Younger Kids

Duplo Tub  (Lego) Ages 2-5, $24.99
There are just some toys that children want to play with again and again this is definitely one of them. This bucket of Legos comes with huge, chunky, colorful pieces perfectly sized for little hands. There are enough pieces to create zoo animals, gardens, small buildings-- anything a child can imagine. It appeals to older children as well--both my two year old and four year old love this set. The tub is big enough to store additional Legos sets, comes with a strong, sealable lid and can even withstand a toddler standing on it! It is also easy to transport which is great for when you need to bring a toy somewhere that you know will keep your children occupied for hours.

My First Lincoln Logs (K'nex) Ages 3+, $14.99
This set was tested in a 3+ age group with 5 children. These logs are a great activity for 1 or 2 children. The sizes of the logs and added colored pieces are conducive for creative construction. The children are able to build a variety of structures with this set. There are enough pieces to keep it interesting for this age level.

Caterpillar Construction Truck - Dump Truck (Mega Blocks) $7.99
This fun little vehicle is tough and transformable.  Each piece can be used to make another type of vehicle so you can build and re-build.  It has real rubber wheels and suspension.   Includes three mini blocks and special construction pieces.  Ages 3+

Matchbox® Mega Rig® Snow Monster Mission Playset (Mattel) $44.99
Our testers, several boys aged 4, 6 and 8 all enjoyed playing with this set.  Some loved the snow monster, some just loved the vehicles, others liked the whole thing combined.  Best of all it was a great pretend and building play set for all.  The pieces which combine create over 30 different truck combinations!  The kids enjoyed using their imaginations to create new and fun sets. For kids that like to build and create with vehicles it's a fun set.  Best part of all it combines with other Mega Rig sets.  Ages 4+

Magnetix Jr. Starter Set (Magtastik) (Mega Blocks) Ages 3+  $19.99
According to our Montessori teacher reviewers, "this is a wonderful that toy promotes creativity for a variety of age groups. The Magnetic pieces are colorful and are age appropriate sizes that allow for many forms to be created. For the older group (4's and 5's), we would recommend the additional shapes that can be purchased and allowing for even more advanced imaginative play. Parents who observed the children testing this toy gave this Magnetix Starter Set a high recommendation."

Kid K'nex (K'nex) $12.99 - $19.99
Our Kindergarten teacher raves, "the students love these toys!  The pieces are developmentally appropriate, bright and easy for the students to manipulate.  They allow the kids to use their own creativity and make new creations with the K'nex pieces.  Again, this toy is fantastic for developing and strengthening fine motor skills.  The pieces are small and require concentration from the student to correctly create something new with the K'nex pieces.  Also, the enhance a child's creativity and critical thinking skills.

Skull Pirate Ship (Playmobil) Ages 4+, $29.99
Our testers report, "This is by far the best of the best when it comes to building play toys." Our mom-tester said, "I am not a big fan of self-assembly toys, but I really like this Pirate Ship because we were able to build this together. It doesn't take long to assemble, the parts are large enough that they easily snap together, and even though we have had this toy now for over a week, I have not had to reattach any pieces since day one. Remarkable! In addition, the finished product not only rolls around on the ground but floats in the water as well! My 5-yea-old son loves this toy, as does his 2-year-old brother and all of their friends. One of them has played with it every single day since we got it, which makes me definitely want to invest in more Playmobil products."

City Airport (Lego) Ages 5+, $79.99
Our 7-year-old tester reports that the Lego City Airport is GREAT! His mother said that for a child who really likes imaginative play, it's a perfect toy. What makes this set stand out above the rest? According to our tester, "Lego has made assembly much easier. They have numbered the bags, and the instruction booklet follows the numbers—which makes locating the correct pieces much easier. Also nice is that the set includes not only the airport, but also the vehicles, airplane, and figures." This particular set includes a control tower, security check, baggage claim, viewers' platform, airplane, and luggage truck as well as five airport personnel mini-figures. The set also features a revolving door and baggage claim carousel that really spins. 700 pieces.

Lego Star Wars B-Wing Fighter (Lego) $34,99
"My son is a Star Wars FREAK and he loves this set!" reports our mom tester.  "He had to work a long time with his dad to put it together but it was totally worth the wait. It comes with a small stand for the ship to rest upon, two pilots, and a small set of mini tools to simulate repairs. The two wings go up and down and the cockpit twirls around in a complete circle, just like in the movie. For such a detailed piece, it is pretty sturdy. We had to glue some of the major pieces together because my son loves to play with it so much we didn't want any pieces to fall off, but all in all a sturdy ship for those young Star Wars fans."
 

