21 Awesome Building Toy Sets for Kids
When a reader recently asked the Childhood 101 Facebook community for building and construction toy set suggestions the responses were too fabulous not to share! So I have combined my own top building toys suggestions with those popular with readers to bring you this list of the 21 best building toy sets for kids.
Of course building is not just for little kids, many of the building toy sets below are more suited to children in the early, and even middle years, of primary/elementary school.
As construction sets can be expensive to buy, doing a little research and choosing to invest in a larger set of one product that your child will really love can often be a better idea than buying lots of different small sets. Whichever you choose, I hope you have fun building and constructing together.
21 Best Building Toy Sets for Kids
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1. Magna-Tiles
My girls were two and five when they first received a large set of Magna-Tiles for Christmas and they were included as part of regular play for more than six years. They really are an investment (as are many good quality construction sets) but magnetic tiles are easy for children of ALL ages to use, and they are fabulous to build with.
Magna-Tiles are now available in all sorts of different combinations. We LOVE the Original Classic Colors set, the Stardust tiles set with glitter and mirror tiles, the Glow in the Dark tiles set and the clear Ice tiles. The super cool 110 piece Metropolis set is also worth a look, especially for those wanting to expand their Magna-Tiles collection!
Place them alongside a window with sunlight streaming through, or use them with short strings of LED Christmas lights or on a light table for a fabulous burst of colorful construction fun.
2. Tree Blocks
Tree blocks are particularly fabulous as a building set for children who love imaginative play. Teamed with a set of small figurines – animals or fantasy characters, and a collection of natural materials such as shells or stones, my children will play for hours, building wonderful imaginary worlds.
3. Duplo & Lego
We can’t have a fabulous construction toy list and not feature Duplo for smaller fingers and its big brother, Lego, for bigger kids. I may be a little embarrassed by how much Lego my children have – they LOVE it…and I love their creativity when they’re playing with it.
Invented more than 40 years ago, I think part of the enduring appeal of Lego is the fact that it has been played with by parents and grandparents who love sharing a passion for building and creativity with their own children and grandchildren.
The hardest part of playing with Duplo or Lego? Choosing which set! There are so many cool options. See a range of Duplo options for younger children here and the myriad of awesome Lego options for older children (and adults!) here.
For those who already have a collection of Lego, encourage children’s building ideas with the titles in our list of the best Lego Books for Kids.
4. Marble Runs
If you are looking for an awesome building toy to encourage the development of a range of problem solving skills, then you can’t go past a marble run.
With a vast range of marble run sets available, both wooden and plastic, most sets include a combination of straight and curved tracks, inclines, support pieces and accessories (both functional and decorative). The pieces can be arranged in many different ways, each sending the marbles down through the system on a new route, and it is this flexibility and open-endedness that promotes both problem solving and creative thinking.
We love the Quercetti marble run sets but the Q-Ba-Maze marble run system recommended by readers looks pretty awesome too.
5. Wooden Block Sets
You can’t go past a wooden block set for great constructive play for little people. From around 6 months of age, sitting babies can help to stack (or knock down!) small wooden blocks. This Melissa & Doug Wood Building Block set is a great starter kit for wooden block building.
RELATED: For more like this, be sure to check out our suggestions for the best wooden toys for toddlers and preschoolers.
6. Rainbow Wooden Blocks
A set of rainbow wooden blocks near a sunny window offers a wonderful invitation to play for toddlers and preschoolers.
7. Rainbow Stacking Nesting Shapes
These rainbow shapes a wonderful for stacking and nesting, and offer wonderful problem solving opportunities for young builders.
8. Castle Building Wooden Block Set
The addition of a set of fabulous architecturally inspired shaped pieces continues to challenge older children’s play with blocks.
9. Wooden Train Set
We often think of train sets being merely for preschoolers but for many children it is not until they are in kindergarten or early primary/elementary school that they can independently construct complicated track configurations. While my two year old loved playing with our train set, it wasn’t until she was almost eight that she could plan and construct interesting track combinations independently.
