Basic motor and cognitive skills with trial-and-error planning:
- Lego,
- K'nex and
- Xox
all have construction toy systems that target young constructors.
- Lego has its Duplo and Quadro systems;
- K'nex has its Kid K'Nex; and
- Xox has its SystemXox 3000.
Of these, only Quadro is aimed at children as young as one year of age. The others are for ages three and up.
Any of the above mentioned systems will help improve basic motor and cognitive abilities and, once the child is old enough to have goals, will also promote planning.
Constraints for those with little or no motor skills or spatial comprehension (ages 0 - 1.5 yrs):
- large enough to be easily handled;
- soft enough not to harm when forcibly encountered;
- light enough not to harm when thrown or knocked over;
- simple enough to be easily manipulated.
Large, blowmolded construction systems are most appropriate for children less than one year of age. Lego's Quadro is probably the best system for children one to two years of age. For children ages two to three: Kid K'nex and SystemXox 3000 both offer greater opportunites for involved spontaneous construction.
One caveat: they both contain parts that do not pass the choke hazard test for under-three-year olds. So when children under three years of age are present only employ Kid K'nex and SystemXox 3000 with adult supervision.
NEXT: Directed Construction with Constrained Planning