A Kid K’Nex cat, walking in the forest by himself.
Kid K’Nex Cat
Author: TatianaZh
Tiko Tent City
A Tiko camp or a tent city we made while camped ourselves. The thing in the centre is a campfire.
Pythagoras, Tiko, and Tako are vintage building sets. They have big panels of different colors and shapes, that connect by the edges. Each piece has sockets and balls that can snap together, connecting the pieces. You can also connect the pieces of different shapes, as long as their sides match. This connection is strong enough to hold even the biggest structures together.
Because of the sockets’ form, Pythagoras and Tiko panels can form both flat surfaces and 3D shapes. The flexible joint connection means that you can connect the pieces at different angles. The bigger panels are huge – they are a few inches long, so kids can create toy hats or items to hold, and not just toys. They are sturdy enough to wear and to play with. There also are smaller pieces that can help connect the bigger pannels together or make smaller crafts. The pieces of this set have all kinds of shapes – there are different triangles, rectangles, squares, pentagons, and so on, all in different colors.
Sadly, Amazon seemingly has no sets exactly like Tiko and Pythagoras, but some very similar concepts also are interesting enough.
X-Ball – Fish
Tiny red fish made from X-Ball toy. Part on the right is a tail.
The Ocean
An option for fans of non-standard mosaics Iotobo Maxi – 200 parts in 12 colors – for large-scale work. The set includes a magnetic board.
Arishka’s Zoob Clown
Since the spring of 2009, Zoob releases kit with variety of brightly colored soft polymer parts. They perfectly complemented the game with this wonderful constructor. It’s a wonder that our Zoob kit survived in for some years now – these soft pieces are relatively fragile.
Back in 1997, inventor Michael Grey introduced Zoob, a toy inspired by the science of motion and organism development. Zoob represents an acronym for Zoology, Ontology, Ontogeny, and Botany. Each set has rod-like pieces with joint balls and sockets on their ends. Each of these balls has small bumps on its surface, so the joints can both move and stay in a certain position if you need them to.
This innovative toy features a ball and socket connection system, mimicking the natural movement and design found in people, animals, and machines. With just five basic shapes, Zoob offers 20 different ways to connect them together.
Zoob building sets have won awards because they’re different from regular building blocks. They use plastic pieces that snap together, like gears and joints, to build all kinds of objects, limited only by your imagination. After you build something with a Zoob kit, you can actually play with it – the pieces were designed to move after being assembled, so you can have fun with the toys you create.
Zoobs are great for helping children improve their fine motor skills. The pieces are small enough to easily manipulate and put them together, but they’re not too tiny like some other toys, so it’s easier for kids who find small objects tricky.
Waffle Block Antlers
A house we rented for the summer stood at the brink of the woods. Each evening, deers came to our house. Kids built a deer’s head after a real one. It’s a pity we didn’t have enough waffle buidling blocks for the whole body.
I don’t remember for how long we had this Malysh building set. It’s an interesting one, it’s more like a Gakken than Plus Plus, but also it’s unique in its own ways. It’s hard to buy right now, which is a pity.
Gakken brand appeared in Tokyo back in 1946 when it became an important component of Japan’s post-war efforts to rebuild the nation. Back then, it became incredible important to properly raise a new generation that will be able to create a better future.
The founder and educator, Hideto Furuoka, created first Gakken waffle buidling blocks. He later told that his inspiration was traditional Japanese wooden houses. There he saw an idea of flat blocks people can took apart and rebuild again when they need to. So he decided to create a toy which repeats this principle. Children can connect waffle blocks, stack them, lay them, plug, or tuck blocks in different orientations, for example, horizontally, vertically, and diagonally.
Big Tiko Ball
We do this Tiko ball often. It’s big, but it’s difficult to play with – it’s fragile. It looks like a bathyscaphe and consists of large pentagons and large triangles.
Pythagoras, Tiko, and Tako are vintage building sets. They have big panels of different colors and shapes, that connect by the edges. Each piece has sockets and balls that can snap together, connecting the pieces. You can also connect the pieces of different shapes, as long as their sides match. This connection is strong enough to hold even the biggest structures together.
Because of the sockets’ form, Pythagoras and Tiko panels can form both flat surfaces and 3D shapes. The flexible joint connection means that you can connect the pieces at different angles. The bigger panels are huge – they are a few inches long, so kids can create toy hats or items to hold, and not just toys. They are sturdy enough to wear and to play with. There also are smaller pieces that can help connect the bigger pannels together or make smaller crafts. The pieces of this set have all kinds of shapes – there are different triangles, rectangles, squares, pentagons, and so on, all in different colors.
Sadly, Amazon seemingly has no sets exactly like Tiko and Pythagoras, but some very similar concepts also are interesting enough.
Tiko 30 Diamonds Ball
The children were hooked by the description of a ball made of 30 Tiko diamonds and we made it! The ball endured serious tests – it was kicked, it was used to play football and a hand ball. It was tested in water – children let it down a mountain stream. I must say that the ball fills well with water and sinks safely. But the mountain stream is fast, so the ball still floated several meters. The ball lived for a long time.
Pythagoras, Tiko, and Tako are vintage building sets. They have big panels of different colors and shapes, that connect by the edges. Each piece has sockets and balls that can snap together, connecting the pieces. You can also connect the pieces of different shapes, as long as their sides match. This connection is strong enough to hold even the biggest structures together.
Because of the sockets’ form, Pythagoras and Tiko panels can form both flat surfaces and 3D shapes. The flexible joint connection means that you can connect the pieces at different angles. The bigger panels are huge – they are a few inches long, so kids can create toy hats or items to hold, and not just toys. They are sturdy enough to wear and to play with. There also are smaller pieces that can help connect the bigger pannels together or make smaller crafts. The pieces of this set have all kinds of shapes – there are different triangles, rectangles, squares, pentagons, and so on, all in different colors.
Sadly, Amazon seemingly has no sets exactly like Tiko and Pythagoras, but some very similar concepts also are interesting enough.
Kor Owlet
He also have a tail, just like any Owl should.
Shades Of Green In Tegu Jungle
I tried to photograph Tegu pieces to show you the shades of green and natural. Note that natural pieces are also slightly greenish in this set. The green cubes and planks are painted, but the structure of the wood is clearly visible, so not a single piece is the same. The impression of this tree-green variety is pleasant. Probably, the details were first painted over and then glued. Both the planks and the cubes consist of 2 halves, and on some cubes the gluing borders are visible.
