Stacking boards, built-in bricks, ball circuits, puzzles, models… have been timeless for generations.

A little history

One of the oldest on the market is Meccano. It is to an Englishman, Frank Hornby, that we owe its creation in 1898. The man invented this game based on screws and nuts for his own children. Before marketing his system under the brand “Mechanics made easy”. Even today, Meccano junior allows people over 5 years old to assemble, disassemble, assemble a motorcycle, tractor or fire engine using a screwdriver and a wrench adapted to their little hands, in complete safety.

Another classic in construction games, the Kapla. Or small boards in Landes pine, used to build a chair, an Eiffel Tower or a boat. A feat achieved without nails or glue, simply by stacking the boards on top of each other.

Around 6 months, the little one begins to handle cubes, without any precise construction project. He touches them, puts them in his mouth. You usually have to wait for him to blow out his first candle before he starts stacking what is in front of him. First 2, 3 then 10 cubes. This is the very beginning of a career as a builder. The difficulty will get worse over the years and depending on the games.

A great evolution 

Little by little, its tower and its constructions will gain height, thickness, and become more complex. Parents can naturally be present, providing occasional help if the child requests them. But above all, we have to let them do their experiments, not to do it for them. This is what allows them to learn.

Children can also, especially when they are very small, destroy. By knocking down a tower, for example. This shows him that he has the joyful power to do and undo. 

Theo, an 8-year-old boy, patiently builds his Lego Star Wars. Brick after brick, he sees the helmet of Darth Vader appear before his enchanted eyes. He follows page after page the instructions of a model to create his work. What pride once he puts on his last piece.

The models teach him to follow steps in a logical order. He understands that the walls of the house must be laid before the roof. But Lego, like most construction sets, can also stack freely, without any model. No barrier is then put to the imagination of little boys and girls. By trying, by making mistakes, by starting over, they progress. They take their toys apart to build another one.

In doing so, they learn from their mistakes, improve their method, and develop their skills. Some manufacturers add a lot of details to their games, to make the toy very realistic: for example, paint for a model of a custom steam locomotive, sandpaper and wax to polish and smooth the parts. If we add accessories to a car, little characters … once his construction game has been built, the child will tell himself stories. More and more detailed.

By assembling Duplo bricks to build a freight train with her little hands, Zoé, a 3-year-old girl, develops her fine motor skills. But not only. She also learns patience. She becomes familiar with colors and shapes.

When Gabriel, a little boy of 7, builds a model of a tyrannosaurus, it takes him more than an hour and a half to reconstruct, piece by piece, the predator. A real lesson in concentration and perseverance.

Mayline, a 6-year-old girl, assembles the 135 stained beech elements of her Jeujura wooden chalet, before finishing its construction by putting on the green tiles and the red fireplace.

To avoid the risk of suffocation, never give a small Lego-type brick to a child under 3 years old. The words “not suitable for children under 36 months” are not negotiable. The minimum age written on each box must be respected by parents. First and foremost for security reasons. But also because a toy that is too complex for its age could discourage and frustrate the child.