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Polydron – Big Building Set

The set on this photo is a big one. In fact, it’s one of the biggest sets Polydron have right now, with more than 400 pieces.

Polydron is a brand of building sets. Most of the sets by this manufacturer have frames or tiles as the main pieces. Magnetic tiles are common among the building sets, but the non-magnetic tiles are much rarer. Polydron, however, has many building kits with plastic flat polygons that connect without magnets.

These pieces have serrated edges that lock together almost like pieces of a puzzle. Small pins slide to the side just enough to make space for the parts of another piece. They work like locks, holding the pieces firmly in place. This system allows you to connect the pieces at different angles and make flat surfaces or geometric sculptures.

The pieces of these sets are big – even the smallest of them are a few inches long. Because of this size and lack of any magnets, they are very safe to play with – though they may be too abstract for the smaller kids. They have different colors and shapes – triangles, squares, pentagons, hexagons, and so on. Some of the biggest tiles have openings in them, so you can also connect something to their centers.

These sets have almost no decorations or moving pieces like wheels, so the abstract geometric shapes are the specialty of Polydron. These sets are great for explaining kids mathematical concepts, so they can be used in schools.

Polydron - Big Building Set
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Gears!Gears!Gears! Machines In Motion – Another Craft

Machines in Motion set by Gears!Gears!Gears! brand has 116 pieces – interlocking baseplates, poles, and, of course, gears. With this set, you can build an moving construction, add the axis pieces, and decorate your craft with the gears. Then you can turn a crank on any of these gears, and watch all the connected gears rotate. This set focuses on building moving things – both vehicles and stationary things like cranes. There also are rubber bands and chains for extra gear connections.

The pieces of this set are big and sturdy, so they can survive many years of use. This set is not very complicated in its concept, so you can give it to the children you are 3 years old or older. You can also mix this set with any other Gear!Gears!Gears! set, enhancing it with extra pieces.

Learning Resources is a popular and well-known toy brand from the USA that specializes in STEM toys. Gears!Gears!Gears! is a series of building sets with moving and rotating gears in them. These gears may have different functions in different sets, but you can mix them and use them together. Gears! Gears! Gears! sets show exactly how the gear transmission works, and you can use them as a colorful and simple explanation of the gear physics.

Gears!Gears!Gears! Machines In Motion - Another Craft
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Taikon Baseplate Needles

The only way you can place the Taikon tubes on a baseplate with needles.

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 Baseplate Needles
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Gears!Gears!Gears! Machines In Motion – Crane

Machines in Motion set by Gears!Gears!Gears! brand has 116 pieces – interlocking baseplates, poles, and, of course, gears. With this set, you can build an moving construction, add the axis pieces, and decorate your craft with the gears. Then you can turn a crank on any of these gears, and watch all the connected gears rotate. This set focuses on building moving things – both vehicles and stationary things like cranes. There also are rubber bands for extra gear connections.

The pieces of this set are big and sturdy, so they can survive many years of use. This set is not very complicated in its concept, so you can give it to the children you are 3 years old or older. You can also mix this set with any other Gear!Gears!Gears! set, enhancing it with extra pieces.

Learning Resources is a popular and well-known toy brand from the USA that specializes in STEM toys. Gears!Gears!Gears! is a series of building sets with moving and rotating gears in them. These gears may have different functions in different sets, but you can mix them and use them together. Gears! Gears! Gears! sets show exactly how the gear transmission works, and you can use them as a colorful and simple explanation of the gear physics.

Gears!Gears!Gears! Machines in Motion - Crane
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Gears!Gears!Gears! Machines in Motion

Machines in Motion set by Gears!Gears!Gears! brand has 116 pieces – interlocking baseplates, poles, propellers, and, of course, gears. With this set, you can build an moving construction, add the axis pieces, and decorate your craft with the gears. Then you can turn a crank on any of these gears, and watch all the connected gears rotate. This set focuses on building moving things – both vehicles and stationary things like cranes. There also are rubber bands for extra gear connections.

The pieces of this set are big and sturdy, so they can survive many years of use. This set is not very complicated in its concept, so you can give it to the children you are 3 years old or older. You can also mix this set with any other Gear!Gears!Gears! set, enhancing it with extra pieces.

Learning Resources is a popular and well-known toy brand from the USA that specializes in STEM toys. Gears!Gears!Gears! is a series of building sets with moving and rotating gears in them. These gears may have different functions in different sets, but you can mix them and use them together. Gears! Gears! Gears! sets show exactly how the gear transmission works, and you can use them as a colorful and simple explanation of the gear physics.

Gears!Gears!Gears! Machines in Motion
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Clics Big Rollerbox Set – Boat

One of the counless models you can build from the big Rollerbox Clics kit. This set has many decorations and transparent pieces, like ones in this boat’s glass.

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 Big Rollerbox Set - Boat
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Tiko Helicopter

A cute helicopter made from Tiko panels. It’s a pity that it’s blades can’t rotate.

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.

Tiko Helicopter
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Taikon Ikebana

Just an experiment. Alesya made some Taikon flowers, and we decided to plant them on a plate with needles from another building set. Needle plates like this – kenzan – are used in ikebana to hold the flowers and compositions in place.

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 Ikebana
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Tiko Tulip

A beautiful and life-like Tiko tulip with a very thick stem.

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.

Tiko Tulip
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