Wooden constructors for children: the pros and cons

In most modern people, the designer is associated with a plastic block version of such a toy, something very similar to Lego. Someone still remembers the old Soviet metal constructor, and someone is already ready to bestow their children with ultramodern magnetic sets.

However, the good old classic in the form of wooden designers all this time, too, is present on the market. The demand for it cannot be called transcendental, but, unlike all other varieties, it does not lose its relevance for decades and is suitable for any age, and not only for children. Experts say that such entertainment is also very useful, so this toy should be given more attention.

Kids devote much more time to designing than adults. For them, this is almost the only opportunity to develop diverse skills, despite the fact that there are no other responsibilities at this stage. The advantage of wooden constructors should be considered first of all, in terms of what they could give to each child. At different stages of growth, thanks to the assembly of wooden parts, children develop in several different directions.

• Any constructor that looks harder than trivial geometric shapes, allows the child to know the world. The outlook in childhood is hardly very broad - it is limited to home and kindergarten or school, as well as to those shown in children's films. The toy allows the kid to get acquainted with various techniques, for example, through the castle, you can better understand the features of architecture. The "trick" of the constructor is that it allows not only to see the model of the object, but also to better understand its internal structure.

• The designer is rightly considered one of the best exercises for the development of fine motor skills of a child. The kid owns with his hands and fingers, though from birth, but at first is very conditional - parents probably noticed that a small child can easily drop an object held in his hand, it can be difficult for him to hold a spoon or pencil in the correct position. At the same time, maximum accuracy of movements is of fundamental importance to modern man, because the sooner a baby learns to control his actions, the better for him.

• Memory, logic and imagination are still useful qualities that develop in the design process. Wooden designers do not always contain detailed instructions for assembling, suggesting that the owner himself come up with something such. It is easy to understand that if the little man has figured out how to build a toy house, in the future he will surely be able to reach the level when such tasks will be solved on an adult scale. Coming up with something very develops the brain and improves creative skills that in the future can be used to build a career in the most unexpected areas.
• It is difficult for adults to realize this, however childish inattention is also a banal lack of skill to concentrate on solving a single task. This skill, like any other, can be trained, but for this you need to come up with an activity for the kid that would really capture him and make him sit in one place for hours, thinking about specifics.

• Perseverance and determination complement the list of advantages of design, since for an adult they will in any case be useful, regardless of what tasks it solves. Finally, psychologists note a somewhat unusual effect, called the “joy of achievement.” A child who has independently collected a toy for himself feels not only the joy of getting what he wants, but also pride in his achievements. This is an incentive for further development, because few children will agree that even at that age he has reached his maximum potential.

Like any other product that has competitive analogues, the children's wooden designer has its own advantages and disadvantages, which do not allow it to either become the only market leader or disappear completely. Now we see that wooden toys are significantly inferior in popularity to plastic, however, many prefer wood, and in recent years the number of such consumers has been growing.

The first toys began to be made of wood, and there are many reasons for this.

• Unlike so many alternative materials, wood is a natural product, not synthetic, because details of such a designer do not contain harmful chemicals. Even with the ingestion of significant problems should not be - a small piece of detail can be digested in the child's body without much harm to him. Another thing is that poor-quality paint or varnish can cause harm, so you should at least check quality certificates before you buy.

• Wood is considered a high-strength material.therefore, the child is unlikely to break the designer by simply dropping it or stepping on top of it. This not only increases the service life of the purchase, but also minimizes the risk of injury from contact with sharp fragments.
• One-piece wooden constructor, like nothing else, helps to understand the concepts of form, volume, weight and color.

• Contrary to popular belief, even wooden constructors are sold in a very wide range. There are models for boys and girls, for children of any age and adults, as well as story sets for different types of interests.
• The most expensive samples of wooden constructors, created specifically for modeling architectural structures, characterized by an incredible plausibility of the result. If the original is really built of wood, in competent hands a set of faceless details can turn into a real masterpiece, which is not ashamed to show guests of the house, regardless of their age.

However, it is not by chance that designers of wood do not lead in the market - naturally, they also have disadvantages. It must be admitted that there are quite a lot of them and they are significant, and in some cases even critical.

• The naturalness of the material is both an advantage and a disadvantage, because The tree can be an excellent habitat for various microorganisms. Given the eternal desire of kids to pull everything into their mouths, this can be a huge problem, especially since sanitary care of the elements is almost impossible - water, when in contact with a tree, has a negative effect on it. Therefore, any serious pollution will remain on the cubes forever.

