Construction Toys - Part 2

Following on from Part 1, this blog shows some of the construction toys we currently have in the shop from simle stacking blocks for babies through to remote controlled wifi robots.


Lego The worlds most famous construction blocks; we have both boys and girls lego; from the big sets right down to the little sub $10 kits.

Andrea's Stage (Ages 5-12) $15.99

Heartlake Dog Show (Ages 5-12) $34.99

Creator Sports Car (Ages 6-12) $9.99

Check out the parents area of the Lego website for some really good articles on child development at various ages: http://parents.lego.com/en-us/ChildDevelopment/default.aspx




WEDGiTS (From $14.95) WEDGiTS are fun and challenging, multi-dimensional building sets. Early childhood age children are stimulated with the endless ways that soft, WEE WEDGiTS can stack and nest together. Pre-school children quickly learn the relationships between horizontal and vertical with Standard WEDGiTS. Elementary aged kids create everything from lifelike creatures to futuristic spacecraft with mini WEDGiTS.

Purple Set

WEDGiTS pieces can be nested, stacked, linked and wedged together to create hundreds of designs. Encouraging imagination, creativity and group participation, WEDGiTS offer endless hours of creative challenge and entertaining fun. WEDGiTS are so much fun, your child won’t realize you've selected the toy as a learning tool. Transluscent Deluxe Set

Translucent Deluxe Set

Recommended for children as young as one (refer to individual product descriptions), WEDGiTS have been earning awards for over a decade. Some of their most impressive honors include the 2002 Learning Magazine Teachers Choice Award; the 2001 Parents Choice Silver Honor Award and 1998 Parenting Magazine Toy of the Year Award.













Meccano Invented by Franck Hornby in 1898 in Liverpool for his children using screws and nuts, this is the original construction toy.

Spykee  ($59.95) is the first build-it-yourself robot controlled by computer via WIFI or from anywhere in the world via the Internet. SPYKEE has a webcam, a microphone, a speaker and two engines. It can move, see, hear, speak, take pictures, record videos, etc. It can detect intruders, and can play digital music. When its battery gets low, SPYKEE returns to its recharging base all by itself.

Sptkee Micro

Check out the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG4nX5NlmcU










  Hama Princess and Heart Set $19.95 Encourage your daughter's artistic side with this Hama set includes approximately 1100 beads, 2 pegboards in a princess and heart shape, 2 bead supports, ironing paper, and instructions

Mobilo Solar (Ages 4+) $44.95 The Mobilo Solar Experience helps children play, build and learn with the sun. As soon as light falls on the solar panel of a helicopter, windmill or aeroplane it will start to rotate, even without batteries, wires and sockets. The perfect kit to start learning about alternative energy sources!

Automoblox One of my personal favourites, these are beautifully crafted cars that are a fantastic toy in their own right but are really fun to put together. The body comes in three parts that must be clicked together, then the wheels put on and finally the driver, passenger and windscreen. Challenging but not difficult, these will be cherished and handed down through the family. They are available in both the large and small formats.

How they fit together

Don't you want to drive this?

Hot Rod Set

Nanoblocks If your children are bored of Lego, try Nanoblocks. Because they are so small, you can get much more detail than you would with Lego. They come in 3 ranges - animals (koala, panda, elephant, rabbit and musical instruments (baby grand, synth, drums) (small packs at $14.95) and famous land marks and buildings (Eiffel Tower, Easter Island).

Bass Guitar

Clown Fish

Kennedy Space Centre

GeoMags Geomag is the brand name of a Swiss-made toy construction system created in 1998, consisting primarily of nickel-plated steel balls (spheres) and short connecting sticks with a magnet on each end (rods). With these two basic elements, a huge number of geometric shapes and structures can be built. Adding panels helps to form rigid structures. Models are constructed by magnetically connecting the rods and spheres together in a lattice formation. Homemade experiments show that each stick can produce up to roughly 4.116N of force when attracting iron. Builders report that construction of ceiling-high pendulums is possible. Structures can easily be built and taken apart making building complex structures relatively easy. Such exercises teach children important lessons about problem solving, creativity, and physics. Geomag was named the 2005 Toy of the Year by the Toy Industry Association. They are also a popular office executive toy and increasingly used in more serious mathematical and scientific presentations. Take a look on YouTube for lots of Geo Mag kits in action.

GeoMag Wheels $59.95

A new range of Gbaby shapes are soft-to-touch, washable and waterproof, making it the perfect toy at bath time or anywhere else around the home. Magnets are completely encased around tough plastic and all the pieces have rounded corners for extra safety.

Gbaby - $31.95

Sparkle T Space Time (new) 
At only $19.95, this very cute Australian designed space themed set includes rocket & rocket transporter, shuttle and launch pad, two satellites and satellite dish.










Zoob
TheZOOBMobile™ Racer ($37.95) features 37 ZOOB pieces in special colors designed for building vehicles, 4 wheels with rubber tires that work like gears, and 2 instruction guides, with creations such as a Mach 5 Racecar and a Lunar Explorer. Because ZOOB® pieces snap together so many different ways, kids can use their imaginations to create their own vehicles, and add on pieces from their ZOOB collections to make even more. The Racer is fully compatible with all other Infinitoy ZOOB pieces.

What makes ZOOB different from other building sets? The pieces move after kids put them together It's great for boys and girls Versatility—unlimited, open-ended building options Intuitive—fast to learn and easy to use Built-in educational value














EdToy Wooden Plane
The mission of EDTOY is not simply to make toys, but to develop innovative toys that can ignite dreams and bring a bright future for children. The EDTOY Magnetic Aeroplane (Ages 3-8) is a fun 8 piece wooden play set. This toy encourages creativity, development of spatial perception and problem solving in young children, by requiring them to build their own unique vehicle models. This set can be connected with other products in the series to create a wide variety of air, land and sea vehicles.

