Best Building Toys for Children According to Architecture Critic
In her new book Child Design: How the Material World Shapes Independent Children, architecture critic Alexandra Lange explains that since the inception of the mass toy industry, there have been good and bad toys in the eyes of adults. “A bad toy is one that just sits, needs to be kneaded and pulled out in a set sequence, and it collapses when it falls apart,” she writes. The Good Toy allows kids to glue their own worlds together using the simplest physical details to conjure up cities of imagination. “
Lange believes that among good toys, nothing beats blocks.
“They are strong, durable and flexible and can be used for many different types of games,” she says. “A block doesn’t always have to be wood or even block-shaped to be a great building material.” Here Lange shares his recommendations for the best building toys for young children. Think about them the next time you’re in the toy aisle seduced by Hatchimals, Nerf Drone Blasters and talking minions.
What if you already have all these blocks, you say? Where will you go next? As Lange writes: “The best thing is to just buy more things for the children.”
Blocks
“The unit blocks, the wooden building blocks you see in the corner of most toddlers’ classrooms, were invented by Caroline Pratt in 1913,” Lange tells us. “The basic unit is a brick-shaped block, and all other forms are related to it in different ways, like halves, like doubles, therefore, playing with the blocks, children learn mathematical relationships. They will also learn how to build standing structures, how to collaborate with other children, how to tell stories by adding figurines to their buildings, and more. ”
Duplo
Kids can start playing with Duplo, Lego’s younger brother, as early as 18 months. Small hands can build things quickly and are not as easily knocked down as when working with wooden blocks. “I love that Duplo is more gender neutral and less brand-aligned than Lego itself,” says Lange. “It’s not hard to find baskets with colorblocked as well as more specific details like flowers, windows and wheels that allow kids to draw a basic version of their own world. When my son was little, we got a lot of Duplo colors and together we built a version of the High Line on his playground. “
Magna-Tiles
Lange calls Magna-Tiles “an instant fun building toy,” as kids can build what looks like a colored glass castle in minutes. “These were my children’s favorite toys, and my husband, an architect, also loves to tinker with them,” she says. “When kids were young, they gravitated towards large square tiles, but my husband started playing with triangles and could make some designs very much inspired by Buckminster Fuller. Because they are sleek and kids can build relatively large buildings, Magna-Tiles go well with figurines and small dolls that tower over LEGO or Duplo. Magna-Tile creations look very good too, so as a parent you don’t mind if they linger. “
Tubing
When Lange’s son received Tubation as a gift, she was confused, not knowing if it was a bath toy, a tool, or maybe a marble walkway, as she described on her blog . “But then my son took it into his own hands and better things happened. Swords, dinosaurs, canopies, bracelets and, yes, a pistol or two. She calls Tubation a “building toy stick.”
Zoob
“Not all construction sets need to be stacked,” says Lange. Zoob, created by artist Michael Joaquin Gray in the mid-1990s, consists of interlocking gears, axles and joints. When the creations are complete, they move as beings. “My son used them to create all kinds of monsters,” Lange recalls. “In the hands of its creator, Zoob can transform itself into tissue, sea urchins or leafy twigs with all sorts of clever connections, although the main one is similar to a swivel joint.”