Construction toys for 4 year old

[Fionn]

I'm looking for ideas for my brothers to get something for my sons (2 and 4) for Xmas. Ds1 loves building ships/rockets/submarines/castles etc out of building blocks but we don't have any construction stuff, not even Lego. I'd like something where he can really use his imagination for creating engines and machinery as he's fascinated by them. Should I get Lego or look at Playmobil or is there something else? Anything aged 5 and up would probably be ok as his brother doesn't necessarily have to share it yet.

Fionn, Knex might be good as it has lots of coggy bits so the models can go off in all directions.
Also Brio do kind of young Meccano now? (Can't remember what that's called - Brio-Mec maybe?)

There is also technical Lego with motors, rubberbands etc. Lots of different sets of that. I think they might say 8+ on the box but if your DS is that way inclined he could probably cope with it. (We have buckets full of different kinds of Lego and all any of my kids have ever done with it is build boxes. I don't think we have managed to breed any engineers, somehow!)

Hi Fionne, You can finds lots of different building items categorized by age on the lego website. You can have them shipped to your home for convenience.

Knex is fabulous! DD (almost 6yo) is totally sold on it, as is DH - my mum bought him the Big Ball Factory last Xmas and it kept him occupied for three days solid, with DD helping out occasionally. It was on special offer at Toys R Us - less than half price.

Every child that came into the house (before we got our kittens who destroyed it) was completely captivated and most of the boys in DD's class are into it too.

Janh means Brio Builder, and that is on ds (3.5)'s Christmas list. It's sort of chunky wooden Meccano, with robust, large, plastic nuts and bolts to fasten girders, wheels etc. A start kit is about £20, I think, but the more sophisticated sets which enable you to build quite large-scale diggers and so on cost more. Dh had it as a child (or something similar) and ds has played so often with the remnants of that kit that we are buying him some more.
Ds has unlimited Knex time at nursery which is why I don't have to buy it myself. It's great stuff too!

We've also found Brio Builder great but I believe it can be difficult to get hold of in the UK. Try Mailorderexpress.co.uk. or smaller toy shops.

You can either buy assorted boxes or themed sets (space, Bob the Builder etc.)There are sets for 2 yrs and up, including a toolbox. Our ds 41/2 plays with it for hours and constructs all sorts of things out of it. He also loves his Lego but we're keeping to Duplo at the moment because of younger sister. Playmobil is less constructive and more role playing, but you can add motors to some of the cars.

LizS

Thanks everyone. I think we'll go for Lego first then maybe one of the others when ds2 is a bit older.