K’nex Mighty Makers World Travels Building Set
(K'nex $39.99)
Build a simple model of the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Majal, Empire State Building, a Pagoda, and other iconic buildings around the world. With long bendable rods, this kit combines building with a little geography that enlarges kids’ view of the world. Like all K’nex sets, this requires fine motor skills, patience to follow step by step directions and some hand strength. They used pastels and a girl on the box, although the projects are not especially girly-ish. But with the girl on the box and the colors, it’s pretty gender specific. Too bad they didn’t do this with more neutral color choices such as grays, whites and silver and gold, perhaps and with both a girl and boy on the box. It’s marked for 7+ and we think it’s a better bet for the plus age—more like older 8s, 9s and 10s.
Ages: early school, tweens
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2017