Recommendations for this...

[cheerfuldom]

Any suggestions for building/creative type toys and sets for older preschoolers to young schoolagers? (4.5 to 7)

We just got magna tiles which my preschooler is obsessed with. I have regular building items in our daycare room but I would like some more "big kid" options. I have regular blocks, large cardboard blocks, mega blocks, legos and tree blocks. What should I get that would interest older kids?

[jenn]

Mine love Lincoln Logs, but you have to be careful of the smaller pieces. Over spring break, my older group used toilet paper tubes, paper towel tubes, medium to large cardboard boxes, and masking tape to build a creation that they later colored with washable markers.

[nothingwithoutjoy]

I've seen big kids do really cool stuff with Citiblocks (that's what I'm getting my schoolagers this summer).

[MarinaVanessa]

Ramps are fun. You can buy vinyl gutter pieces for them and either trust them and supervise them with marbles or just have them use small balls or cars.

I 2nd the Lincoln Logs. My older kids love them.

Pattern block puzzles but the kind with the board cut-out and the kids have to fill the area. Even us adults like those. http://www.patternblockpuzzles.com/

[Second Home]

My sa kids love magnetics . I have a set similar to this http://www.magnet4sale.com/108-pc-ma...ue-rose-green/

[Unregistered]

Gears. And our "Box of Stuff" - all the things I'd normally recycle, plus craft items, and.... stuff. Even my kindergarten boy loves it! And the little ones want to join in on the fun of creating and using their imaginations. I'm also always amazed at the creative ways the bigger kids come up with to use the "baby toys" we have!

[Laurel]

My 7 year old granddaughter likes Knex. There are many different varieties of sets of these available.

Laurel

[nothingwithoutjoy]

Came back with another thought...my big kids' favorite building thing is the glue gun! Corks, sticks, recyclable stuff, etc, etc, etc. A few years ago, one of them planned to make a "boat that really floats" during the summer, and they all got into it. Now every time one of them comes back (years later!), they whip out the glue gun to make more boats. That summer I bought a box of 1000 glue sticks. We're not through them yet, but they're getting there!

[itlw8]

MORE magna tiles or the bigger blocks and stuff for the unit blocks. often they do not need another option but a bigger set of what they have to take it to the next level

[nothingwithoutjoy]

MORE magna tiles or the bigger blocks and stuff for the unit blocks. often they do not need another option but a bigger set of what they have to take it to the next level

I second this...(despite my previous responses)...

[midaycare]

My sa kids love magnetics . I have a set similar to this http://www.magnet4sale.com/108-pc-ma...ue-rose-green/

Thanks for the link Second Home - those were the cheapest Magnetics I've ever seen. Finally I can afford them!