publication date: Dec 4, 2010
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author/source: Georgina Collins
Sandy
(nearly four) got his first set of
building blocks when he turned one, and
they've always been a favourite. First for mainly
cutting teeth on,
then for
knocking over and finally for building with!
HABA's new
Building Blocks Technics are like the
traditional wooden blocks Sandy is
used to but with a
twist. Along with the
different shaped blocks there
are
clamps to hold the bricks together, plus
wheels and
axles to use for
building vehicles. This allows for more
daring inventions and
creative
play.
Sandy took to the
Technics system straight away, creating a
truck and a milk tanker. The
wheel clamps were a little
tight at first
but he was soon
putting them on and pulling them off with
ease. When
Daddy joined in with the play the
creations stepped up a gear. A
bendy
bus - that really did bend when it
turned round corners, a train and
finally with the
addition of a couple of
rubber bands a vehicle with a
self-rotating propeller. A lesson in
kinetic energy, nonetheless! As I
left them to their
physics experiments I heard Sandy declare that they
were being
scientists just like Nina (the
CBeebies Nina being an obvious
rival to the lesser known
Albert Einstein!).
The
blocks and
pieces are of
very good quality. Lovely
sustainable beech wooden blocks
and highly durable rubberised wheels and clamps – as
tested by Betty,
our eight month old daughter... Everything you would expect from a
German
toy!
The
age range for the
HABA Building Blocks Technics system is
three to ten years and this is
definitely a
toy that I think
will last both in terms of
durability and appeal.
HABA state that the
range is designed to "help develop
spatial awareness and even introduce the basics of
physics, including
gravity and
dynamic forces". Watching Sandy
play with the system I
particularly like the
creative challenge that this
toy offers. Looking
at the
construction ideas and suggested
test set-ups that come with the
blocks I can see why
German engineering is revered worldwide - they
obviously start them
young! And if you can
learn through play and have
some fun, why not?
The
Building Blocks Technics range is available from
Amazon:
Discover the building blocks Technics
Discover the building blocks Technics - Large Basic Pack Vehicles
