All children, from a very early age, as well as many adults, love to build various structures from construction sets. Currently there are a huge number various variations This game includes the well-known Lego sets and its analogues from Russian and foreign manufacturers, metal construction sets that came to us from Soviet times, magnetic, wooden and others. Most toys of this kind are equipped with a set of diagrams that show which models can be put together from the existing figures. In this article we will tell you about what can be made from construction kit parts by putting the diagram aside and showing just a little imagination.

What can you make from Lego?

Lego is one of the most popular brands of construction toys. There are an incredible number of different sets on sale for children of all ages, both boys and girls. In addition, there are quite a lot of similar logic games from Russian and foreign manufacturers.

From Lego figures, children can build simply amazing figures - buildings, cars, planes, trains. Large sets are designed to build entire cities or farms. In addition, from a small number of parts you can make something useful and, undoubtedly, original, for example, a cup for toothbrushes or a box for wrapping a gift.

What to make of

No less popular at all times remains the metal construction set, often used in labor lessons at school. Usually the guys use its parts to assemble models of tanks, airplanes and helicopters, cars and ATVs. By showing your imagination, you can build anything from the parts of a metal construction set - from small elements to full-size models.

Now on the market for children's educational toys there are a large number of types and types of various construction sets. Each option has its own pros and cons.

Of interest to boys of all ages are construction sets whose parts are made of metal. With the help of such kits you can create both small cars or helicopters, and professional models vehicles, as well as buildings and architectural monuments.

Construction is a useful game at any age

As a rule, the construction set includes various metal parts with slots for fastening elements. The set also includes: screws, nuts, bolts, technical components, wheels that help to fasten the iron parts into a single game model.

From it you can assemble a car, a helicopter, construction crane, a tank and other interesting toys for a boy that can actually drive and perform their originally assigned functions.

Small car with rotating wheels (photo)

You will find detailed information about wooden construction sets in.

The main kit always comes with assembly instructions. If the constructor is universal, then the book will indicate several possible options assemblies to stimulate the boy’s creative and engineering thinking.

The toy helps children unobtrusively and with interest study the basic laws of physics, understand the essence of phenomena, and model new versions of things that are interesting to them. If something is done incorrectly, the car will not move and the crane will not be able to lift the load.

For a boy, a construction set made from iron parts is a storehouse of household knowledge needed in the future. He will learn to tighten nuts, tighten bolts, and come up with designs that will undoubtedly fulfill their assigned role.

Iron tank from Eitech (Track Vehicles Metal Building)

Varieties

Designers made of iron can be classified as follows:

1. By size. Play sets are divided into large ones, which have an impressive number of parts (their assembly takes considerable time) and small ones, made from a small number of parts (they are easily assembled by a child in a short period of time).
2. According to age restrictions. They are divided into sets for boys 5-6 years old, 7-8 years old, 9-10 years old. The older the expected age of the child assembling the construction set, the smaller the parts and the more elaborate the assembled model can be. The complexity of the assembly process also depends on age characteristics.
3. According to the presented models. Thematic ones are characterized by 1 or 2 specific models of equipment of a certain subject assembled from a construction kit. Universal ones involve a large number of assembled models, and the same part can serve as different parts in different mechanisms.

If parents buy their son his first metal construction set in his life, it’s better to start with a more simple options with a small number of parts. More complex and larger sets may be intimidating for children.

Powerful sports car

Constructor from metal parts has its own special features (both positive and negative) that distinguish it from other similar toys.

Advantages of a metal constructor:

• Develops fine motor skills of the hands and instills perseverance.
• Stimulates constructive and spatial thinking, the construction of logical chains by the child, and develops mental abilities.
• Metal parts can withstand multiple assemblies. If desired, they can be bent and bent back.
• Large range of models. Each child will be able to choose from a wide range of options the option that he or she likes best.
• The kits introduce the child to elementary men's work around the house: working with a screwdriver, nuts, screws, threads.
• Pronounced male character toys.