Older Kids

ARC-170 Starfighter  (Lego)  If you've already seen Star Wars Episode III then you and your grandson will have a fabulous time putting these great Lego Star Wars builds together.  They are involved, but well worth the effort.  There is such great satisfaction with completing these and you'll have great quality time together.  Our testers (father and son) couldn't decide who had more fun building these two.  The father remember his original Lego set from the 70's and really enjoyed each part of the intricate builds.  The son enjoyed helping, but had more fun playing with them when they were done. Ages 8+  $39.99 

SpongeBob Build-A-Bob (Lego) $29.99
Our 7-year-old girl tester, and avid SpongeBob fan loved building this Lego Set.  The fact that almost the entire build was bright yellow provide a real challenge but when it was complete she was thrilled.  She said, "I never knew Lego's could be so much fun!  Now I understand what my brother loves about them!"  She felt the instructions were easy to follow and she didn't have to request too much help from her parents.  She also really loved the fact that SpongeBob shoots plastic bubbles from his nose.  She said that, "any SpongeBob and Lego fan would LOVE this build!"

Super Structures 50 Model Building Set (K'nex)
This 466-piece set comes with instructions for 25 models, with pictures of another 25 "inspirational models," whose instructions are available online. Many of the models are famous landmarks, including Big Ben, the Taj Mahal, and the Eiffel Tower. Our 10-year-old tester says his favorites were the radar dish, the windmill, and the Space Needle (although he found the latter difficult to assemble). "Even if I didn't want to build anything from the book, I could make something up," he said. The set also has a motor for making parts move - for instance, to make the top of the Space Needle revolve. The motor requires 2 AA batteries. Ages 8+
 

EXO-FORCE: Sentai Fortress (Lego) $99.99
According to our testers, this Lego set was awesome! They reported that "they were easy to build, but can entertain you forever. There are 4 walls, 2 huge towers and a place to fix your robots. It has a giant gate, cool guns, robots, cars that go on the walls and the humans come with 2 faces so they can have a stressed or peaceful mood. The big robots and the light up bricks were especially cool and if you get bored of what you have directions for, just take them apart and build something of your own. This is definitely one of my favorite Lego sets ever!"  The set includes: Sensei Keiken, leader of EXO-FORCE, 8 minifigures and 2 Iron Drone robot pilots!  It also includes Hikaru's full-sized blue battle machine, Silent Strike! The robot battle machine features rapid disk launcher!  Ages 8+

Vertical Vengeance Roller Coaster (K'nex)
K'nex adds to its theme park line with a five-foot-high roller coaster set. Our 12-year-old tester, who also loved K'nex's Screamin' Serpent Roller Coaster, says the Vertical Vengeance is even bigger. He found it fun to build, with "awesome action," despite a rather jittery lift hill and a lot of shaking as the cars zipped around the track. The 33-foot-long track is twistable and flexible. "You'd have to be insane to ride this if it were real," he said. He adds that with its many small pieces (advertised as "micro" parts), this set is best for an experienced builder. The motor requires two AA batteries, and the sound module requires 3 AAA batteries. Ages 10+
 

Lego Creator: Mythical Creatures (Lego) $29.99
According to our tester, this toy was a "great way to spend a rainy day!"  He highly recommends this toy if you looking to buy a toy for a child that likes to work with his/her hands, to build things and is good at visualizing creations.  He feels that "Lego helps you unlock your potential with these three mythical creations and what's more Lego gives you ideas for even more."  This set includes building instructions to build 8 Mythical Creatures and has a wide variety of unique pieces, including a special light-up brick! Ages 8+

Snap Circuits: Jr. Electronic Building Kit (Elenco) $29.99
Our twelve-year-old tester really enjoyed playing with this educational set.  He thought it was fun to "use circuits to see cause & effect in a safe and easy way."  This set has a grid base and a selection of conductors, resistors, switches, integrated circuits and more, for a total of (30) color-coded snap-in parts.  He liked the fact that it has "snaps like one might find on a coat and that's what you use to show light and sound experiments." Ages 8+

Defender Duel (Rokenbok) Ages 6+, $169.99
As an experienced builder, our toy tester thought that this toy was "a lot like LEGO building but involves an R.C. component that makes playing with it afterward just as rewarding as building it. The inventive building technique of Rokenbok sets allow them to be built, rebuilt, and added too or changed. This is a great toy for your aspiring architect and/or RC lover.  This great set includes two different RC Police Defender vehicles, plus two Control Pads and the new battery-operated Radio Control Center that precisely command each RC Defender’s powerful track drive and motorized ram. There are more than 167 building pieces that allow you to create the competition arena.  It's great fun!