Tool Reviews

Constructors for children are a set of wooden parts of various shapes, putting them together, the child gets a finished toy: a fairy-tale character, a doll house, a car model or even a bird feeder.

Playing with such a set, the kid gets acquainted with a variety of geometric shapes, shapes and colors, masters ways to connect parts, develops finger motor skills. The game involves memory, attention, spatial thinking and imagination.

The wood used for the manufacture of educational toys is an environmentally friendly, natural material.

Types of wooden constructors

According to the type of connection of elements, sets for children are conventionally divided into two groups:

Designers with tightly fixed parts. These are all kinds of models of equipment, figurines of animals and fairy tale characters, as well as buildings, structures and structures – houses, castles, fortresses, towers.

Such a developing set is assembled once, and then the kid plays with the finished product, which can be safely transferred from place to place and intensively used in their games. On the shelves of stores you can find a large number of collapsible models. At the same time, the young builder makes arbitrary changes during the assembly process, swapping blocks or removing unnecessary ones.

In the process of work, a boy or girl acquires the skills necessary in life to work according to a given scheme. If the child used the instructions and correctly connected the parts to each other, he will get a toy, “as in the picture”, moreover, he made it himself.

Such a game is useful for the development of spatial modeling, attention, perseverance, the ability to bring the work started to the end and achieve the goals.

In game sets for connecting elements are used:

• tongue-and-groove system. The details of the designer are tightly connected to each other thanks to the protrusions and holes. In some cases, glue is used to fix the elements (if included in the kit). Such designers require attention, perseverance and accuracy in work. The assembled constructor is not only interesting to use in children’s games. It will become a stylish decoration of a children’s room and the pride of its owner. Such sets are intended for children of middle and older age;
• fasteners: bolts, screws, nuts. At the same time, the necessary working tools are included in the set: a toy screwdriver, a wrench, a hammer. The assembled model, depending on what the manufacturer offers, can be static or mobile: the wheels of the cars spin, the doors open. The kid will easily come up with stories for exciting games. Such a designer will surely appeal to boys of all ages;
• a cord with a wooden stick at the end, which must be threaded through the holes in the details. Each wooden element must be strung on a string in turn in a certain sequence. From the chain of figures you will get a steam locomotive, a caterpillar, a turret or a scattering of fruits. Such a wooden designer is recommended for the youngest children. The kid will sort through the figures, try to string them on a stick and will be able to study the basic shapes and colors in a playful way, develop fine motor skills of the fingers.

Sets consisting of blocks that need to be stacked on top of each other like building bricks. These are cubes and cones, columns and slabs, beams and roof elements, stairs – spare parts of various shapes, sizes and colors. Most often, it is proposed to build a building from such blocks – a tower, a castle, a fortress, a house or even a vast fairy-tale town.

Such a building is not distinguished by great strength and stability; with careless movement, you can inadvertently destroy it. But the kid will be able to repeatedly and effortlessly assemble and disassemble such a constructor, each time creating something new, unexpected or even fantastic from the same components.

A distinctive feature of educational toys of this type is the ability to combine sets of different types and manufacturers. This will only add variety to the gameplay and make it fun and exciting.

Choose the right blocks, play alone or in a fun company, build a house or a whole fabulous city – the choice is yours. All this creates conditions for the development of imagination and creative abilities of children.

Wooden elements of the developing set are:

• painted with bright colors. Blocks are produced in monophonic, multi-colored, with a pattern applied with paint. The first option – under a layer of paint, a natural pattern of wood is visible. Another option is a dense opaque layer of paint. The main thing is that the paint used by the manufacturer is environmentally friendly and safe for children. You need to pay special attention to this when choosing a wooden constructor;
• covered with a colorless stain or varnish. The texture of the wood on the part remains visible, while such an element is protected from external influences, it can be cleaned with a damp cloth;
• not painted. The structure of the tree is clearly visible, the natural properties of wood are preserved. Such details are more natural, they can be safely offered to a small child who tries everything “by the tooth”. Playing with unpainted cubes, the baby gets the first impression of the structure of wood, feels the natural smell of wood and texture. At the same time, such elements are much more difficult to keep clean – they cannot be washed with water, because untreated wood is afraid of moisture;
• not painted, suggest self-coloring of parts by the child after assembly. The resulting figurine, vehicle model or building can be painted with paints of your choice (the paint must be resistant and safe). Therefore, for different children, the same constructors will look completely different. Paint for such a designer is included in the set. Or you can purchase acrylic paints for artwork yourself and use them. Of course, this option is only suitable for middle-aged and older children, and such work should be done under the supervision of an adult.

