Educational tools & toys

[Lizard Queen]

I know different things were mentioned here and there about this subject.  I was hoping to start a thread for easy reference, especially since Christmas is coming.


Any recommendations for puzzles for a 4.5 YO boy?  He's been doing a new one for 6+ yo's over and over and over again.  I recall seeing a PBS show once about a math genius who was home-schooled by his dad, and that schooling consisted of a lot of puzzles--solving them, making them, etc.  Not that my kid is going to be a genius or anything, but since he likes puzzles anyway...I wonder what kinds will still be fun for him, but maybe a little more educational?

[HoneyBBQ]

My daughter is also a puzzle fanatic but she's not even 3 yet so the toys I've seen are probably not appropriate for your son.

Has he tried those 3D puzzles where you build roller coasters and stuff?

[sesfw]

Another thing you can try is an erector set type of building stuff. I know erector sets aren't being made anymore but there are similar things out there.

Something he can make, take apart, and make something else.  A couple of kids at church love Legos.

[Shooby]

Yeah, what about legos? Much like a 3d puzzle?

[Lizard Queen]

Oct 9, 2014 13:08:06 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

They still make Erector sets.  They just had an anniversary case last year that was sweet!  100th anniversary I think, or 75th.  Can't remember.  It was a 643 piece set with motor in a big folding plastic case like the kind power tools come in.  The 200-250 piece sets are still popular.  Each one makes 6-8 different models, and of course whatever you can dream up beyond that.

OMG, you're killing me here!  My kids are NOT good about picking up their toys.  643 would be torture--I think my husband might move out!    A smaller, simpler one might be good, though.

A 3d puzzle would be great.  I'll have to look for some that are for closer to his age range.  He can do slightly more complicated puzzles, but I'm afraid a really hard one would just discourage him and he'd give up on them altogether.

We have legos.  My kid is not very creative.  He just stacks them up in a single "tower".  I think he needs something with a little guidance in how to put it together.  He have a few small duplo sets that he's good about putting together from the picture.

[CarolinaKat]

Oct 9, 2014 13:46:16 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

Oct 9, 2014 13:08:06 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

They still make Erector sets.  They just had an anniversary case last year that was sweet!  100th anniversary I think, or 75th.  Can't remember.  It was a 643 piece set with motor in a big folding plastic case like the kind power tools come in.  The 200-250 piece sets are still popular.  Each one makes 6-8 different models, and of course whatever you can dream up beyond that.

OMG, you're killing me here!  My kids are NOT good about picking up their toys.  643 would be torture--I think my husband might move out!    A smaller, simpler one might be good, though.

A 3d puzzle would be great.  I'll have to look for some that are for closer to his age range.  He can do slightly more complicated puzzles, but I'm afraid a really hard one would just discourage him and he'd give up on them altogether.

We have legos.  My kid is not very creative.  He just stacks them up in a single "tower".  I think he needs something with a little guidance in how to put it together.  He have a few small duplo sets that he's good about putting together from the picture.

Melissa and Doug floor puzzles went over really well with the nieces. especially the ones with ocean creatures.

[Chocolate Lover]

Oct 9, 2014 13:46:16 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

Oct 9, 2014 13:08:06 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

They still make Erector sets.  They just had an anniversary case last year that was sweet!  100th anniversary I think, or 75th.  Can't remember.  It was a 643 piece set with motor in a big folding plastic case like the kind power tools come in.  The 200-250 piece sets are still popular.  Each one makes 6-8 different models, and of course whatever you can dream up beyond that.

OMG, you're killing me here!  My kids are NOT good about picking up their toys.  643 would be torture--I think my husband might move out!    A smaller, simpler one might be good, though.

A 3d puzzle would be great.  I'll have to look for some that are for closer to his age range.  He can do slightly more complicated puzzles, but I'm afraid a really hard one would just discourage him and he'd give up on them altogether.

