Best ‘building’ toy for 4/5 year old ?

[solittletime]

After having an older sister who was so in to baronies, dolls and dress up, we now have a 4 year old with zero interest (and therefore all toys we have not being used at all!!)
She likes making things, threading, building with blocks etc at school apparently that’s what she loves to do.
So I bought a box of Lego but after building the sets in the instructions it has been left untouched. Is this because she’s still a bit young?
(There is probably something missing in my input and showing her how to play with Lego, as I was never in to it!)
Any suggestions of building sets she can manage independently? Was thinking maybe a marble run?

[solittletime]

Baronies.... what is that even??? Barbies!!!!

[doodlejump1980]

Our 5 year-olds love their playmags as you can build something pretty huge relatively quickly.

[charlieclown]

Yes Magnatiles deffo

[sallievp]

My little boy 4.5 loves knex. Just bought magformers, and gears sets for Xmas.
Any other suggestions welcome here too! 🙂

[DobbleQueen]

Magnatiles

My DD is a BIG fan of Lego but only really got into it from about 7 when she could start following the instructions. My 3 year old likes Lego (but not Duplo) but can't follow the instructions and even trying sucks the fun out for her- she likes to just put the bricks together!

[solittletime]

Wow lots of quick suggestions thank you! Will look those up

[NeurotrashWarrior]

Oooh yes magnatiles. It was really worth getting the 100 pack. Expensive but hours of fun! My youngest could use it at his own level from age from 1.5. It can be used in a 2 d way or 3D way. Add some lights and it's magical. A metal base board is also useful, we have one from IKEA (a magnet board basically!)

Duplo can actually be better for that age. But yes a marble run is good, again she might need some input and help with building. There's marble runs that can be used with duplo.

My son loved Lego from age 3 but it wasn't something that he could really be independent with till age 7.

The other idea is large construction kits that you can make dens with, again might need a little help but can play inside for a while afterwards.

Lastly just wooden train sets? You could get a job lot off eBay. Brio is my favourite, I don't know if it completely merges with big jigs or IKEA versions so check that.

Some photo ideas below: (double check age of pin a shape. I would but I'd be careful to make sure all tacks go away!)

[PinkPlantCase]

Wooden blocks and a decent board to rest them on? Might not be the most exciting present but they never went out of fashion in my house.

www.amazon.co.uk/Small-Foot-11396-100-Certified-Multicolored/dp/B07XCQBJ7V/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?dchild=1&keywords=wooden%20blocks&sprefix=wooden%20bl&qid=1607067672&sr=8-11&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[southchinasea]

Mobilo, a marble run, Duplo and Meccano are all popular in my Reception class.

[hennaoj]

Grimm's wooden blocks.

[BackforGood]

Possibly needs to be about 6 to get into lego, but you need to look out for proper old fashioned lego, not 'sets'. They can build whtever they want with good old fashioned bricks not have to be restricted to following instructions.

One of mine loved knex at that age.

What about train tracks - building different tracks round the rooms rather than building blocks per se ?

[oobedobe]

Magnatiles are amazing but also large scale traditional wooden blocks can be fun or the Keva plank ones.

[solittletime]

Thank you all, it's a whole new world of toy buying for me!
Magnetic tiles look great definitely will start with those.
Prices vary quite a lot I wonder if the cheaper version are really much poorer quality..?

[ThePug]

My 4.5 year old was obsessed with mobilo at preschool and was delighted they have it at school too. We got him Geomag for his birthday which he likes too but I thought it was like magnatiles which are easier to build with- Geomag is good for fine motor skills though as have to attach the ball bearings to the stock magnets then push the shapes in. He's getting more for his next birthday.

[Howmanysleepsnow]

No difference in quality with the cheaper versions.

[NeurotrashWarrior]

I researched magnatiles for school v other sorts; they're used a lot in the US in preschool classes and are slightly more robust in that environment. (Which I can attest to!) Within the home I'm sure others are fine; I hear great things about playmags.

(There was an article somewhere once comparing the makes, but as I say more from the perspective of a busy preschool environment. Though they're great for much older children as they're useful for exploring 3 d shapes and nets. They really are for age 1-99!)

[missanony]

Kid k’nex was popular here