For six months now, my son and I are Knexomaniacs 🙂 This construction set is very convenient because the crafts made from it don’t break even after the most barbaric handling. We made the balloon, the rocket, the airplane and the antelope according to instructions. My son built them from his 3.5 to 4 years all on his own. We made large carousels together from Knex 100 model kit. I did part of the motor, the children did the racks and wheels. The rest is free creativity.
K’Nex exists in two sizes – regular and mini KNex. There are also mathing thick and thin rods, as well as some rods that can connect big and small flakes together. Not all K’Nex sets have mini parts, Knex 100 model kit, for example, have only regular ones.
Just like with any other K’Nex sets, this one has pieces that hold together securely. However, you can easily dismatle your crafts and create something else using the pieces. The regular K’Nex pieces have more robust connections, and crafts can survive even the most active play. Mini K’Nex crafts are slightly more fragile.
While the crafts themselves can be very big, the pieces, especially mini pieces, are very small. Because of this, K’Nex can be dangerous for small babies who can accidentaly swallow the pieces. These pieces can also be too tricky for smaller kids to assemble properly. Because of this, the recommended age for K’Nex sets is 7+ years.
It’s also important to remember that most K’Nex sets don’t have many detailed crafting instructions. Some crafting ideas packages depict may be only shown as completed toys. However, with versatility and possibilities K’Nex offers, this usually is not a big problem.