We have legos.  My kid is not very creative.  He just stacks them up in a single "tower".  I think he needs something with a little guidance in how to put it together.  He have a few small duplo sets that he's good about putting together from the picture.

How many pieces are the puzzles he's doing now? DD did puzzles for a while until finding something in between the 100 & 500 pieces got hard. No, I didn't shop all over the world, just Wally World and Target.

Towers of legos are great, does he knock them over? I think my kids always liked that part best. BOOM! Like Godzilla. (not that they know much about Godzilla)

[swamp]

Oct 9, 2014 13:08:06 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

They still make Erector sets.  They just had an anniversary case last year that was sweet!  100th anniversary I think, or 75th.  Can't remember.  It was a 643 piece set with motor in a big folding plastic case like the kind power tools come in.  The 200-250 piece sets are still popular.  Each one makes 6-8 different models, and of course whatever you can dream up beyond that.

I want that

[lynnerself]

I think 4 1/2 is probably too young for erector sets. (Recommended for 7 and up?)
And slightly too young for Legos if he can't follow the instructions to make the toy on the cover.

As far as educational, my kids always had map puzzles of the US and the World. Also of some famous works of art.

But I'm not sure a puzzle needs to be educational. Why not just get more of the kind he likes?

He's still using spatial reasoning to put them together.

[teen persuasion]

My kids LOVED legos!  The youngest is 9 and still scrounges thru the Lego bin, inventing new space ships and whatever he thinks up.  If you son is just building towers, it sounds like you just have a bucket of all rectangular blocks.  Those are great as a base of parts, but we would also get them some of the small sets that built a car/helicopter/plane/etc.  Those had all sorts of interesting parts: wheels, headlights, odd shapes.  At first they recreated the design on the package, later they experimented making it bigger with their base parts, then just created new designs of their own.

They also loved those magnet toys, the name escapes me, but they can be dangerous if swallowed, so they may no longer be available.  They would make globe shaped ships, and suspend them from a single magnet; they could make it spin.

My library has a bin of puzzles for sharing - take a few, leave a few, swap later.  We also sell donated ones at our booksale.  How many times can you do the same puzzle before getting bored?

[whoisjohngalt]

Snap circuts

Anything by Quercetti

Start him on chess.  There are great kids' chess books and "games"

Almost anything by Thinkfun.  My kids liked this one, for example. 
www.amazon.com/Think-Fun-5040-ThinkFun-Rush/dp/B00004WJSN/ref=sr_1_14?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1412946124&sr=1-14&keywords=thinkfun


Any Ravensburger puzzles.

[Ombud]

5 Little Monkeys new catalog has a toy kit that makes 14 different solar powered toys (car, robot, etc)

[whoisjohngalt]

Oct 10, 2014 10:23:35 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

Start him on chess. There are great kids' chess books and "games"

No Stress Chess is a good way to start for youngsters.

It's also really cool to see people recommending so many of the products I carry.

Nobody has mentioned Thames & Kosmos yet, and they make fantastic science kits and toys for kids.

It's also really cool to learn about new things - never heard of Thames and Kosmos.

And looking at the prices, I *almost* wished I still didn't know about it

[whoisjohngalt]

Oct 10, 2014 10:48:16 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

You recommended Quercetti, and you think Thames & Kosmos is expensive?

It is on Amazon!!

[Lizard Queen]

Oct 9, 2014 14:03:03 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

Oct 9, 2014 13:46:16 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

OMG, you're killing me here!  My kids are NOT good about picking up their toys.  643 would be torture--I think my husband might move out!    A smaller, simpler one might be good, though.

A 3d puzzle would be great.  I'll have to look for some that are for closer to his age range.  He can do slightly more complicated puzzles, but I'm afraid a really hard one would just discourage him and he'd give up on them altogether.

We have legos.  My kid is not very creative.  He just stacks them up in a single "tower".  I think he needs something with a little guidance in how to put it together.  He have a few small duplo sets that he's good about putting together from the picture.

