I was so thrilled when Lady Marie from Team Mom contacted me about doing a review of a couple of K’nex products for many reasons! 1) It’s been way too long since I’ve reviewed anything. 2) We had thought the Youngest Princess (aged 20 months) would really like blocks. 3) We’ve been wanting the Eldest Princess to exercise her construction skills/visual spatial recognition. I received a Sesame Street Neighborhood Building Set (the Police Station) and a K’NEX 400 Piece Tub to check out which was perfect because both Princesses are in the appropriate age ranges for these products.
The Youngest Princess has been simply enthralled with building using the her friends Ernie and Elmo. The child who does not stop moving for anything can stand at her little tea table and build for at least 20 minutes. And this is some sort of miracle as usually she’s on to terrorizing some other part of the house after *um* 3. The chunky blocks are perfect for her little hands AND of course Elmo is one of her favorite “friends.” She of course doesn’t quite get the idea of building the little Police Station (regularly priced $20.99) pictured on the box yet; however, she’s still content constructing towers and stacks of blocks as high as she can make them go. I know the bigger that she gets, we can talk about the different sizes, shapes, and colors of the blocks so it’s not a toy that she’ll quickly outgrow and yet it provides a TON of play right now, too. She has been fascinated with playing peek-a-boo with the windows which is super cute (one little eye peering through the hole) but slightly agitating for her, too since the window is removable and she can’t put it back on once she pulls it off. I would also had LOVED for the product to have a tub like the product for older children. I am finding a block here or there scattered throughout the house. Time to repurpose a reusable container as a block holder. I love the attention to detail – the stoplight, stop sign, street lights and different patterns available for building even in this most basic set.
The Eldest Princess and the King have had “building time” together in the evenings (after the Youngest Princess goes to bed), working on each of the 20 suggested models in the K’NEX 400 PC Tub (regularly priced $20.99). Let me begin by saying that the tub itself just might be my favorite aspect of the product. If your house is anything like the Queen’s Castle there are lots of toys and little space. Staying organized especially when it comes to toys with small pieces and parts, is essential. That being said it would have been fabu if the tub had a division within it to organize the different sized parts and pieces. We can add either bags or containers to get the job done though with great ease. And the tub makes it a great toy to take on the go this holiday season. Building can be done as easily at home as Grandma’s house. I also love the fact that the set is interchangeable with other K’nex building sets AND Legos (and that there’s room to store more sets within the tub). We can build on what we’re already building. Sweet.
Both of these products are available at Walmart, Target, and Toys ‘R Us (perhaps there are some good Black Friday deals?) or online. AND before I forget, K’NEX is running a great video contest called “Make a K’NEXion”. Details are here (bottom right hand corner) but long story short, if you shoot a video of your child building with K’NEX, you can win up to $1,000 worth of K’NEX toys! What a great opportunity! But hurry because the deadline to enter is December 7th.
Perhaps some K’NEX will be on your Christmas list this year. They’re quality toys that have stood the test of time with options available for kids of all ages.
Team Mom provided me with a A Sesame Street Neighborhood Collection Building Set and a K’NEX 400 Pieces Tub to review. No monies were received for this review nor was it edited by representatives of K’NEX, Team mom or any other PR company. I always give you my honest opinion regarding products so you can make an informed purchase decision.
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