Marinmommy1 - reading your post made this particular toy pop into my head. Don't know if you're anywhere near an ikea, but this is just a great first building kit; some pieces are pretty small if a child is still mouthing things, so some parts might need to be held back. It's pretty affordable and mostly very easy to work with so motor skills don't have to be super high. It comes with instructions for building a helicopter and a motorcycle and a couple other things.
My 2.5 year old loves this kit; she says she is 'working'. (She is not building recognizable things independently at this stage but enjoys doing so with me or putting parts together to see what happens on her own). There might be other similar toys out there...
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00060763
