Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Christmas/Hanukkah/etc presents?

Good for him. I've been thinking of getting one for myself, but I know I don't have the time. Glad to hear he is enjoying it!
Grinity

I recently brought my daughter to a toy store and told her she could pick anything she wanted, but I ended up reneging on that promise. What she picked was a zoob jr. building set:

http://www.amazon.com/Zoob-13030-ZO...mp;ie=UTF8&qid=1321368400&sr=1-9

The problem is that she's 2.5, and in the 3rd percentile for weight. If she uses every bit of might in her little body, she can snap a piece together with another piece, assuming she's lined them up perfectly. She can't really build anything when it's that hard to put the pieces together. We ended up getting "The Cat in the Hat I can do that" game:

http://www.amazon.com/Cat-Hat-Can-T...mp;ie=UTF8&qid=1321368589&sr=1-1

Does anyone know of a building set appropriate for a small 2.5 year old girl? She's been playing with megablocks for a year now, and I think she wants to take the next step.

She specifically requested "gears for girls" as well. I'm thinking about getting her this gear set from Trio, but I don't know if she'll be able to do much with it herself. The reviews are kind of mixed. Some people say 3 year olds do it, others say Trio is better for 5+ because of the difficulty in putting the pieces together.

http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-...mp;ie=UTF8&qid=1321367995&sr=1-4

I don't own either of these, but I've noticed there's a couple brands of these magnetic building sets. http://magnetixtoyreal.info/magnetix-micro-magnetic-building-set/
There's Magnatiles and geomag on this page
http://www.fatbraintoys.com/toys/toy_categories/building_construction/index.cfm

I got the boy a small trio set for his second birthday but he wasn't strong enough to use it 'till he was 2.5. He's 4. We've added to the set. He still plays with the Trio all the time.

A game he loved was Perfection, but without the timer. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004NAJI1K/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

Here's his latest original Trio designs a dog, a trophy, and a caterpillar. The caterpillar looks suspiciously like a weightlifting bar, a quid ditch broom, a walking stick and several other designs I've seen. Trio has a satisfying snap.

Before buying a 2.5yo a magnetic building set, make sure you understand the risks. If the child swallows one magnet, the results are benign, but with two or more magnets (or one magnet and at least one piece of ferrous material) , the results can be deadly. An immediate trip to the ER is indicated.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5548a3.htm

My DS is not small for his age, but he has low muscle tone, and he has been enjoying the regular-sized Legos since about 3.

Legos are quite fun for kids of all ages.

I remember hours of joy constructing lego space warships and conducting unwanted aerial assaults on my sisters' lego pastoral country houses.

That's a good point for all of us considering these types of toys. I could probably trust my daughter, but not her brother who is currently 10 months. Perhaps I should have mentioned him in my first post in this thread.

How could I forget? Wedgits!!! DD5 got a set for her 2nd bday; she and DS7 STILL play with those things! (I play with them too!) Great gift for a wide range of ages.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dtoys-and-games&field-keywords=wedgits

I'd go for 'regular' Legos. I'd also make sure to pick up this amazing little tool they sell - http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Brick-Separator-630 The brick separator. I can't tell you how amazingly happy I was when I found this little thing. Also, on the Lego website you can find a couple of girl sets called Bellvue - http://shop.lego.com/en-US/BELVILLE-ByTheme

ETA: So long as fine motor control is good, there's not a whole lot of reason not to go straight to legos... but, if she has trouble with very small pieces I'd do the Duplo sets.

We haven't started Legos yet. We're preparing. I just ordered the free Legos jr magazine. I bought a storage drawer like this from Walmart.
http://m.staples.com/mt/www.staples.com/Plastic-Storage-Drawers/cat_CL140604
Right now it separates his trio, erector jr, floor puzzle, and army guys. I got the idea from a family magazine where they used three of these narrow clear drawer towers, put a board across it, and called it a Lego bench.