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Home / Early Learning / Classic Building Toys for Kids that LAST

Classic Building Toys for Kids that LAST

Shared by Mary Catherine 4 Comments

As Engineer and I sorted through toys in preparation for the holiday season, I was struck by the toys that were in our “keep” pile. Almost all of the toys that he couldn’t part with had lasted for years and years! They’re also all building toys for kids, which makes sense because my son loves building anything and everything.

Classic building toys for kids that last last years

Related: Magnetic Tiles and Glow Sticks

According to Dictionary.com, building is “to construct (especially something complex) by assembling and joining parts or materials.” The five toys below definitely fit within that definition!

Table of Contents

  • Why are these building toys for kids so great?
  • 5 Classic Building Toys for Kids
  • Done-for-You Preschool Resources

Why are these building toys for kids so great?

As I mentioned above, each of these toys has been in my house for years! Many of these toys were given to him when he was three or four. He’s 7 now, so each of the toys has had 3 or 4 years of weekly use without much damage.

In addition to their lasting qualities, it’s easy to add to the sets. Since Engineer’s interests have expanded, it’s been nice to grab additions to these toys throughout the years. His building schemes have also become more and more complex, so easily adding materials has been a must over the years. You can’t beat toys that GROW with kiddos!

Each of these toys appeals to so many different kiddos. My preschoolers love them as much as Engineer does, even though they play with the toys in very different ways.

5 Classic Building Toys for Kids

I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Legos are one of the classic building toys for kids that i'd recommend for anyone

LEGO

I am firmly convinced that building with LEGO helped improve my son’s fine motor skills. While I tend to call them building toys, LEGO really are fine motor toys. Little (and not-so-little) fingers get quite the workout manipulating these pieces into place.

We started with a basic creator set when Engineer was younger. He started out assembling and disassembling, then moved onto creating animals, people, buildings, and other random creations. Starting out with a basic set encouraged him to use them in an open-ended way. Of course, we’ve added fire trucks, LEGO Batman sets, and all things LEGO Star Wars. But Engineer doesn’t limit his LEGO thinking just to the sets, much as he loves them. He’s just as likely to make his own ship for Yoda as he is to follow the directions to building a set.

Shhhh, don’t tell him, but Engineer is getting a LEGO At-At for Christmas. He’d been planning on saving up for it, but it will be arriving months ahead of his timeline!

Lincoln Logs - 1 of the 5 classic building toys for kids we love

Lincoln Logs

Another classic building toys for kids to create with! Engineer has used his Lincoln Logs for a variety of structures over the years. He started out with basic houses, then moved onto creating neighborhoods for his other toys. He’s even used them to build tunnels for his train tracks, which entertained me to no end.

He started out with a basic set, of course. He’s been happy with the starter set for years and years, so we haven’t added any more to our collection. We’ve talked about getting a second basic set or the Redwood Junction set (because it has a train with it).

Tinker Toys are one of the 5 classic building toys for kids we love

Tinker Toys

I love watching my son play with toys I loved as a kid! I remember using Tinker Toys when I was younger, so I’m tickled that Engineer loves them too! 🙂 Once again, we started with a basic beginner’s set – he got the wooden version as a gift from his grandparents. The kiddo has made cars, satellites, and all kinds of constructions with these classic toys.

Unfortunately, it’s harder to find the traditional wooden Tinker Toys nowadays, but there are many other types available. They have a great 100-piece value set, and this classic wooden connector set (from a different manufacturer) looks like fun too!

wooden blocks are one of the classic building toys for kids that we love

Wooden Blocks

Oh how we love blocks, both at preschool and at home! Engineer has never once tired of any of the building blocks we’ve had at home. In fact, we’ve talked about adding more to our collection soon – probably around the kiddo’s birthday.

A set of wooden unit blocks is a great place to start, and it’s easy to add more as the kids need. Both Engineer and the preschool kiddos have loved loved loved the natural color Citiblocs we have. These two sets of blocks seem very “simple”, but the kids can create some amazing structures with them! I’ve seen bridges, skyscrapers, the North Pole, farms, airplanes, and so much more!

For future purchases, we’ve been scoping out the colorful Citiblocs, castle blocks, and these architectural blocks. Too many fun choices!

Wooden train sets are one of the classic building toys for kids that we love and recommend

Wooden train tracks and trains

My son has been into trains since he was about 2 and got his first basic set from his grandparents (hi, Dad!) Over the past 5 years, our trains and tracks have expanded almost exponentially!! We have an amazing amount of wooden train tracks from a variety of manufacturers. Engineer and I especially love the special connector pieces, like the switch tracks and adapters. On top of that, we have wooden trains of all different brands – Thomas, Brio, etc.

If you want some serious, in-depth wooden train gift guides, you need to check out Play Trains. Here are just some of the amazingly researched gift guides she’s put together (I’ve referred to them many times when deciding what to purchase):

  • Guide to the best wooden train sets
  • Big ticket train gifts
  • Best wooden train tables
  • Pink train sets, toys, and gifts for kids

What about you and your kiddos? What classic building toys for kids do you have at your home? Do you have any more toys to add to this list? Engineer and I both want to try Magnatiles out in the near future!

Classic building toys for kids - awesome suggestions for toys that last and group with kids over the years

Done-for-You Preschool Resources

Planning meaningful lessons for students week after week, all while balancing other teaching responsibilities and a personal life, can be a daunting task. That’s where Preschool Teacher 101 comes in to save you time!

Preschool Teacher 101 is excited to share with you some amazing lesson plans, activity packs, and much more! We offer a wide variety of themes that are frequently used in preschool classrooms, as well as some less common (but super interesting) themes. Click on the images below to learn more about our some of our construction-themed resources!

Preschool construction lesson plans resource cover.
Construction Lesson Plans
Preschool construction dramatic play resource cover.
Construction Dramatic Play

Join The Pack from Preschool Teacher 101 today for exclusive access to our amazing products. And we even have three different membership options to suit your needs!

Filed Under: Early Learning Tagged With: Birthdays, Building, Christmas

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  1. Emily says

    February 27, 2016 at 12:08 pm

    Great list Mary! I like the classic building toys and often buy it for my son.

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      March 2, 2016 at 5:06 pm

      Thanks so much! We’re still using every one of these toys at home!

      Reply
  2. Kathleen Beattie says

    July 24, 2019 at 9:13 am

    When kids are cleaning up the wooden blocks is it necessary for each different size to be stacked together in a labeled shelf or is it ok to just put all the blocks in 1 bucket?

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      July 31, 2019 at 12:29 pm

      Hi Kathleen! I prefer to keep the different sizes separated, but I suggest you find what works best for you and your children. You can read a bit about setting up a block center here if you’re interested.

      Reply
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My name is Mary Catherine, and I love to share meaningful {and fun} learning activities for kiddos! Feel free to browse and stay awhile!

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