I bought this for my 9yo son. We have only had it for 2 days, but he and his 14yo brother have been immensely enjoying it. Unlike the previous reviewer, I understood what we were getting -- a set of 200 identical wooden planks with instructions for *building* ramps, chutes, funnels and "crazy contraptions". Because no glue or connectors are used, it *is* challenging to build the contraptions but that is also what makes it an extremely open-ended toy. The first night my 9yo was a bit frustrated. We talked about how it wouldn't be much fun if I got him a toy where he "beat the boss" on the first night, and that with this toy he'd have a chance to improve and get better at using it over time, and that as evidenced by his older brother, he'd probably still be enjoying 5 years from now. He took that to heart and by the next morning was already starting to master some of the building forms and had created his own working contraption.
This toy requires patience. It would be well-suited for the type of child who enjoys building domino runs -- it requires a similar level of patience, precision and resilience in the face of the inevitable mishaps.
The planks are identical in size and shape to Kapla or other Keva planks, though these are pine and not hardwood as the other more expensive sets are. They can used interchangeably with those systems, and thus can be used to construct all the other types of structures one might build with Keva planks. The worksmanship seems excellent and precise.
The balls appear to be colored ping pong balls and the only downside to this is that one of our balls already got crushed somehow. However the upside to this is that they are easily replaced/supplemented by readily available ping pong balls.
We bought this set along with the 50-plank set, thinking it would give us some additional planks and a few extra contraption idea. I'm not sure that was worth it, and we might have been better off getting another 200 plank set, as with 2 boys using them, we clearly need more planks :)
For those who already own a set of planks, there doesn't seem to be any way of getting the contraption instructions without buying the sets at this time. This is unfortunate. It would be nice to be able to buy the instructions only for my nephews who already own planks, and to buy instructions for more "generic" uses of the planks for my own sons.
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Customer Review: Lots of fun! Great for creative minds.
Adam Peters
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Many Uses for This Set
I am a Program Manager for a community center and these planks work well for both teens and pre-teens. We paired them with some plastic cups and straws to create a cool engineering challenge. We've also used them to help youth create 3-D mazes. I highly recommend them.
