Which construction kits for girls?

[Maza]

Hi all,

DD's 6th birthday and obviously Christmas is coming up and I want to get her a new construction kit (mindees will use it too). She has wooden blocks, mega bloks and some jumbo k'nex and is really creative with all of them. She has bits of lego too and follows the instructions really well but doesn't use her own creativity/imagination with it. What do your 6 year olds like to build/create with?

Thanks

[loocyloo]

Lego and knex here.

There are some lovely lego sets for girls at the moment.

X

[bunyip]

"Lego sets for girls" hmmm: let's just hold that thought for a moment. Any other life choices we want to limit them to............?

While you're thinking on it, take a look at this: Pink Lego is an abomination. End this gender fascism – Telegraph Blogs even if the article is too long just check out the picture and first couple of paragraphs, if nothing else.

IMHO Lego used to engage a child's imagination. Ever since it had all those specialised twiddly-bits it not only ceased to be universally interchangeable ("Mum, I can't find my Lego Han Solo and I can't possibly let the Lego girl from the Lego hairdressers' set fly the Millenium Falcon or my day will be ruined!") it also began to replace children's imaginations instead of growing them.

TBH if the OP's DD finds 'normal' Lego doesn't feed imaginative constructive play, then the dreadful pink and lilac stuff "for girls" isn't going to help - unless Maza's really that keen to squeeze her into a gender straight-jacket so young, and I credit her with the brains to think otherwise, if her consistently intelligent posts here are anything to go by.

Back in the mists of time, Lego was lots of bits + child's imagination = lots of fun. That was back in the time when ELC made a huge thing of "all toys are for all children". Now ELC has a girls' section (predictably pink) and a boys' section and never shall the twain meet ("oh no, my son is looking at a tea set! Someone grab him and give him a gun before he turns gay and starts listening to old ABBA albums!") Pink Lego is great if you think girls should grow up to be baby-producing objects or hairdressers, or still hold out the statistically vain hope they'll marry into royalty and become princesses (somewhat unlikely: that lot are so inbred, even the corgi has a club-foot.)

So paint it pink, stick a tiara on it and get that bally awful 'Frozen' song chiming from its innerds, and it'll make a fortune in the girl-toys market. "Imagination", eh?

Bring them up to be role models, not supermodels. They need riots more than diets. For more information: Pinkstinks - Home

And if you think I'm being harsh, maybe someone should start a thread on "What career choice would best suit a female?" and see how that goes down.

[Tealady]

If she is creative, don't bother with the Lego Friends stuff. Too many moulded parts that only have one purpose. Some of the newer kits have got better but my DD still prefers the ordinary Lego (but friends and family keep getting her the girls stuff) and ends up adding to the Friends stuff with it.

(Oh and Bunyip, a while back I even saw pink batteries in ELC!)

[bunyip]

If she is creative, don't bother with the Lego Friends stuff. Too many moulded parts that only have one purpose. Some of the newer kits have got better but my DD still prefers the ordinary Lego (but friends and family keep getting her the girls stuff) and ends up adding to the Friends stuff with it.

(Oh and Bunyip, a while back I even saw pink batteries in ELC!)

I think I'm going to throw myself out of a window.

And another thing............ given the amount of Lego 'animations' on YouTube, is the girly stuff a doubly bad idea?

[Mouse]

What about magic maize

Magic Maize Bumper Pack : Magic Maize Bumper Pack : Early Learning Centre UK Toy Shop

construction cubes

Construction Cubes : Construction Cubes : Early Learning Centre UK Toy Shop

Tap it set

Hammer and Nails Tap Tap Art - £4.50 at Fun Learning

[HTSMumma]

I think I'm going to throw myself out of a window. And another thing............ given the amount of Lego 'animations' on YouTube, is the girly stuff a doubly bad idea?

Hate hate HATE pink and the cr@p they spin as 'girl' toys.

I'm sure the OP isn't after gender specific stuff though, even if the post title suggests otherwise.
My daughter loved Lego too. She had the non-gender specific stuff.
She hates pink with a passion, so I don't do gender specific toys. If something only comes in a 'girly' colour and it's something she wants, I get it. I'm not going to refuse to buy something because it's pink.

Sorry, not really helping in answering the OP, but Lego has always been a firm favourite in our household, for both girls and boys.

[Maza]

Thanks for your replies!

