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ZOOB BuilderZ

Zoob Builderz is an interesting set that focuses on moving models. Technialy, all Zoob models can move, but this set includes a string and rubber bands to create things like trampoline or a catapult. This set is a better choice for older kids, who can learn many interesting things from it.

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 Zoob, 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.

ZOOB BuilderZ
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Rotating Gears

Daughter turns the handle and watches the rotating gears.

These gears by Quercetti has all the essential thing you’d desire in a gear system. Firstly, their construction quality is top-notch, and the pieces have robust and solid design. The set also has a seamless gear interface, so they interlock securely. With this reliable connections and sturdy pieces, the set allows you to build machines that can perform real work.

The set includes several base plates that fit together like puzzle pieces. Nearly half the time these are in use at our house, kids made colorful boxes from them. So, they’re not just basic pieces but are interesting decorations in their own. The second set of pieces has support structures, which are tubes and joints that interlock to create sturdy poles. These pieces come in a consistent size, without the frustration of dealing with components at slightly different heights, a problem we’ve encountered with other sets in the past. The support connects are sturdy, so that the structures stay intact once they’re built.

In addition to the gears, this set also comes with attachments like chains and rubber bands. You can use them to connect groups of gears that would otherwise be separate. Also, you can use them with other toys and building sets.

Rotating Gears
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K’NEX Education – STEM Explorations: Swing Ride – Box

The box of the K’NEX Swing Ride kit, showing one of the possible crafts – a carousel.

Many K’Nex Education sets offer moving models, and can have gears and motors. This one also have one motor to power the movement of your crafts.

This set has relatively small pieces and an electric motor, so it will not be a good choice for the small children. Sometimes connecting pieces may also be though, so the best age for this K’NEX Swing Ride kit is 8-10 years old. Even if this set has no mini K’Nex pieces, you should be very careful about giving it to any child under the age of 7. You should also be careful around the moving gears – they are not metal, but having hair stuck in it is still very unpleasant.

Moving crafts can be a great add-on to any K’Nex collection. However, this set has a relatively small number of gears for so many regular pieces, so you have to be precise while using them. The set also offers a very limited number of the possible models. This, however, is not a big problem, since K’Nex crafts are easy to invent, and this set is more than enough to create many different things.

K'NEX Education - STEM Explorations: Swing Ride - Box
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PLUS PLUS Lion Set

Another small set of 70 pieces in a tube. It has unusual brown and beige pieces. The basic model this set offers is, of course, a lion, but you can build anything else or mix this set with anu other Plus Plus.

Danish Plus Plus sets are among the most popular and well-known “waffle” building sets. Almost all pieces in these sets are exactly the same – except for the wheels and the baseplates. However, even with only the basic pieces, you can build almost anything.

All basic pieces have exactly the same shape and size – they look like two pluses joined together, hence the brand name. Each piece has two pegs on the long sides one peg on the short sides, and the matching empty spaces. The pieces are thick, so the pegs are as thick as they are long. Because of this, you can connect the pieces in any direction, they will hold well all the same. So you can build both 2D mosaics and all kinds of 3D shapes, connecting the pieces vertically, horizontally, or even with an angle. The Danish schools use Plus Plus kits as an educational tool. They help teach kids basic STEAM skills and help them develop fine motorics and creativity.

To add some difference and more variety to the crafts, the Plus Plus brand offers countless sets with different numbers and colors of the pieces. There are pieces of different colors and hues, glowing pieces, pieces with glitter, and so on. The sets also may include any number of the Plus Plus pieces. There are also both small traveling kits and big gift sets.

PLUS PLUS Lion Set
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HABA Fantasia – All Pieces

All 95 wooden details of the German mosaic. Very joyful and pleasant pieces, funny faces, positive animals. The size of the pieces is small: the width of the cat’s muzzle is 36 mm, the smallest pieces are the rectangles in the lower right corner – 8×17 mm. We bought the mosaic 5-year-old Arisha, she loves small details in mosaics. The mosaic is not suitable for the outdoors – the pieces are too small, so we play at home. The mosaic comes with a square (side 24.5 cm) tablet with a frame for creating pictures. There are holes in the tablet, so you can hang the picture on a wall for admiring. But it seemed too small to us, so we use a black magnetic board 30×30 cm. And on a black background, the pictures look even better.

HABA Fantasia - All Pieces
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