The Best Building Toys for Young Kids
We absolutely LOVE open-ended toys for our young kids that encourage creativity and imagination. Of all the open-ended toys we have in our home though, different building materials continue to be the ones that our kids have gone back to time and time again from the time they were babies.
The Benefits of Building Materials for Young Kids
Building materials are so great for encouraging fine motor skills, logical thinking, and perseverance.
They’re also great at encouraging independent play as well as cooperative play amongst siblings or friends. Building materials keep my preschooler occupied and engaged for far longer than most other toys.
What Do I Look For in a Building Set?
- Durability. This is number one for me. They have to be durable. These are toys that my kids are hopefully going to play with for YEARS and I want them to hold up.
- Versatility. I want them to be able to build MULTIPLE things with their sets. Not just one very specific model. Additionally, I want these sets to be able to grow with them from the toddler and preschool years well into the school years.
- An age appropriate challenge. If it’s too easy- they’ll lose interest. Too hard? They get too frustrated. I have slowly added to our collection of building materials over the years based on my children’s ages. I want them to be materials they can work with independently without too much frustration. So below, my list is ordered by age.
Here’s our absolute favorite building toys for our toddler and preschooler (that are pretty much never out of the toy rotation.)
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Plastic Mega Blocks
For our youngest of toddlers, we love a good set of plastic mega-style blocks. While we try to reduce the amount of plastic toys we have in our house, there’s just something so appealing about plastic blocks to babies and toddlers.
The smoothness, the bright colors- they’re just intriguing.
For babies and young toddlers, the large pieces are safe. (I’m convinced my toddler will never stop putting things in her mouth.)
And the large interlocking pieces are easy for babies who are just starting to develop their fine motor skills.
And bonus- they typically come in a large storage bag that zips up that makes it easy for your toddler to learn how to start cleaning up their play area.
You can find a cheap set on Amazon and they’ll last you forever.
Wooden Blocks
A classic for a reason. We bought our daughter a set when she was just barely two and since then, she’s played with them for countless hours. She uses them for zoos, roads, fences, towers, condos- you name it.
They are hard for little ones to really get to stay put, but this has also helped her increase in perseverance and forces her to really think through her best options to create whatever it is that she’s wanting to build.
Our Melissa and Doug set has held up really well, and they come in both painted and natural finishes.
Magnetic Tiles
I had never ever HEARD of these until my daughter was about three (I know- I’m really late to the game here). But we saw a set on a Prime Day sale and decided to give it a shot.
It took a little bit for my daughter to really figure out what to do with them (she was three at the time), but once she figured it out- these became her absolute favorite building materials.
The bright colors, the transparent squares, the satisfying ‘clicking’ sound the magnets make when they attach to one another- they’re great for creating a really rich sensory experience.
Additionally, the fact that they’re magnetic makes it a little easier for younger kids to build more stable structures. These fall over WAY less than our traditional wooden blocks.
One last thing we love about magnetic tiles: there’s a lot of different “themes” that you can get as your children grow if you want to expand your collection.
As our daughter has gotten older, she wants to build more and more elaborate structures. It’s been fun to slowly add to her collection each Christmas or birthday with another small set.
Since they’re so popular, there’s definitely a theme that would match your child’s interests. There’s princess themes, space themes, pirate themes, forest themes, Arctic themes, road and city themes. It’s really a ‘sky’s the limit’ thing going on here.
Ours are Picasso Tiles, and they’ve held up well, are slightly more affordable, and are typically compatible with other brands.
Lincoln Logs (Ages 3+)
A vintage classic- these are making a comeback. My dad got my three year old a set because, let’s be honest, he wanted to play with them and relive his childhood.
But she’s absolutely LOVED them.
As a family that camps and goes on a lot of history adventures, she loves building cozy cabins in the woods. Additionally, she LOVES the My First Little House books. She frequently uses her Lincoln Logs to act out Little House on the Prairie.
Also- similarly to the magnetic tiles- you can easily build a collection of these if your kid is really into them.
There’s plenty of accessories- tree house, trains, ranches, etc. (And they tend to go on sale around Prime Day and Black Friday.)
You can shop a whole collection here.
NotchIes Building Blocks (Ages 4+)
These were a gift for our then four year old. By far the most complex set on this list, I’m confident these will keep her challenged for years to come.
The notchies building blocks are similar to Lincoln Logs, but are a lot more versatile. Made of smooth wood with notches on the edges, they fit together almost like puzzle pieces.
Additionally, they often come with rope pieces to build swinging bridges, arches, paths, etc.
They have a ton of different options (it was Christmas, so we went with a North Pole scene set), and you can definitely add to your collection as your kids grow.
These offered a new challenge for our daughter and I’ve really loved seeing her use her imagination for how she can build with these.
And a Bonus- Have Animal Figurines or Craft Materials Available
My three year old daughter LOVES to build elaborate scenes. With her building materials, she also has access to her animal figurines (we love the Safari LTD ones, available here) and she uses those to build zoos, aquariums, jungle scenes, Arctic scenes, etc.
She also has access to different materials that I’ve picked up at a craft store like rocks, fake moss, silk leaves, felt sheets of different colors, etc. that she uses to build forests around her cabins or hiking trails around the tents she’s constructed.
Can I always tell what she’s trying to make? Of course not! But she does, and that’s all that matters. Plus, adding in different materials increases the sensory experience for her.
Do My Kids Really Need Different Building Sets?
Of course not!! It’s been a total personal preference for us to get different kinds of building materials. I would absolutely recommend a set of magnetic tiles and a set of blocks (if I could only pick one- it would be magnetic tiles), BUT they certainly don’t need a huge collection.
However, I have enjoyed seeing my daughter be challenged in different ways AND I love seeing her creativity with combining different sets for different purposes.
If you’re not sure if your kid will play with them, check out your local library and see if they have any of these materials on hand to gauge your kid’s interest. Some libraries have building materials in the children’s section to play with there and some will even let you check out toys to take home. It all depends on your library, but this is definitely a budget friendly way to let your kids play with different building materials.
And if you’re looking for other open-ended toy ideas, be sure to sign up for email updates! Specifically if you’re looking for other ways for siblings of different ages to play together, check out my post here:
