Cost-Efficient Toys and Games that Inspire Kids to Create & Build

admin | June 28, 2013

Ideally, the toys and games that children are given to play with are efficient, albeit sneaky methods in getting them informed and educated about the direction they make take with their future. Fortunately, I played with my three big brothers, and instead of doll houses, toy ovens and sparkly ponies (okay, I wish I had ponies when I was little), I was trippin’ on Tonka trucks, game consoles, building blocks, and sciencey playsets for aspiring mad savants.

Let me stray from the topic a little to air out my disappointment with the predominant mass media culture of my time. Girls, despite having all the rights and privileges afforded to boys, were still being molded to become housewives and arm candy. Conversely, men don’t have to be considered weak for liking feminine things. We’re already in the 21st century, and people are still stuck with outdated gender roles. Barbie’s got to go, and Ken may just have a male lover. Let’s move forward, okay?

Back to topic for me. So, let’s say you are a parent (or you really are one, whichever). You would like for your child to have the best future you can possibly offer, but for now, it’s play time and rudimentary learning for him or her. You can’t force them towards any interest, but you can certainly pique their curiosity about certain things.

You yourself are a planner and a builder, be it an engineer, construction worker, architect, urban planner, or an eccentric inventor of various gadgets and doohickeys. Given that, you also want your progeny to get interested in creating tangible stuff.

Knowing that toys and games can help them develop skills and interests, what kind of entertainment materials should you let them partake of so that they might take a shine to building and creating? Times are hard nowadays, and splurging on many toys isn’t the way to get the household budget balanced. Buying the right toys that inspire kids to create and build on their own is in a word, cost efficient. They learn more, and for less. What parent wouldn’t want that for their children?

Here are my suggestions, based on a lifetime of learning from being a kid myself, and taking care of all of my brothers’ children (I am the official auntie-nanny of my family):

Lego

Building blocks/pyramids/spheres/etc. are possibly the most versatile and creativity-inspiring toys that you can give to your little child, just make sure they’re responsible enough not to ingest or leave them lying about (stepping on them barefoot hurts a lot). The pieces don’t look like much, but putting them together will produce something that is hindered only by the amount of blocks you have and your creativity. It’s not as insanely pliant as Play Doh or other clay toy products, but with Lego blocks, one’s creativity is challenged to make the pieces of predetermined dimensions fit together well, and that’s a handy skill to have when you’re all grown up.

SimCity

These are the kind of computer games that can inspire children to see the conventional world as a huge playground. At an early age, a young mind can be taught how to think beyond him/herself, and see the people and the places they live in as an expansive, interconnected, and interdependent system. Their problem-solving skills will also be developed, seeing as how a challenge in your given city (pollution, traffic, fires, unemployment, etc.) can be solved with the right thinking and an applied solution.

Tonka Truck + Sandbox

A sandbox is not complete without the large wheels of a Tonka truck rolling over them. Together with your trusty tools to help scoop and shape the sand, this toy will give your kids many hours of sand quarrying goodness. These kinds of toys make them comfortable with the idea of heavy equipment, as well as give them a sense of respect for those who operate these kinds of machinery.

Perhaps a few years down the line, your little child will be capable of driving large trucks or heavy equipment, or even purchasing a few units of construction equipment from sites like Rock&Dirt to fill out their very own construction fleet.

Sid Meier’s Civilization

It’s one thing to run your own city as its totalitarian mayor (seriously, real mayors can’t demolish buildings on a whim), but it is a whole other level when you get to control your own empire. Games like Civilization are for the slightly bigger and more mature kids who have a taste for making a mark on world history. From city building, to social policies, to war and diplomacy, this series of games will truly pit your wit and determination against historical leaders of old. The ultimate goal is to build an empire that will surpass all others in the planet (and not just through sheer military might).

Have a lot of fun and learn something from these games and toys. Onward to a brighter future!

About the Author

Stacey Thompson is a professional writer, marketer, entrepreneur, and a lover of weird little animals. She is based in San Diego, California, and is still playing cool and educational video games both classic and modern. Stacey and her friends have a blog, Word Baristas.