Meccano for a 6 year old?

[sheeplikessleep]

DS1 is 6.2 and I'm trying to find a toy that captures his love of cars and his interest in building things.

He has got lego (generic bucket) that he uses to build different cars and I've seen Lego Creator have some car 'sets', which I'm considering.

My only reservation is that I think he isn't one to follow instructions (like his Dad!!), but rather he enjoys building generic lego pieces into cars as he sees fit.

I just wondered if there were any alternatives - a car he can build himself and can then play with. Is Meccano going to be too old for him? I don't want him to get frustrated.

I see Cars 2 have lego sets, but whilst he is into Cars 2 film at the moment, I wonder if he might not be for too much longer.

Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated - thanks.

I wish Lego sold a range of car pieces.

Like wheels, chassis, windows, rooves etc that you could mix and match?!

this says age 5-8

I think proper meccano is a bit too old but the above might fill the gap?

Also don't know about the other bits but you can get a whole box just of lego wheels here but shop around as I think that's a massively inflated price

Or this - lego vehicles aren't generally too difficult instruction-wise so might be a good starting point

Meccano build and play is a bit easier than the more grown up meccano.

Thanks Xmas2013. That meccano link you've put up looks good. The challenge is that the younger products don't look as 'carsy' if that makes sense, they look a little babyish. I think he might want it to look more like a car. But then a more authentic car is more difficult to assemble and so will be trickier for him. Agh! I will definitely look into that Meccano set though, thank you.

This one looks good www.amazon.co.uk/Meccano-Build-Play-formula-One/dp/B004U8YIBA/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top But the cost seems a lot!

He has had the wheels set in the past, I just wish they did other parts of the car.

Thanks for posting, I will see what DH thinks!

From experience, meccano is NOT a good idea - it's less flexible to build with than Lego and these days is all plastic and the bolts never do up tight enough to hold the model together.

What about K'nex? Quite pricey, but loads of job lots usually available on eBay. It's really easy to start using, but can also be used to make really sophisticated stuff if still in to that kind of thing when a bit older.

Or look on amazon or eBay for Lego mixed blocks or wheels sets or similar, rather than a given model.

Real woodworking kit has also been a hit with my 5 & 6 yo boys this summer, but it's not really good for completely independent play or indoor winter play.

Thanks LtGreggs, thats interesting you say Meccano is less flexible. I guess thats what I am trying to find - something that gives him flexibility to build cars as he wants.

He did have some Knex a couple of years ago, but again, I worry it isn't car specific enough (unless there is something I've missed?) He played with it and built robot type things from it, but wasn't enthused. But then he is older now, maybe I should get them back out and see what he does.

I will look up woodworking kits too, thank you.

I did casually show him the lego garage set, wondering if a 'scene' or context for his cars might be of interest. But no, it seems he just wants to play with cars!

It feels like he is at an age where he is too old for a lot of stuff, but too young for a lot of stuff too. Agh, why can't they just make something that he can build a range of authentic cars from that he can then drive around?

we got one of these Meccano sets for DD's 6th birthday. she loved it, it's not too tricky, but still a challenge, and you can either follow instructions or make your own. I recommend it.

I wonder if this would be too old for him (although it isn't flexible).

www.amazon.co.uk/LEGO-Technic-42011-Race-Car/dp/B0094J1MH8/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

www.amazon.co.uk/LEGO-Technic-42011-Race-Car/dp/B0094J1MH8/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Sorry!

Thanks bigfingers - I've copied and pasted and emailed all of the suggestions to dh (not that he will look at them until tomorrow, as he is out on the razz for his works do!). That does look good.

Thanks all for posting ideas, appreciated!

I've bought meccano construction easy at the request of DH for DS (5)

What about a few Automoblox minis to mix and match? They are wooden cars with detachable parts, seem to get good reviews.

Automoblox link here:

www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=automoblox&sprefix=automoblox%2Caps%2C172&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aautomoblox

Thanks vikjul. They do get good reviews! I've not seen those before, just working out how many detachable parts each car has ...