20 entertaining constructors and puzzles for kids and adults

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Cool toys that are much more interesting to tinker with than to blunt in a smartphone.

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Constructors

1. MITU Mi Bunny by Xiaomi

Recommended age: from 10 years old

An electromechanical constructor designed to spark interest in robotics and programming. The set includes two servos, a main unit with a gyroscope and 978 more eco-friendly plastic parts, including gears, pins, jumpers and other sundries. All of this can be used to make a robot on wheels, a tyrannosaurus or a futuristic airplane. The assembled models are controlled from a smartphone directly, can move along a given route, and also perform a programmed algorithm from given actions.

2. "Mayan Calendar" by Wood Trick

Recommended age: 12+

An unusual wooden construction set made of polished plywood, which after assembly will become an original decoration of the interior. The parts of this set are connected without glue, using pins and toothpicks. During the evening, you can collect an analogue of the legendary calendar of an ancient civilization, which will regularly display the current date.

3. "P90 submachine gun" from CaDA deTECH

Recommended age: 8+

LEGO-like plastic construction set for the development of creative thinking and fine motor skills. A large-scale and rather weighty model of the "Rooster", a popular submachine gun often found in video games, is assembled from colorful parts. The weapon not only looks realistic, but also shoots. True, with clerical rubber bands.

4. Metal construction set "For labor lessons"

Recommended age: from 6 years old

A Soviet metal constructor familiar to many from childhood. Compared to colorful modern toys, it looks ugly, but it develops motor skills and engineering thinking. Dozens of different designs can be assembled from plates and strips with holes, connecting them with screws and nuts, which are tightened with real keys and screwdrivers.

5. Metal constructor "Eiffel Tower"

Recommended age: 6+

A specialized set of the previous constructor for the assembly of the main French landmark. The set contains almost a thousand parts, including plates, strips, staples, screws and much more. According to the instructions, the Eiffel Tower and the hut on chicken legs are assembled, but with a little imagination, you can build other equally large-scale structures.

6. The Lego Opening Book

Recommended age: 12+

An interesting Lego set for assembling a real clamshell book from construction set parts. The mechanism is thought out in such a way that when folded, the toy looks like an ordinary book, but as soon as you open it, the pictures rise. This set contains two decorations: Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk. After assembly, you can act out the plots of both fairy tales or come up with your own.

7. "Locomotive" from UGEARS

Recommended age: 12+

A beautiful model of a steam locomotive with a tender car. The locomotive is assembled from 443 plywood parts without a single drop of glue in 10-12 hours and, thanks to the rubber motor, can ride on the rails from the set or simply on the table. The mechanism has full-function motor gears that push the pistons, transmitting the rotation to the wheels. At full charge, the locomotive is capable of driving a distance of as much as 5 m.

8. Magnetic Neocube from Monolith

Recommended age: from 14 years old

The apparent simplicity of this constructor is deceiving. At first glance, primitive balls have a diameter of 5 mm and are made of powerful neodymium magnets. Due to this, they firmly adhere to each other, creating geometric shapes, bizarre patterns or various models. The toy not only develops fine motor skills and imagination, but also relieves stress and soothes the nerves.

9. "London Attractions" by CubicFun

Recommended age: 8+

A colorful 3D foam board construction set dedicated to the architectural landmarks of the British capital. It consists of 107 parts that are assembled without scissors and glue - just squeeze them out of pre-cut sheets and connect them by inserting into each other. The assembled size is 54 x 16 x 26 cm.

10. Mindstorms EV3 by Lego

Recommended age: from 10 years old

The dream of all boys and their fathers. Frankly, the latter are eager to get their hands on this set for creating programmable robots even more. By combining the control unit with servos and various sensors, you can assemble a rover, a two-legged robot, a snake and a scorpion. Each of the models is able to move independently, avoiding obstacles, is able to lift and carry objects, and also performs a series of commands that can be programmed from the application on a smartphone or computer.

Puzzle

1. "Fifteen" from Radger

Recommended age: from 5 years old

A classic puzzle that was invented at the end of the 9th century. She had many names, but is well known to us as "Fifteen". Knuckles with numbers in a 4 × 4 frame must be arranged in ascending order, rearranging them in places. The first two rows usually do not cause difficulties, but then the space for maneuver remains less and less and the most interesting begins. There are also several other variants of the game, when numbers are arranged in a special order or an empty cell is located in a certain place.

2. Rubik's Cube from Rubik's

Recommended age: 8+

No less iconic puzzle game, which is one of the best-selling toys. The faces of the cube consist of six colored squares and can rotate along three axes. It is necessary to arrange the segments in such a way that each of the faces of the large cube is painted in one color. By the way, the world assembly record is 3.5 seconds. Yes, yes, you read it right - three and a half.

3. A set of puzzles from Arcade

Recommended age: 8+

Unusual volumetric puzzles in a convenient case, which are three types of wooden knots. Beautiful intricacies of details first need to be taken apart, and then put together. And if the first task is relatively easy to cope with, then the second can only be done by the most patient and observant.

4. Mirror Cube from Teaching

Recommended age: from 7 years old

This is not a Rubik's cube with worn out flowers, as you might think. In the mirrored cube, all segments on the edges are silvery, but differ from each other in size. When disassembled, they stick out above the edges so that the cube is a jumble of parallelepipeds of different sizes. And your goal is to arrange the faces by rotating them and turning them into a neat cube.

5. Pentomino by Radger

Recommended age: from 5 years old

Seemingly simple, but very addicting logic puzzle, which formed the basis of the famous "Tetris". Pentominos are figures of five squares. In the first version of the game, you need to make up various objects along the contours of them. In the second, you need to fill in the free space on the board corresponding to the difficulty level. The third mode is competitive. The players alternately place their pieces so that the opponent cannot make a move.

6. "IQ-Twist" from Bondibon

Recommended age: 6+

Compact puzzle in a convenient storage and carrying case. The goal of the game is to arrange all the pieces so that they fit on the board, while observing the colors of the pieces themselves and the pegs-restraints. The latter are used to set the initial conditions described in the rules booklet. A total of 120 tasks are available, divided into five difficulty levels. The answers are attached.

7. Mi Fidget Cube from Xiaomi

Recommended age: from 3 years old

An anti-stress puzzle from a well-known Chinese brand, which is a cube with 2 × 2 cm sides. All eight small cubes are connected by movable links, so that they can be deployed to form a closed chain. Using your imagination, cubes can be easily folded into simple shapes.

8. Tangram by Radger

Recommended age: from 4 years old

Logic puzzle with simple implementation and deep content that develops imaginative thinking, attention and perception. The set includes five triangles, a parallelogram and a square. From them you need to compose figures along a given contour. The difficulty lies in the fact that the details cannot be superimposed on each other - only put side by side. There are hundreds of different problems that have the only correct solution.

9. Cube-maze

Recommended age: from 3 years old

Spatial puzzle in which you have to guide a steel ball through an intricate maze that runs along each of the six faces. Only the most patient can cope with such a task: if the ball falls into one of the holes on the way, it will roll to the start, and you will have to start all over again.

10. Perplexus by Other Games

Recommended age: 6+

A more difficult and interesting version of the previous puzzle. Instead of a cube, a transparent ball is used here, stuffed with a variety of gutters, ramps and Escher stairs. It is even more difficult to overcome such a maze with a whole obstacle course, and if you accidentally leave the distance, you will also have to return to the start.