Loader

Flaws:

• Age restrictions - intended for boys from 5 years old.
• Increased risk of injury – iron parts carry not only wear resistance, but also a real possibility of injury. Therefore, the assembly of a set of parts by a child 5-6 years old should occur under the careful supervision of an adult.
• Metal construction sets are less bright and attractive than their plastic counterparts.

If, after purchasing an iron construction set, the boy has not shown sufficient interest in it, you should not force it on him. Put the set aside, and after a little time has passed, offer the play set again.

Locomotive with carriage

Probably every boy in the USSR had a metal construction set. It was a boring plastic box in which various iron parts with round holes(bars) of various sizes and shapes, bolts, washers, nuts, wheels, hinge elements and a wrench.

The metal was of good quality, was not coated with anything, and therefore had a natural color. The models from the play set could hardly be called cheerful and bright, and it was not created for these purposes. The toy served exclusively to develop the first engineering skills of boys.

A large number of parts made it possible to make from the designer everything that a boy’s soul desired: various airplanes, cars, helicopters, steam locomotives and other equipment. The instructions for assembling the models were complex and confusing, so initially adults helped the children in constructing.

Modern ones, presented in a huge assortment for every taste and budget, are suitable for adults and little boys.

In the USSR, Soviet children who were passionate about constructing with metal construction kits grew into excellent engineers and mechanics.

Set from Soviet era

Manufacturers and prices

In the line of metal construction sets, there are several of the most popular manufacturers:

1. "Samodelkin." Externally very similar to the old Soviet metal set. It has universal parts that can be assembled into a variety of models that are not similar to each other. There are series “Baby”, “Junior”, “Technician”, “Samodelkin”, “Genius”, designed for different ages of boys and different levels of technical complexity. Metal parts are colored. Production - Russia.
2. "Tenth Kingdom" This manufacturer creates both universal (numbered) and thematic sets (“Truck”, “Jeep”, “Retro-Car”, “Steam Locomotive”, etc.). Designed for both labor lessons and independent child play. The parts are painted in standard colors. Assembly instructions included. Production - Russia.
3. Rinzo. Themed from metal parts with the addition of bright ones plastic elements. Compatible with similar play sets from other manufacturers. Two models can be assembled from one set, carefully described in the assembly manual. Completed wrench and a screwdriver. Production - Great Britain.
4. Meccano. A designer with a high degree of detail and elaboration technical units their models. Has painted parts. Assembled equipment is distinguished by spectacular realism. Made in Canada.

The Meccano company produces some of the most expensive metal construction sets. The fact is that the models made from it are much larger in size than those produced by other companies and are as close as possible to real prototypes.

Race car from Meccano

Helicopter from the Tenth Kingdom brand

Transport from Rinzo

Game set from the brand “Samodelkin”

Table - Approximate cost of metal construction kits

When choosing a metal construction set, consider not only the age category for which it is designed, but also individual characteristics your child.

Children under 3 years old should choose construction toys made from safe, large textile or plastic elements, and funny children's toys will help bring them maximum joy.

Despite the great popularity of plastic sets like "LEGO", metal sets for boys are becoming more and more in demand every year. Manufacturers come up with new models and make them more realistic, which invariably affects sales. And at a cost, metal construction sets are much more affordable than their plastic counterparts.

This is how I remember my childhood. Light, also due to the abundance interesting technology and iron around. My parents, especially my dad, surrounded me very much from the time I was little. interesting things- then the engine is from a Cossack kitchen table, either a color tube TV disassembled for repair, or a portable Mriya radio, which could play gramophone records while suspended. But most importantly, my parents sometimes bought me various interesting construction sets. And the most memorable thing for me was the “Electrical engineering in 200 experiments” set.

Photo from the Virtual Museum and Directory - Domestic Radio Engineering of the 20th Century

Now, unfortunately, they don’t make such things, including abroad. I constantly look at the shelves of stores with toys both in our country and when I travel around Europe. There is nothing like it. What was good about this designer was that it combined a lot of the most various parts and components from which it was possible to assemble both toys and conduct entertaining physical and electrical experiments. For example, it was possible to assemble a telegraph.

