Tinker Toys?

[kendallina]

Does anyone have kiddos in the under 5 y/o crowd that uses tinker toys? Online it suggests ages 5 and up, but I think my 4-year old kids would like these. Can 3 and 4 year olds use these?

[daycare]

Curious to know what they are.

[Mike]

One of my friends kids loved those when he was 4. I watched closely for a while, but he quickly got the hang of using them. For 3yo it would depend on their motor skills and should be supervised the whole time.



I like helping kids play with them.

[racemom]

We have them in the preschool room, 4 and 5 year olds. Not sure why they say 5 and over.

[daycare]

I see this on Amazon. So cool but pricey.

It says not for under 3 on Amazon

[jenboo]

We have them in the preschool room, 4 and 5 year olds. Not sure why they say 5 and over.

My guess is the size? Lots of small pieces so they probably put the older ages for liability.

[CalCare]

Also, you can get plastic or wooden. I find the plastic to be a hazard since they can break easily and then they are sharp. Also there are small plastic connectors. When used as only the wooden ones, I don't think there is any hazard for 3 year olds. Maybe under 3, because of the round parts somehow being a choking hazard (though they are pretty big for that, they wouldn't pass the toilet paper tube test). My kids almost exclusively make them into weapons so if you're not into that, you'll have a lot of limit setting in your future

[Mom2Two]

I have an older set that is by the name "fiddlesticks." Then I bought more, because I didn't have enough. I got some from ToysRUs. But they come with some triangle-shaped, plastic pieces that I had to toss out, because when they get put in the slots it's easy to pull them back and snap off one half of the slotted wood.

Then I tried buying a set from ebay, only to find out that there are two different sizes! I had accidentally ordered a set of the tiny size. Definitely buy the bigger size or you won't be able to use them with the younger children and you'll have the problem of those tiny pieces that get lost under sofas only to show up right when your licensor appears at the front door (been there!)

[NillaWafers]

The set I have is just large wheels and the sticks. I let them use while supervised and haven't had a problem with them.