How to choose a wooden constructor

It is convenient if the toy has a transparent package, then the buyer will evaluate the quality of the work of all the components before buying. If the product is packed in an opaque bag or box, it is advisable to give preference to well-known brands that have proven themselves in this market. It will be useful to read reviews of other buyers on the Internet.

Of course, price also plays an important role. A high-quality, safe and environmentally friendly product is not sold at a price that is suspiciously low.

How to choose according to age

First of all, carefully study the packaging of the toy and pay attention to the age marking on the product.

• for kids, manufacturers usually offer from four to twelve large and bright elements that will be comfortable to hold in small hands. At the same time, the possibility of breaking or swallowing such parts must be excluded. The baby can collect the elements in random order, or he can look at the picture and try to reproduce the sequence of details;
• for older children, more complex designers are offered. Assembly instructions are supplied by the manufacturer. The need for adults to participate in the assembly process depends on the age of the young builder.

It should be remembered that the baby should not be given a toy containing small parts that are easy to swallow. This is important for families with children of different ages.

How to play correctly

• To organize the game, the baby will need a hard and even surface. It is necessary to prepare a table or a free corner of sufficient size on the floor in a room where nothing will disturb the young architect and will not distract him from the game;
• remove the development kit from the box/package, remove all packaging materials. Remove all parts from the box;
• sort the parts if the instructions suggest so. It is advisable to recalculate the number of elements to make sure that the necessary components are in place (the manufacturer usually indicates the number of parts of each type on the packaging);
• get the attached instructions and invite your son or daughter to carefully study it. At the first stage, the participation and tips of an adult will help the child;
• invite the baby to assemble a toy model, following the proposed scheme or focusing on the attached picture;
• if the set does not imply strict adherence to the assembly instructions, let the young architect show his imagination and build what he considers fascinating and interesting for himself;
• at the end of the work, you can dream up with the baby about who the assembled object is intended for. If this is a house – which of the toys will live in it, what kind of toy furniture to furnish, how to supplement it. If this is a truck, what goods and cargo will it transport, from where and where, who will be the driver. It is important to use all the functionality of the development kit, because the main goal is to develop the abilities, skills, skills and imagination of the crumbs.

Where you can and cannot play

Wood is a highly flammable, combustible material, so you can not play such a constructor near sources of fire.

Care

Since the ingress of moisture on wooden surfaces should be minimal, it is easier to prevent strong contamination than to clean dust and dirt from the wood later. It is advisable to store a toy that a son or daughter rarely uses in a closed box or in a rack with doors.

Dust from the part can be easily removed with a piece of soft cloth: flannel or microfiber. An eraser will help get rid of pencil marks on the toy.

If the wooden parts had to be washed, you need to dry the components as soon as possible so that the wood does not dry out.

Problems

Product defective: wooden elements were not polished thoroughly enough at the factory, or a chip appeared on the part during the game. In this case, notches form on the surface, there is a risk of injury during the game. The buyer has the right to return to the store a toy that does not meet the safety requirements for children’s products. But this problem is easy to fix on your own with fine-grained sandpaper.

The surface of the element must be carefully sanded, and then remove the resulting dust with a soft cloth. After this simple procedure, the element again becomes suitable for use in the game.

Sandpaper will also help out if the young artist has painted a wooden unpainted cube with a pen or felt-tip pens. You need to sand the stained area and wipe it with a soft cloth.

Some damage to the wooden element can be repaired with glue. On the packaging of the adhesive, the manufacturer places a marking on the use on wooden surfaces.

A properly selected wooden constructor made of safe materials is both a toy and a developmental set that will help the kid master the skills, abilities and abilities that will be useful in later life.

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