• A solid piece of wood is several times harder.rather than a hollow plastic element of a similar size. Kids are far from always inclined to discipline and understand the consequences of their actions, so in the process of self-indulgence they can start throwing the designer at each other. Due to the significant weight of each part, such an impact may result in injury.
• Children do not always like to swim, and if they do, they prefer to go to the bath with their favorite toys in order to diversify the process. Not only does wood not float, it also swells on water, losing its original color, because the sense with such a designer will not be either in the bathroom or after it.

• For modern children, wooden toys may simply seem too primitive. We should start at least from the fact that in many cases the details of the tree are not even painted, once again caring for safety or giving it the opportunity to decorate the finished crafts themselves. But these arguments are interesting to not so many children who mostly want to play already, and not long to work on the realization of their own ideas.
• Even painted wooden constructors are predictably inferior to the "poisonous" colors of plastic parts in terms of brightness of shades. Naturally, wooden constructors do not have other modern gaming bonuses in the form of musical or lighting effects, a winding motor or a radio control.

Like other types of constructors, wooden sets can vary among themselves. The easiest way to classify them according to how exactly the parts are interconnected.

It is generally accepted to call designers of this type cubes, however, expensive modern kits may include more complex parts. Most often, this toy is designed to build simple architectural structures, in which each separate part is installed on top of the previous one without any fixation. You can even destroy the building by accidental contact. But the child has the opportunity to endlessly assemble and disassemble the craft, each time creating something new or adding parts from other sets.

Contrary to popular belief, wooden blocks can be built not only a house. A simple machine can also be assembled, however, “roll” it will not work. Buy such designers usually for children of preschool age.

Such an organization of the designer is somewhat similar to ordinary beads. Despite the allegedly more complex design process, it is designed for the youngest children.

Stringing parts allows you to assemble a tower or train. A familiar example of such a constructor is the familiar pyramid, although such primitive puzzles are more often made of bright plastic.

Such an unusual way of joining is still quite rare even among plastic constructors. Wooden parts are rarely equipped with magnets, but it still happens. There are no global differences from ordinary cubes, with the only difference being that the connection of parts turns out to be much more reliable. The probability of accidental destruction of the building is reduced.

This option is an analogue of the well-known older generation of the Soviet metal constructor, who used to be wildly popular. Thanks to this method, the most reliable connection of parts is achieved. Therefore, the manufacturer has the opportunity to make prefabricated wood toys for active games. For example, it could be a train, a plane or a tank.

Usually in such sets it is assumed that the toy is assembled once for constant play, however, there are also “transformer” type kits specially created for constant transformations. In this variety, the need for high strength fasteners may be due to various reasons. For example, it is possible to assemble a chair from the details of some sets, on which its owner may well sit.

If the previous method of connecting copied metal constructors, then this simulates plastic. Every detail here is equipped with grooves and protrusions, which, tight to each other, make it possible to build a fairly solid structure, which in the future can be disassembled into parts.

A prime example is the designer called "The Seasons". With its help, the child can get an idea of ​​spring and summer, autumn and winter, and you only need to stick flowers, green and yellow leaves and fruits into the plywood in the form of trees. At the same time, the child can be taught to count.

The most difficult way to connect the details of a wooden constructor is gluing. In some cases, it is somewhat simplified, if the elements assume the presence of spikes and grooves - then the glue performs the function of additional fasteners, and not the main one.

A completely different concept is the so-called straw - a set in which all the details resemble ordinary matches of different shapes and sizes. There are no fasteners at all, except for the future glue, but the assembled model can strikingly resemble real objects from life, for example, cars and houses.

You can also glue together more complex options, for example, a truck or an excavator. Due to the very high complexity of the assembly and the inability to play with such a craft - it is quite fragile - such modeling should be considered not childish fun, but serious creativity. Adults or teenagers are fond of them.

From the point of view of environmental friendliness, a high-quality wooden designer, in the manufacture of which chemical dyes were not used, does not pose a danger to a child at any age.

Somewhere from the same age, you can begin to use those wooden constructors that are connected by ropes, sticks, magnets and even spikes with grooves, if there are not too many details in such a constructor.

However, the connection with spikes and grooves may also imply a number of parts of several hundred, and such a gift may seem uninteresting to a preschooler due to excessive complexity. For this reason, large kits are usually given only to children who have reached school age.

A “straw”, which presumes complex work with glue, should not be given at all before the child shows certain inclinations towards such modeling. By itself, working with glue requires a certain responsibility and accuracy, which appears in a child only at 8–10 years old.

However, a complete set can consist of hundreds of parts, because it is probably the only toy that is well suited even for adults. It should be understood that such an assembly is often carried out with subsequent staining.This is a very difficult and painstaking work, so someone will not like such a gift in principle, and someone will be deeply disappointed with the unimpressive result.

