My DS6 has loves building structures with Magnatiles, but he is very limited in what he can build because he only has the starter set. Since they are so expensive and he is probably nearing the end of when he will play with them age-wise, I'd like to move him onto a new set of toys. Does anyone have opinions on Lego vs K'Nex vs Magformers? He has a ton of Lego already, but he doesn't build structures so much as vehicles. He is really getting into architecture, so I'd like something he could build structures as well as use motors with. Both the K'Nex and Magformers have motor options I've found.
How are his fine motor skills? K'Nex are hard to put together. One of my twins (age 6) can't do K'nex yet, but his fine motor skills are lagging a little bit. He can do legos, with help on some pieces. My other son (really good fine motor skills) can do it. He has a k'nex advent calendar, and seems to like the one he has already put together.
We haven't used magformers, but I just looked them up,and they look really cool. I may get them for my twins.
Magnatiles are *the* one toy that DS11 and his friends still consistently play with. They make mazes for hexbugs with them.
We do a lot with Lego and K'nex in my house. If fine motor skills aren't great, Kid K'nex are an option (again, getting play here long after the age range).
I was going to say the same thing about k'nex- it takes a fair amount of strength to snap some of the pieces together (and take them apart). They are great, though. We have especially liked a few sets with motors. I think they lend themselves more towards engineering-type building, with moving parts, and less so towards architecture, but they got tons of use here. One nice thing is that it is easier to build large things with k'nex than with lego, just due to the nature of the pieces. Sorry, no experience with magformers.
Regarding motors, you might consider something like a lego train (pricey, though). Ours was repurposed and rebuilt frequently and saw much more use than expected. We also use lego technic pieces a lot, some with motors, many with gears and joints and other moveable parts (again, they can be expensive, we happened to inherit a lot of them).
None of these are particularly geared towards architecture, though- not much help in that area, unless you are thinking of things like the lego architecture series. My kids thought these look cool, but are turned off by the building-specific pieces- looks like sets that would be built once and displayed, which is not their thing. My DD is finally getting her architecture fix in an elective at school, with some great 3d software programs, but they are impractical for home use (at least for us!).
My kids (8, 10, and 12)are not big on lego or k'nex, but still play with their magnatiles. The magformers were a big dud in our house. That said, I do think you have to have a bigger set of magnatiles for the kids to continue using them as they get older.
My son still loves legos. We have moved up to the Technic sets, and we're getting him the Mindstorms for his birthday.
I think this is a really child-specific thing! My ds really liked K'nex for a little while but he moved on to Legos and never looked back. He has a cousin, however, who loved building motorized K'nex structures well into his early teens.
Also in the not-to-distant future you might want to start looking into Lego Robotics kits
Just thought I'd toss that out there - that was where our ds really liked to bug us to spend the big bucks......................
polarbear
Thanks for all the great advice. My DS does have fine motor difficulties, so we may hold off for this year with the K'Nex. I think he (and my DD10) would LOVE the Lego robotics kits, but I'm not ready to pay the $300 unless I know that it will get a lot of use. It seems that either Magnatiles of the Magformers may be a bigger hit for him. Right now leaning toward the Magformers because he could actually pick them up and create more complex 3-D structures because they have stronger magnets. He doesn't build mazes or anything with the Magnatiles, so I don't think it would be a disadvantage for him that they aren't solid tiles.
We have both Magnatiles and Magormers (and all the other items mentioned... MIL spoils my kiddos rotten remotely) and it's not even close, the Magnatiles get much more use by all 3 of my children and their friends. Not sure exactly why they are so much preferred but they clearly are.