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Building toys for kids – from baby to five years

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Here is a roundup of some of the best building toys for kids, creative STEM building toys that will can be used by babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers. 

Building toys for kids

From tiny babies, children are often fascinated by building things. 

Those first tentative towers, that are knocked down with such delight, give way to soaring skyscrapers over the years. 

Building and construction is a brilliant developmental activity all the way through childhood.

There are some brilliant building toys around for babies from a few months old. 

STEM led play

STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – is a relatively new learning acronym. 

However toys and play grounded in STEM has been around for decades. 

Creative building and construction toys are well and truly part of STEM learning. 

These STEM activities constantly enhance fine motor skills, allow endless creativity and nurture an ever more complex understanding of physical structures and mechanics.

Developing literacy and numeracy skills

Building toys can also provide a great foundation for developing literacy and numeracy skills.

There are some brilliant building and construction toys out there.

Many of them are old classics.

Building toys make a great investment because they will often grow with your child and provide year after year of fun.

Pound for pound, or dollar for dollar, you’ll get more play out of them for your money than out of almost any other toys.

Big list of building toys for kids

This is a list of some of the best building toys around, building toys that we’ve loved and that friends’ kids have loved. 

This list is for you if you’re looking for some great building toys to buy for your own baby or child. 

I’ve focused on building and construction toys suitable for babies of a few months old up to children aged five. 

That said, a lot of these toys will get plenty of use from children older than five. 

It’s also great if you’re looking for great gift ideas for Christmas or birthday presents. 

In short, use this list to buy some of the best building toys around today. Don’t forget to add some of these toys to your baby essentials shopping list

Building toys for kids – from baby to five years

1. Soft building blocks

Soft building blocks are wonderful for very small babies and will grow with them throughout their first year.

Blocks with different textures, flaps and tags will enhance their pincer skills even before they are ready to start building and knocking down towers.

This is a lovely set of four grab and stack blocks by Bright Starts. 

Bright Starts Grab and Stack Blocks

Bright Starts Soft Blocks

2. Stacking cups

I could talk for hours about the wonders of stacking cups.

I’m a particular fan of these brightly coloured stacking cups from The First Years.

Your baby can start to really play with them from six months of age and still be playing with them years later. 

They help develop fine motor skills, but they will also discover how to sort things by size and the role that size plays in building stable towers. 

The First Years Stack Up Cups

Stacking Cups

 

3. Mega Bloks

Think of Mega Bloks are big Lego (not sure Lego would like the analogy, but hey!). 

Talking of Lego, if you’re wondering what the difference is between Mega Bloks and Lego Duplo, the main difference is that Mega Bloks are much easier to pull apart. 

This is what makes them so much easier for older babies, toddlers and very young children to use. 

We got a big bag of Mega Bloks when my daughter was one year old. 

They were played with endlessly.

The Bloks were used to make everything from zoos to fairy gardens, to bridges and castles. 

Mega Bloks are also great to use for colour sorting games. 

Mega Bloks Construx 900 DCH55 Big Building Bag, Blue, 60 Pieces

Mega Bloks

 

4. Wooden bricks

Toy wooden building blocks are a timeless classic.

I suggest going for sets with lots of different shapes, including cylinders, cuboids and triangles.

Wooden building blocks are a wonderful way for children to start to see and understand that an upper body can be supported by smaller lower bodies.

Melissa & Doug Wooden Building Blocks Set (Developmental Toy, 100 Blocks in 4 colours and 9 Shapes, Building toys for kids, list of building toys, construction toys, STEM toys for babies, STEM toys for toddlers, STEM toys for pre-schoolers)

Melissa & Doug has a brilliant set of 100 brilliantly coloured bricks at a very reasonable price. 

5. Sticking bricks

Sticking bricks are another building toy classic. 

The plastic pins on sticking bricks give children the flexibility to make all sorts of structures that they couldn’t do with conventional bricks.

The pins also help them see the power of adhesion in building structures.

I think sticking bricks are great for kids from anywhere between two and three years of age. They might well find them frustrating before then.

Bristle Blocks does a lovely, brightly coloured set of 85 blocks and Stickle Bricks are the absolute classic of sticking bricks. 

Bristle Blocks 70.3071 Toy, Various, 85-Piece

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Stickle Bricks TCK07000 Hasbro Stick Fun Tub, Building toys for kids, list of building toys, construction toys, STEM toys for babies, STEM toys for toddlers, STEM toys for pre-schoolers

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6. Octons / connectagons

Octons are building toys that allow children to create beautiful, fragile structures that have all sorts of angles. 

They are brilliant for developing fine motor skills in children from three years of age upward. 

They also inspire children to appreciate three dimensional structures and repeating geometrical patterns.