Photo from the Made in Leningrad community

Or an electric motor-fan, or a homemade galvanic battery, in general, the designer lived up to the name - you could assemble two hundred unique crafts, not counting your own invented ones.

And now, when my son is growing up, I also want to surround him with interesting technical things. And one of them is such a constructor. I don’t want to buy incomplete used ones from 30 years ago, because incompleteness is a tragedy :) And it’s almost impossible to find it at flea markets. But it is quite possible to assemble something similar from available parts, and without much effort.

First, the base, ordinary inexpensive metal construction sets that can still be bought in toy stores.

And secondly, what will bring this constructor to life will add movement. These are motors, wires and batteries. Where can I get them? Ha, I'm sure if you have children, you know what Chinese toys are. They are certainly bought as gifts for children by both parents and grandmothers, acquaintances, and guests of parents. All these flying dogs, jumping cars, barking airplanes - all this breaks down in an hour (day, week) and goes into the trash. But for me they go into the trash only after the main treasure has been extracted from them :)

DC motors. Considering that I have four children, I have accumulated a lot of this wealth. How can these motors help? Here's what. One day a couple of years ago, my son and I were tinkering with my tools and I suddenly suggested to him, let’s build a car out of a stick. Who wouldn't agree to this? We took a piece of some kind of block, a motor, nails, an AAA battery and put it together in 30 minutes.

From nails and sticks, literally, it turned out to be an unsightly self-propelled toy. The child did not let go of it all evening, and then showed it to all the guests - “Look what a limousine dad and I made!” That's when I decided it was time to do these things on a more serious level. First we assembled a windmill, a memorable object from our last trip to Europe.

It turned out so cool that there was only one thing left to do, stock up on parts for such crafts in sufficient industrial quantities :) I bought all sorts of switches, battery holders, and rubber bands at the market. Grandmothers and friends were told that now our best gift- metal constructor. And after a while, my son and I became the owners of the coolest set possible. It was possible to start creating.

Our next craft is an airplane. Twin-engine fighter.

Where there is a plane, there is a helicopter. The son added two additional floors to the main rotor, which seemed better to him.

The child played with this helicopter toy for the longest time, because the main rotor was easily used as circular saw grinders - a lot of things in the house were cut down by helicopter - to the delight of my mother :)

Now she walks reluctantly, the mechanism needs to be adjusted.

But immediately after production, the walking machine, as its son nicknamed it, made everyone very happy with its vigorous gait :)

And the very last of our crafts. To make it, I bought on Aliexpress a radio control kit, a remote control with a receiver, a motor with a gearbox and wheels, a steering servo and a motor control board. All these things are available on Ali in abundance different sizes, capacities, opportunities. We made a radio-controlled tricycle with full control - gas, brakes, steering.

There is so much dope in this crazy tricycle that it’s difficult to get going without slipping. But it’s easy to make a police U-turn.

Below is a video of the unequal battle between a mad car and a caterpillar. My son and I collected the caterpillar for an exhibition in kindergarten, there was a need for a craft from natural material, well, we’ve built a realooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, well, we built a real oooooooooooooo slow caterpillar from coconuts, chestnuts and construction elements. Due to the slowness of the caterpillar, the video is a little long :)

These wonderful things can be made from an ordinary metal construction set, scraps of old toys and a certain amount of purchased parts. The only necessary skill for parents is to be able to solder a little, without this it will be difficult with all these wires, switches and batteries. And, of course, imagination, but usually children have even more of it than adults, so involve your child, he will tell you what to do.

There is, of course, another way. For example, ready-made Lego sets. Lego has a windmill.

There are all kinds racing cars and trucks.

In general, Lego has everything, including robots and kits for customizing and programming them.

