KEVA Contraptions 50 Plank Set

The media could not be loaded. I was surprised, even after reading all the reviews, when I opened the box & found nothing but a slim booklet, 2 ping-pong balls & a pile of tiny planks of wood. I spent just under $30 for 50 tiny planks of wood??? I was disappointed. BUT, after experimenting w/ them my six year old, I can see past the simplicity—the value comes in watching what she does with them. Nothing could be more open ended than a pile of wood—the booklet got us started, but we felt free to go wherever we wanted from there. There’s nothing but gravity to make them stick together, so dexterity, patience, & logic were all required. Every time our structures fell over, which was frequent, we’d laugh & say “We must rebuild!” and start over. I was really impressed with her resilience. I do think $30 is a lot of money for something so simple, even with the pieces being so stackable, AND all the other reviews are 100% correct—50 planks is just enough to start your addiction, not nearly enough to do much of anything with. Especially if you have more than one child. Do yourself a favor & just spring for the 200. That said I really do recommend this as a great toy & think it would span a great range of ages. My six year old still needs my help for the moment, but probably won’t for too much longer.

This toy has challenge, cooperative play, and endless variation. It is perfect for parents and kids alike who like to build, or just want to see "what if I do this? What happens to that?" There is challenge in following the instructions to build different projects, and the beauty is it's all done using only gravity to hold the planks together.This set goes well with the CityBlocks sets. The planks are similar in size and function and add enormous possibility for expansion.In addition to all of this, there are videos in the product description for this and CitiBlocks sets. There are also YouTube videos as well.Interactive and imaginative play are the order of the day with this set.

For any young builder, this encourages imagination and patience! My 8 year old son spent the evening building tubes and tracks to toss the soft rubber ball through. I love watching him "unplug" and build. The objects are just planks of wood, so nothing snaps, glues or fits together. Everything is built by stacking and balance.

I was hesitant to buy this for my 7 year old son for Christmas because he's used to K'Nex & Legos, stuff that "clicks" together and stays. I have been VERY pleasantly surprised with this toy. He absolutely LOVES it and can sit and play with it for hours. He gets frustrated if he accidentally knocks it over, but then goes back and builds it all over again. We ended up buying this along with the 200 piece set, which I recommend if you think your child might like it as the 50 piece really isn't that many pieces by itself. Great toy, I highly recommend it if your child likes to build!

I bought this set along with MindWare KEVA Contraptions for my 9yo son. We have only had them for 2 days, but he and his 14yo brother have been immensely enjoying them. Based on the reviews of the other set, it appears there can be some misunderstanding about what is in the box: this is a set of 50 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 200-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 :) The additional designs in the instruction book that come with this set aren't very interesting or fun. Buying this set alone would be a tease -- there aren't enough planks to build a very big or interesting contraption. I recommend buying (one of more of) the larger set.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.

I was disappointed when I first opened the package because I'm not one to design things. However, my retired engineer dad thought it was a great product. Also, my nieces and nephews from 4 to 12 have enjoyed building with this every time they visit. It allows them to use creativity and problem-solving with their designs.