This is what Octons look like, they’re by Galt

Galt Toys Octons, Building toys for kids, list of building toys, construction toys, STEM toys for babies, STEM toys for toddlers, STEM toys for pre-schoolers

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7. Dado building toys

Much like octons, Dado allows children to build complex three dimensional structures from interlocking shapes.

The Dado pieces are much bigger than octon shapes so children can build really big constructions.

Folkmanis 50014 "Dado Squares Original Toy

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8. Marble runs

Marble runs are just SO MUCH FUN!

They give endless opportunities for clever solutions and there is something unerringly fascinating about watching things fall. 

Galt do several version of marble runs, this is the super marble run

Galt Toys Mega Marble Run

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If you want something that’s made of wood and will be passed down through the generations, then how about this Hape wooden marble run? It’s certainly an investment piece, but totally lovely. 

It also comes in smaller versions, if you really can’t spend big bucks on it. 

Hape Quadrilla Wooden Marble Run Builder-Vertigo-High Quality Wooden Safe Play-Smart play for Smart Family-Quality Time Playing Together, Building toys for kids, list of building toys, construction toys, STEM toys for babies, STEM toys for toddlers, STEM toys for pre-schoolers

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9. Gears building toys

You might think that gear toys are more for older children. 

However, even babies as young as four months can enjoy simple gears, like this lovely set by Melissa & Doug.

Babies love the twisting movement of gears and are fascinated by turning one thing and making something else move.

Melissa & Doug Rainbow Caterpillar Gear Toy With 6 Interchangeable Gears

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As children get older they are constantly challenged by building ever more complex mechanical interdependencies and things that actually move.

This is where this brilliant set by Gears Gears comes into play, it’s suitable for children aged three upwards. 

Learning Resources Gears Gears Gears Deluxe Building Set - Multi-Coloured, Building toys for kids, list of building toys, construction toys, STEM toys for babies, STEM toys for toddlers, STEM toys for pre-schoolers

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10. Suction building toys

Children understand gravity from a very early age.

They know that if they drop something it will fall.

So babies and small children are also fascinated by forces like static and magnetism and materials that can apparently defy gravity.

Malleable plastic toys with suction connectors, such as these from Squigz, allow young kids to build wonderful structures that apparently defy everything they’ve learnt about the rules of gravity.

Folkmanis 50018 "Squigz

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11. Connecting straws

Connecting straws are another timeless classic that, like Squigz, allow children to create elegant, apparently gravity defying structures and to appreciate the strength of curves and bends in supporting structures.

This set is by ToyMyToy and has 300 straws, which means that kids can build some BIG structures!

There are also plenty of other connecting straw sets to choose from. 

TOYMYTOY 300pcs Straw Connectors Toy Straw Constructor Interlocking Engineering Toys Kids Educational Toys for Kids Children 2018 New Year Birthday Gift

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12. Lego

And finally… LEGO! 

What list of building toys would be complete without Lego?!

Lego has kept millions of children happy for many many many hours of play.

Lego Duplo is brilliant from three years of age and kids can graduate up to the smaller Lego and then onto the myriad options of themed sets. 

This is a Lego Duplo set has two child LEGO DUPLO figures, a treehouse with slide, swing area with windmill and a bouncy car ride, with extra pieces to inspire creative play. 

LEGO 10864 DUPLO My First Large Playground Brick Box Construction Set, Easy Toy Storage Preeschool Toys for Kids 2-5, Building toys for kids, list of building toys, construction toys, STEM toys for babies, STEM toys for toddlers, STEM toys for pre-schoolers

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However, classic Lego, that leaves the child to do all the imagining and creating will always be number one in my book. 

LEGO 10698 Classic Large Creative Brick Box Construction Set, Toy Storage, Fun Colourful Toy Bricks for Lego Masters

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I really hope you find some useful ideas for building and construction toys that will help give your baby, toddler, pre-schooler or young child some great STEM inspired play. 

Possibly the best thing of all with these building toys is that they are a brilliant way for parents to get down, play and interact with their kids. I have certainly spent many a happy hour doing just that. 

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Building toys for kids, list of building toys, construction toys, STEM toys for babies, STEM toys for toddlers, STEM toys for pre-schoolers
 

aman

Monday 16th of December 2013

HiThanks for this info, I have read an article that can be used for medication and I found out useful stuff also and some useful guidelines. ecofriendly construction

Jack Andrew

Monday 25th of November 2013

Yeah this block games is good for making the child brain sharp.

Corplex Construction Company

Mackenzie

Saturday 19th of October 2013

What a great collection! We have a few of these and several I've never seen! Saving this for Christmas ideas! :)

Missy

Wednesday 16th of October 2013

This is a great list! I love toys that inspire creativity in my kids! Thank you for sharing! I found your post on Artsy Play Wednesday.

Jaime Oliver

Monday 14th of October 2013

we love some of these!! there is nothing like building toys!

thanks for linking up with #MagicMoments x