Christmas is over. Hopefully most of your decorations are put away. Maybe even some of the new toys are hidden, only to emerge at a later date when the February doldrums sets in and young bodies are anxious to be busy.
I tried as long as I could to hide a certain building toy set sent to us by Guidecraft.
No, let me take that back. I actually had it “stored” in our family room for a long, long, long time. I wanted the boys to get super-duper curious.
It worked.
On a particularly boring day (for them), due to the fact that I had to devote more attention to Naomi, I unveiled unpacked the Construct It Early Builder Set.
Why were they so curious? Well . . . imagine a boy suddenly acquiring 160 pieces to build as many machines and toys as his imagination will allow. In our house, if it has a hammer, pliers, and a screwdriver . . . it is sure to be a hit. (Not to mention the fact that this toy is geared toward ages 4 and up. Yup, we got a few of those walking around our house.)
They were enticed to build this . . .
and this . . .
and this . . .
What does a 6 year old do with this toy?
He treats it like a set of Lego's. Except he can build more useful things.
But a 6 year old who is used to following step-by-step instructions becomes frustrated when those instructions are NOT included. He has to look at a picture and somehow figure out what pieces to use to mirror the aforesaid object.
I, personally, don’t have a problem with the lack of instructions. I think it is good practice to employ problem solving skills. But it was a little hard to convince a certain 6 year old that there is value in working through something difficult to create something useful.
What does a 4 year old do with this toy?
He mainly watched his brother. Smart little tyke. He wanted Asher to construct the toy, and then he would play with it.
But he could (for school or for play-time with mommy)
- sort colors
- sort shapes
- follow my step-by-step instructions to create something
What does a 2 year old do with this toy?
He looks at it.
He tries to figure out what on earth his brothers built.
He takes his brothers’ creations apart.
What else could he do with this toy?
- refine his fine motor skills by dropping dried spaghetti through the holes
- pound the pegs through the base rectangles with the supplied hammer
- experiment and see what pieces fit through a paper towel tube
And what will brothers do when they play with the Construct-It Early Builder set?
They will turn a laundry basket into a boat. Underneath the basket you will find a blue blanket that is actually water. And with the Construct-It Early Builder set, they will attach the blanket to the basket so that they can pretend to be the captain of a pirate ship.
Looks like the Construct-It Early Builder set must be an open-ended toy. I like that.
And if you like that . . . head on over to Mama Jenn’s to win this very set! Giveaway ends January 21st!
And if you don’t win the giveaway, , you can head over to the Guidecraft website OR purchase the Construct-It Early Building set through Amazon!
As a Guidecraft Mom blogger, this product was given to me for review purposes. I do not have to return the product to the vendor and I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.
