Young boy toy & book recommendations

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  • February 20, 2012 at 6:29 pm
    Ladyofthehouse
    Member

    Having had two little girls first I am still sometimes in shock at how different my two little guys are! I mean, I knew they would be but still……:o)

    My 4 year old boy is showing a lot of interest in mechanical things lately. He is always trying to build something, he told me last night that he is planning to build a robot this week :o) He is forever dismantling small toys and items, I gave him a flashlight for valentines day and he used it for a couple of nights before taking it apart to make something else. I feel like I have small bits of wire, plastic, batteries, etc. everywhere…..he has been asking me to buy him a kit of robot parts (!?)

    So my question is what books and toys have you all found to be good investments for hands-on/mechanically minded boys? We have started him on Legos which are a big hit. A lot of mechanical toys seem a little old for a four year old, but if it would be something he could tinker with now and then grow into I’d be open to getting him started. Also on the books, obviously he isn’t reading yet but any suggestions for something that would have good pictures.

    I was thinking about the book, The Way Things Work…..can anyone give me a review of it?

    Thanks for any suggestions you all can give :o)

    February 20, 2012 at 8:07 pm
    LindseyD
    Participant

    Your son sounds like my husband when he was a child. He took apart and reassembled the family VCR when he was four or five! My husband is now a computer geek who makes his living networking, troubleshooting, building computers, and writing software programs. So you might have a future computer genius on your hands!

    Have you looked at Playmobil? These toys aren’t “mechanical”, but our son loves them. They are very hands-on, and depending on which set you choose, they can be robotic/technologically-minded. They are very well-made and sturdy. You’ll probably lose pieces before anything ever breaks.

    Kinex (sp?) also comes to mind. I know these can be found easily at Target and  Toys-R-Us.

    February 21, 2012 at 2:00 am
    Ladyofthehouse
    Member

    Thanks Lindsey, that is fun about your husband when he was a boy :o) I certainly want to encourage any natural interests the kids have, who knows where they may lead!

    I just started our Playmobil collection this Christmas, and yes, the kits are a really big hit here. I plan to grow our collection :o)

    I’ll look into the Kinex

    February 21, 2012 at 2:57 am
    Doug Smith
    Keymaster

    Four year olds often like to work with their hands but they often don’t have the fine motor or spacial skills for really small parts and building yet. If you can find some toys that use nuts and bolts or gears, screwdrivers and wrenches, but are still a bit chunky sized, they can be used to develop those skills while not frustrating little hands. If it’s too difficult then the child will often lose their love for it.

    In our experience, the best toys were open-ended building toys that had a few examples in the instructions. Toys that are made to build a specific model often lock kids into that thinking. For example, I’d almost always go for a bucket of miscelaneous lego parts over a lego set that builds a robot.

    I did a quick search and came up with a few possibilities. The second set has a robot on the cover. Unfortunately, they haven’t received very high ratings so you might want to find somewhere you could look them over before buying. They are also rated for a little bit older ages so use your judgement there.

    http://www.amazon.com/Guidecraft-Construct–321-Piece-Building/dp/B000KNB9XO

    http://www.amazon.com/Guidecraft-Construct-Early-Builder-Piece/dp/B000KNDBDA

    Here’s something a bit different that uses magnets to hold together. You don’t get the benefit of learning how nuts and bolt screw together, but it does develop building and spacial skills.

    http://www.amazon.com/Guidecraft-Magneatos-Master-Builder-pieces/dp/B001AMR2BC

    One other building kind of toy our boys always enjoyed was a ball or marble track. I used to make these kinds of things out of cardboard when I was a kid. 🙂

    http://www.amazon.com/MindWare-Marble-Run-105-Piece-Set/dp/B002OFCW5A/

    http://www.amazon.com/Marble-Run-68-pc-Play-Set/dp/B000WBGBDM

    http://www.amazon.com/Quercetti-45-Piece-Transparent-Marble-Run/dp/B00000J4QK

    February 21, 2012 at 1:36 pm
    Ladyofthehouse
    Member

    Thanks Doug!

    I understand your point about not frustrating him beyond his motor skills, I’ll keep that in mind.

    Thanks for all of the links too, the one that intrigues me the most is the marble track. I like that it would actually “do” something when he finished building it, I think that would be rewarding :o)

    February 21, 2012 at 8:01 pm
    artcmomto3
    Participant

    My DD is very mechanical.  She LOVES Legos!  In fact, we got DS some Lego vehicles for his b’day, and DD puts them together, and then he plays with them. Tongue out Some big hits with her are Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys.  She also has really enjoyed regular wooden blocks.

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