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Room Guardian

There are big guardian spirits of the big places, and this is a tiny one, he guards just one room. First Alesya made a stick, then a second one. We them together. It looked very much like a ladder, so we decided that we needed to add more step. So we made a ladder and put it opright to the closet, then Alesya said that we needed legs so that the ladder would stand better. But when we attached the legs, we realized that, like Papa Carlo, we made someone. Now he stands there, guarding the room. All the pieces are from Zoob Jr. construction kit.

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.

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 Zoob Jr. construction 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.

Room Guardian
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Clics Fire Brigade – Truck

This truck is a model from one of the Clics Fire Brigade sets. It contains red and white basic pieces, stickers and extra details like propellers to build firefighter vehicles. The set is relatively small, but the manufacturer proposes 8 models, and you can mix it with any other Clics set.

ClicsToys, a Belgian company established in 2001, operates its very own factory located in Kempen, where they craft the popular Clics building blocks. These building sets mostly have square pieces, all sharing identical form and shape. What sets Clics apart is their ability to connect smoothly at the edges, allowing flexible joint movements.

Using these plastic squares, the creative possibilities are endless, even though Clics sets usually offer relatively few extra pieces and accessories. Some sets may include wheels and decorative panels, but few extra items. The true strength of Clics lies in the generous number of pieces in their sets, allowing you to make even biggest creations with ease. The pieces of Clics are too big to swallow and easy to hold, so they are safe, but some connections can be too tricky to younger kids. So the most sets are recommended for children who are 3 years old or older. However, these sets will be interesting even for the 10-years-olds.

The fundamental building blocks in Clics are square, which naturally leads to the cubic or brick-like structures. However, the great advantage of these blocks is the ability to connect them at various angles, making diverse shapes. Careful assembly can even give you triangular or sloping figures. Nevertheless, the most robust and tough structures in Clics are cube-shaped. Additionally, you can create flat mosaics by combining pieces of different colors.

Clics Fire Brigade - Truck
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Play Build Straw Constructor

This is a classic straw constructor set by the Play Build brand – with thin, flexible plastic tubes and hard connectors. The tubes bend easily, but they can’t hold any shape on their own. Once you release them, they will immediately return to their normal, straight form. They also are just smooth hollow plastic straws without any details to attach to each other.

So, you will need special connectors to connect and hold the straws together. Main connectors have small pins that go inside the straws’ hollow ends and then hold them in place. These things can connect straws in different positions, but they obviously attach only to the edges. Because of this, many modern straw building sets also have connectors that can wrap around a plastic tube and hold it in place. These connectors greatly increase the number of building options the set has.

The straw sets are very different from building blocks. Instead of the solid, sturdy constructions, they produce a bunch of lines forming a 3D shape. These crafts are lightweight, flexible, and a bit abstract. This set have some extra pieces like wheels, but you will be able to lightly bend and twist the craft you made.

Play Build Straw Constructor
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My Youngest With Giant Tiko Ball

This giant Tiko ball is almost as big as he is. May these panels be not the best choice for a toddler to build from, but one of the safest to play with.

Tiko is a vintage building set, just like Tako. But, unlike Tako, Tiko pieces are solid panels of different shapes. They also connect by the edges – each edge has some sockets and some balls at regular intervals. Together, the balls and sockets form joints, so you can connect the pieces at different angles. The pieces themselves have different sizes – some are palm-sized, and others are smaller. But it’s possible to connect the pieces of different sizes, as long as the sockets match. Some big pieces have open centers – and these openings also have sockets, so you can add something there.

Since some Tiko pieces are so big, you can easily make crafts that are as tall as a 10-year-old child, and parts will actually hold together. Or you can make flat mosaics if you want to, and then roll them to make a 3D figure. There are no people figurines or decorations, but the building possibilities are endless. With Tiko, can create abstract shapes, buildings, toy furniture, and even something they can wear themselves. It’s a pity this set isn’t available to buy anymore, but there are some similar toys with the same basic concepts.

My Youngest With Giant Tiko Ball
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Clics Black Car

A Clics black car we made. It’s very sturdy thing, almost like a real Jeep :).

ClicsToys is a Belgian company that was founded in 2001. They operate their own factory located in Kempen, where they manufacture the well-known Clics building blocks. These building sets consist of square pieces, all of which share the same form and shape. They easily connect at their edges, forming joints that can be moved.
Since the fundamental components of Clics are square, the basic forms you can build are typically cubic or brick-like. Nevertheless, thanks to the movable joints, you can connect them at various angles, resulting in diverse shapes. With careful assembly, it’s even possible to create triangular or sloping figures. However, the cubes remain the most robust and dependable structures this set can offer. Additionally, you can explore the option of crafting flat mosaics by combining pieces of different colors.
Using these plastic squares, you can construct flat surfaces and transform them into 3D shapes. Despite having relatively few extra pieces and accessories, Clics offer limitless creative possibilities. Some sets may include wheels and decorative panels, but these are the primary add-ons. On the plus side, Clics sets generally contain numerous pieces, enabling you to create complex structures with a single set.

Clics Black Car
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Taikon Pipe Of Peace

A Pipe of Peace is made from a construction set Saxoflute and decorated with Taikon.

Building straws, also known as building tubes, are a popular type of construction set with unique possibilities. They allow you to create silhouettes and contours of different objects and animals. All crafts from these sets can bend and move, so kids can actually play with their creations.

Instead of blocks, these sets have flexible plastic tubes, that look and act like soft cocktail straws. They can bend in any way and hold any position you want. The tubes usually attach to each other with special plastic connectors. The connectors can look and work differently in the different sets, but there are always many ways the straws can connect. The most common version is hard pins that go inside the straw’s hollow end, fixing it in place. Some connectors of this type have only one or two pins, some may have eight or ten. They also can have different forms, like sharp corners or straight rods. However, this connection type usually means that you can connect the straws only with their ends, and never with their middles.

These straws have great building potential, but, sadly, they can’t hold their shape under pressure (unlike, say, block towers that can hold something on their top). The straws’ building possibilities also depend on how long they are.

Taikon Pipe Of Peace
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Ggiibro Straw Building Set

This is a classic straw building set by Ggiibro brand – with thin, flexible plastic tubes and hard connectors. The tubes bend easily, but they can’t hold any shape on their own. Once you release them, they will immediately return to their normal, straight form. They also are just smooth hollow plastic straws without any details to attach to each other.

So, you will need special connectors to connect and hold the straws together. Main connectors have small pins that go inside the straws’ hollow ends and then hold them in place. These things can connect straws in different positions, but they obviously attach only to the edges. Because of this, many modern straw building sets also have connectors that can wrap around a plastic tube and hold it in place. These connectors greatly increase the number of building options the set has. This set has connectors that can do both of these connection types.

The straw sets are very different from building blocks. Instead of the solid, sturdy constructions, they produce a bunch of lines forming a 3D shape. These crafts are lightweight, flexible, and a bit abstract. Not all sets have extra pieces like wheels, but you will be able to lightly bend and twist the craft you made.

Ggiibro Straw Building Set