But personally, I don’t have a passion for Lego. And my son has problems with Lego, once he dropped the toy, and it was shattered into small cubes, it’s very disappointing to put everything back together. And Lego costs a lot, especially interactive robotic kits with motors or limited editions of all sorts of starships from Star Wars. Our metal will be more affordable, even taking into account the purchase of remote controls on Ali.

There is also an original metal construction set, Meccano. But again, it is very expensive and it is not easy to get it in our area. Therefore, here is the final photo of our wealth.

Which we were one of the first to produce at our enterprise. They were created specifically for labor lessons in junior classes and they have been doing their job well for decades.

And, despite the fact that we made a more modern metal construction set “School” for labor lessons, the popularity of this series does not decrease. They are still one of the most popular and best-selling of all our iron designers for children. Representatives of parent committees of kindergartens and schools especially liked them.

We are already accustomed to the fact that metal construction sets for labor lessons are very often taken for the entire class, group or school and therefore we reserve them in the warehouse in quantities larger than all other construction sets. Designers of this series can also very often be found on sale under other trademarks, with a different name and in different packaging, we have made a lot of them and continue to make them for other market participants.

And finally, the fact that these construction sets are intended for labor lessons does not mean at all that you cannot play with them at home. They perfectly develop perseverance, logic, spatial thinking and fine motor skills. From each set, both relatively complex models and very simple ones are assembled.

To help you, we have created a “Support” section on the website of our online store, where all the instructions and assembly diagrams for all our construction sets are posted. There you can restore lost schemes and recharge with new ideas.

We also recommend that you look at othersmetal construction sets , produced by the Tenth Kingdom (there are already more than fifty of them), to choose from the table exactly the construction set that your child needs.

In addition, the undeniable advantage of this designer is that all parts are packaged in wooden box, of course, more durable than cardboard ones and more convenient for storing elements of a metal construction set. Accordingly, the chances increase that all the parts, screws, and nuts will be in one place and not scattered around your home.

You can buy children's metal construction set No. 1 in wooden packaging in our Tenth Kingdom online store without overpayments at the manufacturer's price. Photos, assembly diagrams and detailed instructions duplicated in the “Support” section.

Metal construction set 2 sells well, but is not the absolute best seller among our metal construction sets for labor lessons. True to its name, it has been a consistent second-best seller in the series for nearly two decades.

It consists of 290 parts, which allows you to assemble 4 interesting models of medium complexity.

Being almost 82 rubles more expensive than the metal construction set 1 for labor lessons, nevertheless, in comparison with it, it is a more rational purchase. Metal construction sets are generally easy to check for profitability. You need to take the price and divide it by the number of parts. The price of one part in metal construction set 2 will be less than in the cheaper metal construction set 1. Apparently, life teaches us to count not only us, but also our customers, which is an indicator good sales this construction set, despite the fact that we have long begun to produce new construction sets for schools using new methods of protecting metal parts from corrosion.

By the way, having collected all four designs recommended by the instructions, you can go to the “Support” section. Assembly diagrams for all the iron construction sets we produce are posted there. You can choose another model that can be assembled from the parts at your disposal.

It would be fair if a person who types in the search “children's construction set metal USSR” ends up on this page. Why? Yes, because we are almost sure that “the most Soviet metal construction set” is produced by us. The fact is that the molds for this designer’s suitcase were made back in Soviet times; we bought them in the late 90s from one of the Soviet enterprises, which ultimately did not survive perestroika. The suitcase was actually produced back in the Soviet Union. In those days, they didn’t skimp on material; a suitcase takes a lot of material, which makes it quite expensive. But this, by the way, is the only drawback of the equipment; it still works like a clock.

In the suitcase you will find 158 elements, from which 5 models of varying complexity are assembled. By the way, the models are also from children's metal construction kits from the USSR era.

Feeling some remorse from the fact that we are still producing, in fact, a Soviet metal construction set, we are constantly planning to discontinue it, but constant orders do not allow this. It still has its own buyer, so it is always in stock in our Tenth Kingdom online store along with other, more modern metal construction sets.