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STEM Stocking Stuffers for Kids Who Like Tinkering & Building

Do you have a child in your life who loves tinkering – building, assembling, disassembling, sorting, moulding and being busy with their hands? These stocking stuffer suggestions are for the all of the pint-sized tinkers and builders in our lives…

~ Woodwork kit – small hammer, nails, offcuts of soft wood, wood glue, hot glue gun, measuring tape, spirit level, tool belt

~ Kalpa planks

~ Wedgits

~ Trains and train tracks

~ Sand moulds, buckets and spade

~ Wooden tap tap hammering game

~ Locks and latches board

~ Crazy forts

~ Jenga

~ Traditional dominoes – enough to build really cool domino runs

~ A deck of cards for card house building

~ Jigsaw puzzles with interlocking pieces

~ Rubix cube

~ Pattern blocks

~The Lego Ideas Book, Daniel Lipkowitz, DK Children 2011

~ Beginner electronics kit

~ Jewellery making kit

What would you add to my list of suggestions for tinkers and builders?

If you have a creative kid, check out  – Christmas Stocking Stuffers for Creative Kids

If you love an outdoor adventurer, check out – Christmas Stocking Stuffers for Outdoor Adventurers

Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.

Read the comments or scroll down to add your own:

  1. Belinda says

    My son is really into building. I got him a few pulleys off Ebay and some rope and they keep him entertained for hours! Plus it's a challenge for me to come up with different pulley systems - fun!

  2. Jen says

    What a great list! I love PVC pipes and connectors cut into manageable sizes for building. We found Crazy Forts to be aweful! They were frustrating for my son, expensive and difficult to keep together. To build with the you must always orient the purple ball in the correct direction which is very difficult for kids to determine. Save money on that one and stick with regular fort building materials!!!

  4. Lulu says

    A friend of mine recently reviewed the "makedo" kit - it wasn`t an affiliate or anything just something a friend of hers sent her here in Japan. Looked great so I chucked one in our "cart" for the Christmas gifts coming from overseas. Basically they are special pins etc you can use to hold cardboard etc together to make forts/play kitchens, anything really. Here is a link http://www.amazon.com/Make-Do-Kit-One-65pcs/dp/B003XNTQU6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353648264&sr=8-1&keywords=make+do+kit

  5. Tracy says

    Not a stocking stuffer as such, but my 5yr old builder is enjoying building with PVC pipe and joiners. We've got ten 1m lengths of 20mm pvc pipe, ten or so small sections of pipe about 5cm long (why you need them makes sense the first time you try to build a cubby!) and a pile of different joiners - couplers, 45degree elbows, 90 degree elbow and tees. He's building pipelines, cubbies and just random sculptures in the backyard. Loads of fun!

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