Kathy G Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Anyone have suggestions for building sets/toys for teen boys that don't cost a fortune? We have gone through k'nex and legos. I can't spend hundreds of dollars! ;( He does do some woodwork too, so if anyone knows some beginner building/woodworking books that would be great too. Thanks! Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 How about toothpick structures? My cousins used to like doing those. http://www.toothpickcity.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theYoungerMrsWarde Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 We are buying ds a bunch of PVC pipe for his 6th birthday in November. Here's a thread about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Kapla blocks in large quantities are good for any age. Shoot, my HUSBAND likes them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 (edited) Kapla blocks in large quantities are good for any age. Shoot, my HUSBAND likes them! That reminds me of Lawrence Hall of Science. My kids get stuck at the room with the Kapla blocks sometimes. ETA - Kapla 1000 Piece Wooden Building Set. That's the one LHS has at least three boxes of. Edited October 13, 2012 by Arcadia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 At about that age, I started doing JETS, where we did a lot of engineering-type challenges using a limited materials set (things like 15 popsicle sticks, 5 yards of string,6 cells from an egg carton, and a bottle of wood glue to try to create something that would keep a raw egg from breaking when dropped from various heights), then competed with other teams. I don't know if that would be something open to your son in your area, but I would imagine similar challenges and ideas are available online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 That reminds me of Lawrence Hall of Science. My kids get stuck at the room with the Kapla blocks sometimes. ETA - Kapla 1000 Piece Wooden Building Set. That's the one LHS has at least three boxes of. The next time you're there, look for pictures of the 7 foot beehive. My daughter is in it. She and her friends built building-sized structures there repeatedly over the years, and the first time they did it, the staff had never seen anything like it before and photographed it for the walls. The structures were big enough to put a chair or two in, and so large that then they pulled out enough blocks to crawl out of the bottom, the structure did not collapse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Does your library have Make magazine? Electonic kits are good. After doing some of those and figuring out how they work, he can start scrounging parts from old electronics (start saving them up now lol) and then building his own things. You can find youtube videos about how to use woodworking tools. Once he knows how to use the tools, he can make his own projects with scrap wood. The problem with books of woodworking projects is that the materials are often rather expensive if you buy them new. My sons made models of their own design with a cheap exacto knife out of oaktag and white glue well into their late teens. If you score and fold it, it looks like plate metal and makes great airplane models. To get started, you could buy a Dover book of cardboard models. Here is a list: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_9?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=dover+cut+%26+assemble&sprefix=dover+cut%2Caps%2C350 Once he's put together a few designed by someone else, he should be able to design his own. The book Backyard Balistics is popular, if you have lots of space and your son is the careful sort. As you can see, I have a family of builders. : ) Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 looking at the other replies and thinking ... do you have lots of space for Backyard-Ballistics type stuff? and what woodworking tools do you have on hand? do you have a stock of leftover wood from, say, home-repair/remodel work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy G Posted October 15, 2012 Author Share Posted October 15, 2012 serendipitous journey--We have a ton of woodworking supplies-dad and Grandpa are do it yourselfers. We have also learned to stop at new home developments because there will be a lot of wood in dumpsters (gross I know!) Nan in Mass- LOVING the Make magazine idea- do you know it well? Should we start at the beginning or go with current issues. My library doesn't have it in stock so I will have to order them to be sent from another branch (3 at a time only) otherwise we would just go browse them! Thanks for all the ideas everyone! Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2smartones Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Have you gone to a craft store and just walked up and down every aisle (especially the clearance aisle)? I sometimes find great stuff that way - things I wouldn't have thought about otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 We began by subscribing. It worked fine. One of our first issues had a do-it-yourself hang glider-y thing GRIN. We like their store, too. They have nice little electronics kits. The only problem with them is that you have to do them next to a computer because the directions are online. Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 nt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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