Amazing Building Toy: Kapla

Jacob loves building toys such a Lego's, K'nex, and Lincoln Logs. My latest discovery in building toys is Kapla planks. Kapla planks are precision cut so that each plank is exactly the same size and weight. This allows children and adults to build amazing creations from their imagination or from instructions provided in Kapla books. We have a basic block set but I wanted something that would take block building to the next level. We have added Kapla planks to our wish list thanks to all the wonderful reviews I have read. Kapla planks are more stable then other types of building blocks. Their design allows a young builder to create bigger and more complicated construction projects such as bridges, huge towers, and replicas of famous architecture like the Eiffel tower. Kapla planks would be a great Christmas present for your budding engineer or architect.

According to Wikipedia, "Kapla planks are very well known in Europe and a huge Eiffel Tower made of thousands of Kapla planks is currently exhibited in the new Cité de l'Architecture in Paris. Kapla has also shown at the Louvre and at the Children's Museum of Manhattan. Kapla building is meant to enable creativity and expression. There is no right or wrong way to build. There is no glue, no snaps, no interlocking parts - the planks are simply stacked and they remain in place thanks to gravity, creativity, and imagination."

The blocks are made from safe, non-toxic pine wood and are certified green from renewable forests of Marine pine near the Bordeaux region of France. What I like best about them, besides their building versatility, is their small size. We don't have room for a huge block set in our house even if we wanted one. Kapla planks store easily in a box or bin.

If you want to see some great pictures of what you can build with Kapla planks check out the Build Something Cool blog. You can find a number of Kapla sets and other cool building toys available through Amazon.com at the Kids Love Learning Store. The Kapla website is another good place to see examples of what you can build with Kapla planks.

Favorite Toys

I dislike crowded stores so I try to get most of my Christmas shopping done either before Thanksgiving or on-line. When I am able to accomplish this, the holidays end up being a lot more relaxed for me. I am always on the lookout for fun toys which also have learning value. Below are some of our favorite toys and also toys that are on our wish list. These toys are all available at the Kids Love Learning Store through Amazon.com.

Frigits are a magnetic marble maze toy I discovered about a month ago and it has been added to our Christmas wish list. Here is what one reviewer said: "My kids got this for Christmas, and it's been a huge hit - with the kids, with my husband, and with visitors of all ages. Even a young child can create a fun simple maze, and older kids (even the adult kids ;-) can make incredible twists and turns. The pieces seem to be sturdy, as they've been dropped on our floor many times with no breaks. Works with any marbles, which is nice when the original marbles roll under the stove or get batted away by the cats. It teaches about gravity, planning and executing, making contingency plans, refining... and it's incredibly fun. Highly recommended.

K'nex are a huge hit with Jacob and he has been asking for more advanced sets that have motors, pulleys, and levers. Here are a couple of sets on his wish list.

Building blocks and legos are popular toys in our house. I think these Architectural Blocks by Melissa and Doug and this Lego Creator House would inspire some fun and creative building.

In the crafts department, we have Jacob's favorite My Book of Easy Crafts by Kumon and the Melissa and Doug Deluxe Stamp Set which Rosa is getting for Christmas. I think Rosa will really enjoy making cards and pictures with this stamp set.









The Pop Bead Critters and Crayon Rubbings, both from Chicken Sox, would be great presents for a child who needs a little extra help with fine motor skills.









I love dolls! Now that I have a girl, I have a good excuse to buy them. I actually got the Corolle Kalin Yang doll for Christmas from my parents nine months before we travelled to China for Rosa. I would hold this doll when I really wanted to be holding my daughter. After Rosa came home from China, I gave the doll to her. Corolle makes beautiful dolls and some of my favorites are below.


I really like the wooden doll houses made by Melissa and Doug which are so much nicer than plastic doll houses. Shopping for girls is so much fun!







We own the Little People Nativity Set which is a very cute set for the kids to play with. After Thanksgiving is over, we get this out and the kids act out the Christmas story with it. It is nice to have a nativity set you don't have to worry about the kids breaking.

My kids like games and I have read some really good reviews about Apples to Apples Kids and Blokus. These two games are on our wish list.









We like to do puppet shows at our house and these princess and pirate puppets look like they would be fun to use in a show. We throw a blanket over our two kitchen stools spread a couple of feet apart and this has made a great free puppet stage in our home.










Last Christmas Jacob got a scooter from Grandma and riding the scooter greatly improve his balance. This summer he was able to take the training wheels off his bike and I don't think he would have been ready for this if it had not been for the scooter. Jacob was a late learner when it came to bike riding. Jacob loves his scooter and rides it all the time. I would really like to get the Radio Flyer Scooter to help Rosa with her balance.

