How many pieces are the puzzles he's doing now? DD did puzzles for a while until finding something in between the 100 & 500 pieces got hard. No, I didn't shop all over the world, just Wally World and Target.

Towers of legos are great, does he knock them over? I think my kids always liked that part best. BOOM! Like Godzilla. (not that they know much about Godzilla)

He's up to 100 piece ones, but those are kind of hard for him.  He tears through the 50 or so piece puzzles.

DS knocks over the towers, but gets upset/cries/whines because his 2 yo IS Godzilla (aka Baby Destructo)   and gets to them first.

[Lizard Queen]

Oct 9, 2014 14:38:33 GMT -5 @anne81 said:

DS did 100 piece puzzles about that age like this:  www.amazon.com/Trains-100-Piece-Jigsaw-Puzzle/dp/B0039ZANF0

DH loves brain teaser type things like rubik's cubes and wooden puzzles so we have a bunch of those in a bin that DS plays with. Actually, all the inlaws like them so I buy one each Christmas and they spend the day figuring it out.  They come in varying difficulties so DS plays with the easy ones.



perplexus

braintwist

DS also loves Gears, Gears, Gears,  Wedgits, and Magnatiles.

One of his favorite games is Obstacles.   You get tool cards like yarn, concrete, a propeller hat and then an obstacle card like a pit of lava.  You use your tool cards to create a way across the obstacle.  It's good for laughs and imagination.

We also like to play Destruct 3   You build towers of wooden blocks and then other people try to knock them down. 

Make n Break junior is another fun game

Cool!  Lot's of good ideas here--thanks!

[Lizard Queen]

Oct 9, 2014 18:24:12 GMT -5 lynnerself said:

I think 4 1/2 is probably too young for erector sets. (Recommended for 7 and up?)
And slightly too young for Legos if he can't follow the instructions to make the toy on the cover.

As far as educational, my kids always had map puzzles of the US and the World. Also of some famous works of art.

But I'm not sure a puzzle needs to be educational. Why not just get more of the kind he likes?

He's still using spatial reasoning to put them together.

Yeah, I think he's a little too young for erector sets, and probably the more complicated lego sets.  We have the big ones. Anyhow, since we still have a 2 year old in the house, I'm not too anxious to get the smaller legos just yet.

I just thought there might be more interesting puzzles out there, so he's not just learning to put together 2 dimensional pictures.

[Lizard Queen]

Oct 10, 2014 8:04:23 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

Snap circuts

Anything by Quercetti

Start him on chess.  There are great kids' chess books and "games"

Almost anything by Thinkfun.  My kids liked this one, for example. 
www.amazon.com/Think-Fun-5040-ThinkFun-Rush/dp/B00004WJSN/ref=sr_1_14?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1412946124&sr=1-14&keywords=thinkfun


Any Ravensburger puzzles.

OMG, my kid would love that game!  Combining puzzles and cars--he would be in heaven!



Thank you so much for all the great ideas, everyone!  I have a 2 year old home who's either sick or cutting some teeth, so I can only be on here sporadically right now.  But please, keep the ideas coming if anyone has any more, for my kid or other kids.  

[Spellbound454]

I think they are going in to an imaginative play phase at that age......where they start to bring characters to life and act out stories.

Just brought my four year old step son a pirate ship...complete with pirates and treasure.
He had a farm with animals for his birthday and he loves setting them out in their fields on the farm yard we made together.

Bit different to the usual cars....but full of play value.

[Lizard Queen]

Oct 10, 2014 13:02:50 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

Engino makes cool construction toys.  Goobi makes the best magnetic construction toys, for my money.  Paper Punk is cool.  Djeco toys are awesome.  Hape is cool for wooden toys, better than Melissa and Doug in my opinion.  They used to be made at the same factory, but M & D moved theirs to another factory in China that puts lacquer on the toys now.  Hape still uses vegetable based wood stain.  Won't matter for older kids, but for toddlers that might still put things in their mouths I wouldn't want Chinese lacquer on their toys, god knows what's in it.  Blue Orange makes some cool board games for little kids.  So does Peaceable Kingdom.

