Tinker Toys

Just like K’nex, Tinker toys let young minds build endless gadgets. The only difference is that they get the feel of good ol’ fashion wooden components in their hands.  Lots of catapults, windmills, and fishing rods have been produced from Tinker Toys our home. I like this old school building system because it lets my boys explore concepts of structural rigidity  while working out their tactile agility.

Erector Set

Again, this is another stick based building system is the spirit of K’nex and Tinker toys. However, with this set the kids get to have fun with nuts, bolts, gears, and motors. Erector sets go way back to the 1940′s, but will never be outdated as a creativity booster.

Sketchpad and Color Markers

Just go do this. Buy a ream of cheap copy paper from your local office supply store along with a box of non-permanent color markers. A sure way to let children get their creative thoughts out of their head is to draw, scribble and write on paper. You will have and endless supply of art pieces to display on your refrigerator and office corkboard.

Legos – Mindstorms

If your little ones took well to lego bricks, then your teenagers will go nuts with this kit. Leg Mindstorms is a tremendous way to expose your kids the finer points of engineering creativity.  With this kit they will get their first exposure to robotics for under $300.  If there is a inventor who likes to program lurking under the surface, Lego Mindstorms will definitely bring him or her out into the  light. Within 2 weeks of one of these kits entering our home, my oldest son had made a replica of a swinging carnival ride, programmed the motion, and posted a video on Youtube.

Musical Instruments

As a kid I wanted to play the drums but was presented a guitar.  I tried to learn how to play that guitar, but lost interest within a month. It just was not my thing. My suggestion is, if you can, to expose your kid to a range of musical instruments and see what they like. My approach with my sons was to take them up to the Music Mega-store, Sam Ash, and let them just play around. We did this one a year as they moved from pre-school age to late elementary school. Eventually from watching where they gravitated, my wife and I invested in a drum kit and guitar. As a result, one son has taught himself how to play the guitar from website instruction videos. At the same time, another son is working his way slowly, but surely through learning to play drums.

Here are ten of the  hands-on things that have helped them to exercise that right  side of their brain.

Play-Doh – Age 1 and up

The squishiness of this old school dough has brought hours of fun. We have seen a wide range of masterpieces come out of this colorful medium. No matter how many times you open up the cans of play-doh, a colorful sculpture of dog doo-doo is rolled out, swirled and chuckled over (much to the frowns of my wife).

Lego  Bricks – Age 3 and up

Every kid should have a bucket full of Lego Bricks. I did not have the privilege of owning Legos as a kid. However, I did have a friend who owned Legos. Fortunately, I married a wonderfully geeky gal who brought over 5000 of these wonderful bricks to the team.  Needless to say, the boys had a good foundation of building blocks to start with. To this day, hours at a time are spent snapping Legos together in our house. My advice – put Duplos in your toddlers hands early in life and let them graduate to Legos as soon as you can.

Scissors, Paper, Glue – Age 3 and up

I know this sounds like caveman activity in our world full of electronics. However, kids need to experience the joy of cutting paper with scissors. They need to feel the sticky glue on their fingers and face. The free form expression of what is in their mind’s eye is cut loose by giving them a stack of magazines, construction paper, safety scissors, and a glue stick.  By doing this, you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of art to display in your office.

K’nex – Age 4 and up

K’nex are the modern day’s version of Tinker toys. When you put these assorted plastic sticks, and snap shapes in your kids hands you enter geometric heaven. Anything from a fishing pole to a pyramid to a truss bridge will emerge from the hands of your mini-me.

Magnetix – Age 5 and up

Everybody loves marble size steel balls and sticks with magnets in each end. Give your kid a set of Magnetix and watch their eyes light up.  You can make geometric shapes for days on end. And talk about letting your kids explore the world of structural trusses, this is the way. I keep a box of these little jewels on my desk at work just to get the creativity flowing.

Continued in Five Ways To Help Kids Explore Their Creativity – Part 2