We bought an easel for our kids that gets almost daily use with homeschooling. Jacob thinks spelling is fun because he gets to write his words on the easel. Rosa has improved her fine motor and bilateral coordination skills a great deal from using our easel to practice drawing and writing her name. This wooden easel below gets excellent ratings and is a great price too.









Our last favorite toy pick is the KidKraft Deluxe Kitchen. Rosa got this last year and both my kids have spent a great deal of time playing with this well made wooden kitchen. Some other selling points on this kitchen are its reasonable price and attractive appearance. The kitchen actually adds to the decor of Rosa's room which is pink and yellow.

Castle Update and Fun with Playmobil

There was quite a bit of interest in the Melissa and Doug Princess Castle I wrote about a few days ago. Well, Amazon must have heard the buzz because they have raised the price of the castle to $72.99 with free shipping. The Medieval Castle is still holding at $67.99. If you want either of these castles for Christmas, I would recommend ordering soon. I have learned from previous experience that popular well priced items on Amazon sell out quickly before Christmas.

I wanted to share some of the Playmobil sets that go perfectly with these two castles. Rosa got the Royal Bedroom, Royal Nursery, and the Dream Garden Super Set for her birthday. Both Rosa and Jacob have spent hours playing with these. You can see more royal sets here. I am very grateful for Playmobil toys because they have entertained my children for many hours while I have gotten things done around the house. My children have made up a variety of stories using their Playmobil figures and they have combined them with their legos, lincoln logs, k'nex, blocks, and wooden train set. I will post a picture below of what Jacob's room looks like when he combines all these toys to create his own make believe world. I love seeing his imagination at work until it is time to vacuum.

The Playmobil knight sets have also been a hit with Jacob. His favorite sets so far are the Treasure Transport, the Attack Tower, and the Attack Cannon. Jacob also has a number of Playmobil pirate sets. The Corsair Pirate Ship is an excellent deal at $29.99. You can check out more pirate sets through Amazon here. My children are very fortunate to have a generous great aunt and great grandmother who buy them most of their Playmobil sets.

We began collecting the Playmobil Roman sets when Jacob bought the Roman Commander's Tent with his own money. He had won the money by catching a pig at our local fair's pig scramble. I am beginning to think we have enough Playmobil but Jacob just loves it. We are studying ancient Rome later this year in our World History unit study. I know Jacob will have great fun acting out some of the Roman stories we read with his Playmobil Roman figures.

If you do get Playmobil toys for your child, I would highly recommend buying medium size plastic bins to store the pieces in. We have only lost a few pieces because I require my children to pick up the smaller Playmobil toys at the end of the day and put all the little pieces in the appropriate bins. If any Playmobil pieces are left out, I pick them up myself and put them away downstairs. The child who lost their pieces can earn them back by doing extra chores for me.

Learning Through Creative Play

Last week was my daughter, Rosa's, birthday. I love shopping for children's toys and I am always on the lookout for toys that will help develop my children's creativity and imagination. Research studies have shown that high school seniors and college students who score high in creativity do better academically.

According to an article titled "Fostering Creativity" in Child magazine, "Creative play is the foundation of critical thinking, of making life meaningful. It is essential to child growth and development, and we're interfering with it in ways that are incredibly worrisome." This article and other books I have read make the point that push button electronic toys marketed as "smart toys" may actually be doing more harm than good. A child who plays with only push button electronic toys is not developing creativity. Instead, these types of toys are teaching children to become passive absorbers.

We have a few push button electronic toys in our house that were given to us. I don't believe having a few of these types of toys around is harmful as long as the majority of your toys don't fall into this category. I have found that my children quickly loose interest in the electronic toys anyway and they basically just sit on our shelves. The toys which are played with the most in our home have been building blocks, legos, k'nex, lincoln logs, playmobil toys, dolls with their clothes and accessories, a wooden train set, a play kitchen, and other imaginative and building toys.

I found a wonderful wooden castle for Rosa's birthday priced under $65 with free shipping through Amazon.com. Both of my children love playmobil toys and my son has a playmobil castle. Rosa has been wanting a castle of her own and the playmobil magic castle is around $140 which was more than we wanted to spend. I had also read in reviews that the Playmobil castle comes apart easily and we have had this problem with our son's playmobil castle. The castle in the pictures above is a Melissa and Doug castle and it was a wonderful deal. All of Rosa's playmobil figures and furniture fit in the castle and it is very sturdy and well made. I was really excited to get it for less than $65 because it costs $99 at Target. If your little girl or boy is wanting a castle for birthday or Christmas, then I highly recommend the Melissa and Doug castles. They have a similar castle for boys. Over the next month or so I will be sharing some of our other favorite toys that help develop creativity and imagination.

"Fostering Creativity," Child, September 2006, p. 68