Look for train sets that include interesting features such as bridges and drawbridges, inclines, switch tracks and merge tracks, like this Tiny Land Train Set.
10. Tegu
Another innovative, magnetic construction set, Tegu combines the natural feel of wooden toys with the magic of magnets. The manufacturer of these wooden magnetic blocks says, “Tegu has reinvented the wooden block in a way that brings new life to a favored classic. By safely embedding magnets into each piece, Tegu Blocks become curiously attractive for both kids and kids at heart. Defy gravity and push your imagination in ways never before possible. No instruction manuals or electronics; just toys that demand imagination and inspire limitless creativity across all ages.”
11. TinkerToy Building Sets
Another new find for me, TinkerToy sets include a whole range of interestingly shaped pieces to snap together, including spools, rods, flags, washers and end caps, allowing children the flexibility and creativity of both constructive and imaginative play.
12. K’Nex
A great set for primary/elementary aged children, K’Nex sets include collections of rods, connectors and bricks for children to use in construction. With a range of more open ended sets and single construction projects, K’Nex sets remind me a little of Lego but with a whole different world of possibilities thanks to the shapes of the pieces.
13. Smartmax
I love the size of the Smartmax pieces and think this is a great set for small children who like to build BIG! The magnetic building system offers more stability for the constructions of younger children, with the manufacturer saying, “Outstanding, colorfully-illustrated guides in each set demonstrate the basics of magnetic phenomena, ways to strengthen structures, steps in building towers and bridges, and much more.” I must say
14. Picasso Tiles Building Set
This STEM designed building toy is super colorful with interesting shapes, and offers a wealth of construction possibilities – wonderful for helping develop problem solving and logical thinking skills.
15. Lincoln Logs
Now I must confess I am more than a little sad that Lincoln Logs did not feature in my childhood but they were probably the most popular choice with Facebook friends located in the US and Canada. They look like so much fun and are clearly a cross-generational classic, much like Lego.
16. Snap Circuits
Combine a building toy with science and you’ll have Snap Circuits! This is one building toy set that offers a real building challenge for older children. The manufacturer says, “With its easy-to-follow instructions, Snap Circuits give your child a hands-on education in how electrical circuits work to run the everyday devices that they’re familiar with. They’ll also gain valuable lessons in building and in following instructions. The project manuals include large color illustrations and simple directions for each project.”
For even more ideas like this check out our collection of Cool Engineering Kits for Kids.
17. Zoob
Another reader suggestion, these look fabulous for older children. From the manufacturer, “ZOOB pieces snap, click and pop together to form joints that rotate, limbs that extend, axles that spin and lots more. Kids can create simple models in minutes or get absorbed and spend hours at a time. There’s no limit to what they can build: from animals to aliens, from dinosaurs to DNA. The pieces can be moved after being put together, so kids can play with their ZOOB creations, instead of just looking at them.”
18. Hammering Shapes Sets
The classic tap tap sound of children making pictures form wooden shapes is one I remember fondly from my days in early years classrooms. A 2-dimensional take on constructive play, a hammering toy set is really are worth a look for preschool and kindergarten as they are fabulous for fine motor skill development.
19. Light Stax
Who would have thought illuminated building bricks would be a thing! These cool, colored construction blocks do not need connectors or wires, they magically light up as they are stacked.
20. Kapla
Great for experienced kid builders who love to use their imagination while building, the simplicity of the Kapla blocks building sets offers so many possibilities for construction and problem solving.
21. Fort Building Kit
The joy of a fort building kit has to be constructing a space big enough to fit your whole body it! Just add a bedsheet and you have a cubby to hide in.
For more creative learning toys kids will love, check out these related posts;
I’m from the US (living in Australia) and I agree with the Lincoln Logs comment. I have so many memories of building the coolest things with these. I wish we could buy them here!
Love K’Nex! Thanks for the good picks.
my kids very happy if i bought lego and duplo for him ^_^