Good to know--thanks!  I did read some comments somewhere about the M & D paint, but didn't know there was another option.
Toys will be easier once younger brother turns 3 and I don't have to worry about little pieces.  (He still plays with some "not for under 3" toys, as it's really hard to avoid with multiple ages in the house.)

ETA:  Look at that!  I searched Blue Orange on Amazon, and a Kendama pops up!    I still don't get the hype.

[Lizard Queen]

Oct 11, 2014 14:43:55 GMT -5 Spellbound454 said:

I think they are going in to an imaginative play phase at that age......where they start to bring characters to life and act out stories.

Just brought my four year old step son a pirate ship...complete with pirates and treasure.
He had a farm with animals for his birthday and he loves setting them out in their fields on the farm yard we made together.

Bit different to the usual cars....but full of play value.

He is doing imaginative play.  It's so cute to listen to him.    I'll keep that in mind for toys too.  

[Lizard Queen]

Oct 12, 2014 13:40:15 GMT -5 @anne81 said:

I found the magic school bus kits were basic enough to do with DS when he was 4.

DS loved the Battat toys too because the screws and drill were sized right for chubby kid hands:



Dominoes are great for building too.  We got the the extras (steps, bells, teeter totter) and DS loves making spirals and other runs to knock over.

edited:  you don't have to buy the expensive dominoes.  We have a box of wood blanks for dominoes that we use.

You know, I think we might have some dominoes.  He'd have to hide out in his room away from his brother though.

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I have a bunch of ideas now for when the grandparents/aunts.uncles start asking.

[Chocolate Lover]

Oct 14, 2014 13:08:46 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

Look at that! I searched Blue Orange on Amazon, and a Kendama pops up! I still don't get the hype.

Toy fads never make sense. Look at Furbies. Creepy little buggers, and they don't do much.

Oldest DS had one, it would come on randomly at night and scare the bejesus out of him. Took the batteries out and stuck it in the closet. Don't know why we didn't just it immediately but it's long gone now. 

[Lizard Queen]

There was a cabbage patch doll craze when I was a kid (I'm old), and I remember thinking that they were butt ugly.

[Wisconsin Beth]

My not quite 5 year old still adores his farm animals.  And dinosaur models.  Currently he calls them all Transformers and stages fights between the Autobots and the Decepticons.     And we let him play with them in the bathtub.  Ooh, those little capsules that turn into sponge animals in the tub just fell out of favor about 2 weeks ago. 

And for your younger one - www.puzzlewarehouse.com/Fuzzy-Puzzle-Barnyard-1641-1cea.html?caid=239&gclid=COCN7K_ascECFcQ-MgodMh8ABg  This was Cabe's favorite puzzle for a solid 2 years. 

[Lizard Queen]

Oct 16, 2014 12:35:44 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

My not quite 5 year old still adores his farm animals.  And dinosaur models.  Currently he calls them all Transformers and stages fights between the Autobots and the Decepticons.     And we let him play with them in the bathtub.  Ooh, those little capsules that turn into sponge animals in the tub just fell out of favor about 2 weeks ago. 

And for your younger one - www.puzzlewarehouse.com/Fuzzy-Puzzle-Barnyard-1641-1cea.html?caid=239&gclid=COCN7K_ascECFcQ-MgodMh8ABg  This was Cabe's favorite puzzle for a solid 2 years. 

Great idea--thanks!

[Lizard Queen]

Oct 28, 2014 14:40:12 GMT -5 @anne81 said:

Woot has a deal running on eitech.

www.woot.com/plus/eitech-construction-sets-1?ref=cnt_wp_1

Awesome!  Thanks!!




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