears! Construction Set is a STEM toy that will keep your kids busy for hours while teaching them about grouping, sorting, counting, constructing, designing, and physics. These construction sets offer a variety of different sizes pieces that include square pillars, axles, interlocking bases, connectors, crank handles, and, of course, gears. Your older child can even create a ferris wheel with the connector pieces that come with this style of construction play.
Kre-O
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A Kre-O construction set can be used with a Lego building brick or a K’nex Imagine set to create amazing cities or villages and so much more. It is a great building set for both older kids and younger kids and there is even a Cityville set or a Transformers-themed one that are geared towards kids that love that particular line of toys.
Mega Construx
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From Game of Thrones Castles to Pokemon-themed construction sets, Mega Construx is great for older children and boasts building bricks in a variety of colors and shapes to create amazing projects. These sets will foster your child’s creativity and motor skills while they are kept busy with an educational toy.
Zoob
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The Zoob set offers many colorful hollow poles with socket-ended rods that your kids can connect together easily. Older kids, including tweens and teens, can even create intricate models while younger kids can opt for creating 3-D characters that can move.
Lincoln Logs
Lincoln Logs are an oldie but goodie when it comes to construction sets. Playing with log sets can increase your child’s hand-eye coordination, spatial recognition, and even their problem-solving skills.
Bristle Blocks by Battat
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Bristle Blocks by Battat are great for younger children who are just starting to use building sets to learn how to design and construct things. Each Bristle Block boasts soft, interlocking bristles that connect together as well as with other bristle blocks and even have eight wheels that come with the set that can add motion to any of your child’s creations. This is a great construction set for a toddler or preschooler.
FAQs About Building Toys for Kids
What does STEM stand for?
STEM is an acroynum for Science, Technology Engineering, and Mathematics. It is a curriculum used to increase the thinking skills of children in classrooms across the globe.
Why are building toys important to a child’s development?
Educational toys can help kids develop problem-solving skills, spatial skills, teach them about conflict resolution and how cause and effect works. It allows a kid to use his or her fine and gross motor skills while nurturing their creativity and imagination.
How do building toys help with a child’s development?
Construction toys provide an understanding of how pieces fit together. It also helps children with hand eye coordination and to learn how different directions work along with shapes and sizes. It can even help them to determine space and time along with their problem-solving and reasoning skills.
Is building good for kids?
Using construction play allows young kids and little ones as well as older children to use their education and knowledge to solve problems and to create.
What does a child learn from block play?
They learn patience as well as it fosters their emotional and social skills. It enhances their creativity along with increasing their attention spans, problem-solving skills, self-esteem, and a sense of accomplishment.