The best feature of this toy is it's "rotating magnetic technology", which allows you to build vehicle models like no other wooden toy. The pieces join together with unique rotating magnetic connectors that allow sections to rotate once connected. Comes presented in a environmentally friendly recycled cardboard box with peep through window. Great for gift giving. Made from solid Beech wood, sealed with non-toxic lacquer.  




Janod Stacking Pyramid From France's premier wooden toy creators, this is stacking tower from Janod is decorated with whimsical animal designs and comes with 10 different sized stacking pieces that store inside each other. Once the pieces are matched together an enchanting vertical play scene is created. The pieces can also be assembled like those of a pie. Made from heavy duty card, it is presented in a delightful gift box.

Wikki Stix Wikki Stix are made of hand-knitting yarn enhanced with a microcrystalline food-grade, non-toxic wax, the kind used in bubble gum and lipstick. They do not contain latex, gluten, nor peanut or other nut oils or byproducts which makes them an ideal creative activity toy for children with allergies.

How do they work? Simply stated…they stick! No glue, no paste, no mess. Just press them down with light fingertip pressure and they will adhere to almost any smooth surface. They are also easy to peel up and reposition so “mistakes” virtually disappear, which helps build self-confidence. There is no preparation, no clean-up, no mess. Press ‘em down, peel ‘em off… it’s that simple! Wikki Stix do not break or tear apart, but cut easily with scissors. Wikki Stix conform to all U.S. Consumer Safety Standards including ASTM D-4236 and F-963, as well as the European Standard BS5665/EN71. A few more details Wikki Stix appeal equally to boys and girls, and span a wide range of ages, from 3 to 103! They are perfect for quiet, independent play, or interaction with others. They help enhance learning through hands-on kinesthetic involvement. They stimulate the imagination and creativity in everyone! And.. there is no right or wrong way to play!





Quack Daisy Wheel Construction An easy way to create models, check out our Quack Construction range

Update:

We've now got in Plus Plus and Metal Earth constructions toys too. See our 'New Arrivals' blog from September 2013 for details.

Construction Toys - Part 1

Construction toys are any toys that allow the child to build using pieces that either connect together or stack on top of each other easily and are great for enhancing children's motor skills, handling capabilities, planning skills, hand-eye coordination, problem-solving skills and of course their imaginations. Many studies have shown the importance of this type of dynamic play the skills that are developed with this type of play. In Part 1 of this blog, we'll look at the developmental benefits of these sorts of toys. In Part 2, I'll list some of the construction toys and kits we have in the shop.

Construction toys and maths:

Block play is linked with better maths skills, too. A longitudinal study tracked kids from preschool to high school (Wolfgang et al 2001). Researchers found that 4-years who played with blocks in more complex ways were more likely to achieve high math scores in high school.
We might reasonably assume that the link is caused by higher IQs—-i.e., that smarter preschoolers are both more likely to engage in complex block play and more likely to achieve in high school math classes. But researchers found that the association remained significant even after they controlled for a child’s IQ.


Construction toys and problem solving

Psychologists recognize two major types of problem. Convergent problems have only one correct solution. Divergent problems can be solved in multiple ways.
Because kids can put together blocks in a variety of ways, block play is divergent play. And divergent play with blocks may prepare kids to think creatively and better solve divergent problems.

In one experiment, researchers presented preschoolers with two types of play materials (Pepler and Ross 1981).

• Some kids got materials for convergent play (puzzle pieces).

• Other kids were given materials for divergent play (chunky, block-like foam shapes).

• Kids were given time to play and then were tested on their ability to solve problems.

The results? The kids who played with blocks performed better on divergent problems. They also showed more creativity in their attempts to solve the problems (Pepler and Ross 1981).


Construction toys and socialisation

Research suggests that kids become friendlier and more socially-savvy when they work on cooperative construction projects. For example, autistic kids who attended play group sessions with toy blocks made greater social improvements than did kids who were coached in the social use of language(Owens et al 2008;Legoff and Sherman 2006). Other research on normally-developing kids suggests that kids who work on cooperative projects form higher-quality friendships (Roseth et al 2009).


Construction Toys and Language Development

In a study sponsored by Mega Bloks, researchers gave blocks to middle- and low-income toddlers (Christakis et al 2007). The kids ranged in age from 1.5 to 2.5 years, and were randomly assigned to receive one of two treatments.

• Kids in the treatment group got two sets of toy Mega Bloks—-80 plastic interlocking blocks and a set of specialty blocks, including cars and people--at the beginning of the study. The parents of these toddlers were given instructions for encouraging block play.

• Kids in control group did not get blocks until the end of the study. The parents of these kids received no instructions about block play.

• Parents in both groups were asked to keep time diaries of their children’s activities. Parents weren’t told the real purpose of the study--only that their kids were part of a study of child time use.

After six months, each parent completed a follow-up interview that included an assessment of the child's verbal ability (the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories).

The results?

Kids in the block group

• scored higher on parent-reported tests of vocabulary, grammar, and verbal comprehension, and

• showed a non-significant trend towards watching less TV

It’s not clear why block play had this effect. It could be that kids who spent more time playing with blocks also had more opportunities to talk with their parents. Possibly, the parents in the treatment group felt more motivated to report language improvements.

Alternatively, block-play itself might help kids develop skills important for language development--like the ability to plan and recognize cause-and-effect sequences.


In part 2 of this Blog, I'll show you some of the construction toys that we currently have in stock