TINKERTOY 30 Model 200 Piece Super Building Set - Preschool Learning Educational Toy for Girls and Boys 3+ (Amazon Exclusive)

During the last 10 years I have purchased several boxes of the "TINKERTOY 30 Model 200 Piece Super Building Set". I was involved on the Sunday Children's Program at my Church in Hawaii for many years. We had at least four boxes (800 pieces) and several of the "TINKERTOY Pink Building Sets" (another 300 pieces). Although we had a lot of toy/play options on the shelf in the Sunday Children's classroom, the children most frequently pulled the TINKERTOYs from the shelf and played with them. These Children ranged from Kindergarten to 5th Grade aged children. The children were very creative in coming up with ideas of various things to build. A few years back, we moved to the Seattle area. As soon as I was back teaching Sunday School, we again purchased several boxes of the "TINKERTOY 30 Model 200 Piece Super Building Set". Now the children are the K-4 and Kindergarten aged, but AGAIN, the TINKERTOYs are a big hit. I highly recommend tinker toys as a great option for Children. I would recommend buying more than one set, as the more pieces you have, the greater the FUN!

░░░░░PLASTIC WAS NOT A DOWNFALL░░░░░ I was upset when I found out that Tinker Toys were plastic now. I wanted to get my kids the same great durable Tinker Toys I had as a kid. But to get the wood ones you either need to pay through the nose to get the 'classic' Tinker Toys, or you have to get off brands made in China that all have reviews saying the paint rubs off on everything and lord only knows what is used to make those unregulated paints that are coating the childrens' toy. So no thank you. But to my surprise the plastic Tinker Toys are not a bad product. First off they feel very durable. They are not cheap junky plastic. They will hold up to 'kid play'. And they snap together so you don't have that situation where the rods fall out of the connectors. Additionally, all the holes and rods are the same size. So every piece fits together. I do remember on my old wood tinker toys that some of the holes in the connectors wouldn't be drilled right, and some of the wooden rods were out of round, so sometimes I'd have problems putting them together in certain ways. But with each piece coming out of the same molds, everything fits perfectly. (Thank you, Eli Whitney, for your contribution to society of interchangeable parts) So ultimately I'm happy with these. Note, some third parties are selling them for really high amounts. Be patient and wait for them to come back in stock with Amazon and other reasonable vendors. They should cost around twenty five bucks.

This is the third set of TinkerToys I've bought this year, and I can't say enough about the fun level. Of course I bought them to play with my 4 year old grandson, but as soon as they saw it my 12 and 10 year old grandkids got right to "work" making the various models and proudly displaying them. With as many pieces as I have now, we often build identical cars and race them down a ramp. We've built bridges, a Ferris wheel, cars, planes, and many other vehicles and amusement park rides. Of course it's fun following the directions, but it's more fun putting them aside and just challenging ourselves to come up with our own designs. That way you find out what works and what doesn't, and you get pretty creative designing "work-arounds." The pieces are far more durable and easy to work with than the wooden sets of my childhood, when the pieces would swell with humidity and not fit together. Plus, they don't break when clumsy little feet step on them. One caveat: they fit together snugly, and little hands might not be strong enough to pull them apart. But, hey, that's when Grandpa is for.

My grandson loves these. I love them because they promote imaginative play and encourage kids to step away from screens.

My 4 year old got this for his birthday and he was very excited b/c his older brothers have an old version that they won't let him use. I had the old fashioned wooden version as a child, and enjoyed, so I tried the plastic version with the kids. I have to say, this version is a marked improvement over my older kids' b/c the straight pieces are flexible, so you can bend them into all sorts of different shapes without hurting them! Yes, you are SUPPOSED to bend them! They seem tough enough to last, although someone did manage to CHEW them out of shape so those pieces are unusable! (Gee, I hope they are BPA free!) I get very excited about any product, but especially TOYS made in the USA!!!! Yes, corporations, we desperately want toys made where there are safety laws! I am very uncomfortable with toys made in countries where they just don't care if they are covered in lead! I'm sure my kids aren't the only ones who've chewed on a toy while they build. Kids just do that. At least with this I don't feel like panicking and washing their mouths out when I catch it happening. (Not that I encourage it!) We've found that building toys are an excellent investment compared to most toys, b/c they can become anything you want them to be without taking up more space! We love the creativity and the whole look at a picture and copy it game, as it builds a lot of skills. The only problem is that when one kids uses it they all want to, so we need more sets to be practical. This can get expensive, but I'll pay that price for American made durable, high interest, long-lasting, flexible toys. Oh, the other thing is.... the kids do like it! We cycle it out with other building toys like Lincoln Logs so whatever is out is always exciting. They are always glad to see them again when it is TinkerToys' turn on the toyshelf. The bigger boys up to 13 still are not giving up their sets to the younger ones, but they are jealous of the flexible straight pieces.

Tinkertoy was given to a 3.5 yr old. He uses his imagination to create. Snaps together well and stays connected allowing the child to not get frustrated. 200 pieces seems like a lot but I would not purchase anything less. Bit expensive but I am sure that longevity and hours of pleasure will make it worth while.

Mi hijo los juega mucho, le encanta las mil posibilidades que puede hacer con ellos,

Tuve un juguete así de niña, supuse que a mis hijas les encantaría también y así fue, les encantó.

My three year old who just turned 4 loves playing with tinker toy. I used to play with it as a kid too. I highly recommend it

I purchased this for my grandson's 6th birthday. Two days later, it is still his favorite gift.