As is often the case with designers of not the most popular varieties, almost every brand offers its own, noticeably different design and assembly concept from competitors. It is somewhat unusual that among the wooden constructors in our market is dominated by the domestic manufacturer, while the share of imports is relatively small. It should say at least a few words about every popular brand of such toys.

The manufacturer proposes to assemble from trustable logs with grooves and spikes three types of structures, for which the corresponding series are named - "Folding house", "Fortress" and "Solar Farm".

The total number of models is about two dozen, all of them are assembled from details of a natural shade, which allows combining elements in an unusual order. Absolutely Russian company offers kits from 110 to almost a thousand parts at prices ranging from 900 to 5 thousand rubles.

Contrary to the name, this brand is also Russian - its office is located in Kirov. Details of this manufacturer look like ordinary crafts, cut with a jigsaw of plywood and decorated with burning. In the finished form, these designers are really impressive with their likelihood.

A peculiar feature of the company is the release of sets for modeling various types of transport. However, the houses here are also represented. Familiarity with the products can easily be a family of any wealth, because some simple designers, machines, you can buy at around 250 rubles.

Another designer for the assembly of architectural structures, only already specially sharpened under the houses in the best traditions of old Russian architecture. The details here imitate logs as much as possible (for Lesovychka these were boards). They are even specially rounded for this.

Names of sets like “Terema” or “Svetlitsy” directly indicate what kind of finished handicraft will have. And it is possible to "settle" in it any toys.

A specialized series of designers of this brand may be interested in perhaps older children - such an assembly is too difficult for them. But such a gift can capture all the thoughts of an adult person who is fond of antiquities and legends, as well as, of course, design.

This is a typical straw, so the owner of such a constructor will have to try a lot to glue the object of the ancient city of the presentation type from it. A feature of the series is that each set complements all the others - thus, by collecting all the crafts of the series, you can get a real Old Russian city with all the required elements.

For many decades, designers have been considered an absolutely indispensable toy for the development of any child, but far from all use wooden ones. Those mothers who are still willing to buy such a toy appreciate the naturalness of the material, which will definitely not harm the child, and the designer should be advised to do minimal maintenance with water-resistant designer using microfiber or flannel.

Children usually perceive such gifts well only if they are not spoiled by brighter plastic sets, but the same Lemmo or Lesovichok, with their amazing likelihood, usually does not go unnoticed. The beauty of wooden constructors is that The assembled house can be successfully used to "live" dolls, soldiers and other toys.

Many parents in the responses sincerely write that they themselves sometimes find satisfaction in helping the child to assemble a designer from wood.When it comes to assembling serious constructions from the “straw”, even dads often lose their heads - such difficult work in one team with their son can be a terrific incentive for creating a favorable climate in the family.

Criticism, of course, is also present. Many complain that the slightest pollution spoils the appearance of parts that cannot be washed humane, otherwise it will get worse.

Other parents complain that the child simply “puts on the shelf” such a gift and forgets about it, preferring the brighter modern toys that are not only beautiful, but also know how to talk, shine and so on. Some children just do not have the assiduity to build such a designer, which often has hundreds of parts, and therefore does not imply an instant full-fledged game.

Although it is difficult to call a wooden designer a dangerous toy, experts still point out that they should play not just anywhere, but in a specially designated place in the apartment walls. Such a place must meet a number of mandatory criteria:

• Large and flat horizontal space. During the game, the child will definitely be carried away and may hit the surrounding obstacles or accidentally destroy the created building with such difficulty that will inevitably lead to shed tears.
• Remoteness from open fire, sockets, electrical appliances included. It must always be remembered that wood is a combustible material, and therefore parts may flare with the slightest spark. The child’s actions in this situation are almost impossible to predict, but they are unlikely to be effective in confronting the beginning fire.
• Remoteness from water. In the kitchen or in the bathroom, near flower pots, or near an open window in rainy weather, such a designer cannot be assembled. Water on the parts can ruin a toy, make it less beautiful, and even contribute to its drying out and final breakdown.

The presence of adults is an important factor.. If the designer is still at the assembly stage, the child may need help from the older ones, since it is not an easy task to assemble a house even from one hundred parts. So the game for the child will become more interesting and will not be perceived as a solution to a serious problem.

If the designer is played by at least two children, the presence of the parents is necessary so that the little ones do not throw at each other with the details of the designer, which can be quite heavy. It is important to understand that children of primary school age are usually prone to such pampering, for which parents often no longer consider it necessary to follow.

To consolidate the impression of wooden constructors, you should watch the video below. It provides an overview of several popular modeling kits.