Move over Lego here come K’Nex. Lego has been around for years and they have many fun sets that you can build with. In fact my son has numerous Lego sets that build different vehicles. The biggest problem is that there are only instructions on how to build one or two different types of vehicles with each set. If you lose some pieces you can’t make the vehicle anymore, a big problem with little kids. You are also more limited because Lego blocks require that you build on top of each other. That is why K’Nex are so great.
With K’Nex you can connect blocks from side to side, front to back, and top to bottom. The instruction booklet comes with about 20 different objects to build ranging from a car to a grandfather clock. It even has a wind-up engine that you can use to move the objects when you are finished building them. The engine turns the Ferris wheel and makes the grandfather clock tick, among other things. The set comes with more pieces than you need to build any of the objects. Which is nice, since much to my son’s dismay my daughter stepped on a car made out of K’Nex and broke one of the pieces.
K’Nex are great because they teach valuable spatial and engineering skills. As well as creativity as kids think of new things that they can build. Since he received the set my son has spent hours building different objects, sometimes with my help. (Yes I like playing with them too.) My daughters have really enjoyed playing with the K’Nex as well. The only problem is that now I really need two sets, since they tend to fight over the pieces that they want. Oh well, at least I know what to get my daughter for Christmas.