I guess I used 'girls' in the title because I was thinking back to my days in the classroom where, try as I might, the construction area was full of boys and the Home Corner was full of girls (generally speaking of course) and I am so keen to develop my DD's spatial awareness and DIY skills as mine are seriously lacking and I think construction kits might help with that, amongst other things. I was just wondering if there was a particular kit that I haven't come across yet that appeals to 'girls', but still offers open ended/engineering/creative possibilities. So, in a way I was looking for gender specific kits, but in another way I wasn't!

She has some of the 'Friends' kits and loves putting them together but then they just sit and gather dust - I wasn't even aware that you could still buy the old fashioned lego which I agree was better for imagination and 'thinking outside the box'. I'll have to look out for it.

A bit off topic, but DD loves dinosaurs and really wanted dinosaur knickers - could we find any? Of course not, but next to all the Disney princess knickers were lots of dinosaur underpants.

xxx

[Mouse]

If she loves dinosaurs, have you thought about a dinosaur excavation kit where you get a block of plaster and little tools to chip away at it until they dig out the dinosaur skeleton or fossil?

My daughter always loved those

Dinosaur Dig - Dinosaur Fossil Excavation Kit: Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games


When I was young I was very much into model kits and mecanno.

[loocyloo]

my dd loves lego and has some of the friends sets, along with all sorts of other sets and just the lego bricks. she uses them all together to build her own creations. she is currently building a huge city for her zomlings ( what are they??? !!! at least they've ousted loom bands! ) and she is filming endless animations of them !

[shortstuff]

I grew up playing with my brothers technics lego and meccano. I think i might have got more fun out of it than they did.

So i would happily suggest either :-)

[zanacal]

Encouraging Block Play {With Girls} - Happiness is here

[clareelizabeth1]

I almost don't want to say that I have a big big box full off princess duplo all pink and glittery that is played with every day. Does it make it better that I only have a son and only mind boys. Don't even think a girl has ever played with it.

As for op question what about the miniture sets which you get real mini bricks and you mix the mortor and you can build a real little house or what ever that you can then play with. It was in Hawkings bazar that I saw it.

Or buy a real tool box and fill it with model making material. In the top lid could have sissors, glue, spreaders,mall pots of glitter maybe even a craft knife if she is at that level yet. Then in the big section Pom poms bits of card bottle tops tissue paper. Then put the tool box in a box then in another box and another then wrap it up and she has all the things to build with her imagination. No right or wrong way to use as no instructions.

Or you could go for big construction and get a den building kit

[bunyip]

I was just thinking den-building. Kits? Don't you pick up a free kit in the woods? Don't tell me the EY Resources company have moved on from their £80 bag of wood and now charge even more to call it a 'Den Kit'.

The dinosaur excavation sets are great. A bit of a one-shot activity, but often available in £1 shops and thrift stores. Maize is great too. The children had me in stitches as they workd out they could stick it to their tongues, faces, necks, arms, etc.

As for knickers (and I'm not getting onto my own pink frillies at this time in the morning) my granddaughter refuses to wear anything but what she calls "boy pants".

[clareelizabeth1]

I was just thinking den-building. Kits? Don't you pick up a free kit in the woods? Don't tell me the EY Resources company have moved on from their £80 bag of wood and now charge even more to call it a 'Den Kit'. The dinosaur excavation sets are great. A bit of a one-shot activity, but often available in £1 shops and thrift stores. Maize is great too. The children had me in stitches as they workd out they could stick it to their tongues, faces, necks, arms, etc. As for knickers (and I'm not getting onto my own pink frillies at this time in the morning) my granddaughter refuses to wear anything but what she calls "boy pants".

I was more thinking along the lines of bamboo sticks some string and a sheet but spending £80 would work too.

[FloraDora]

image.jpgcosy sell log slices and mini logs that I would love - open construction - great for creating small world scenes. Good for imagination - with some sylvanian family or fairies would make a great construction / small world imaginative play.

[Maza]

Yes, we have those Floradora, they are great. No fairy love in this house though but they work just as well with mini dinosaurs! Even the sylvanian furniture is used by dinos here and the cute little bunny figures get tossed to one side. Meccano looks good, but all the reviews on the affordable packs say they are a bit flimsy. The little ones were playing with my stash of paper cups yesterday and you should have seen the things they built out of those! Magna tiles look fab but again so expensive. The 'boys' in my class used to love mobile. x