How to choose a plastic children's designer?

The children's plastic designer is that toy which every child must have. Such a gift allows not only to spend time with interest, but also to develop various useful skills in the baby. At the same time, the range of such products on the modern market is simply huge, therefore parents should take a great responsibility in choosing a particular set.

Designers produce from various materials, in particular, not so long ago the metal version was an absolute hit for children.

Nevertheless, now leadership definitely hold plastic models. There are several reasons for this.

• The production of plastics has significantly reduced the price in recent decades; it has managed to become an easily accessible material. At the same time, thanks to the latest developments, it is already safe to say that the best samples are completely non-toxic, and therefore, without restrictions, can be used by kids of any age.
• A huge advantage of plastic parts is their lightness. Firstly, it significantly simplifies the game, even with large cubes, and secondly, with an accidental fall, the blocks are unlikely to cause injury to the kid.
• Plastic parts look much brighter and more believable than similar ones in metal sets.
• The advantage can be considered a wide range of varieties of sets produced from plastic.

There are actually not many shortcomings, and they do not refer to plastic constructors as a whole, but only to unsuccessfully selected sets. In particular, the manufacturer could irresponsibly react to the output of products - to allow the inclusion of toxic components into the composition of the plastics or simply to work the parts poorly, leaving notches and sharp edges. To solve this problem will only thorough inspection of the product before buying.

If the choice fell on the plastic version, there are not too many criteria for how to distinguish a good and suitable constructor from a vain selected.

• Although the choice of material seems clear, we should not forget that plastic is of different quality. Experts believe that any sharp unpleasant smell is an absolute sign that the manufacturer has used poor-quality raw materials, therefore a good designer should not smell like anything at all. A similar requirement is made to the paint - it must be not only non-toxic, but also hypoallergenic.

• Conscious manufacturers label their sets, indicating the age category for which they are designed. The use of plastic constructors is considered appropriate for children from a year old and older, however, in the youngest age category, preference is given to simple and bright sets with large details that are easily assembled into a single unit and are disassembled back. As the age increases, it is more difficult to select sets, because too simple tasks seem to the child boring.

In an effort to interest future small owners, manufacturers are trying to release a designer with a specific focus, which will successfully imitate a particular toy.

For boys, they are advised to choose sets that imitate various techniques, including military ones. The girls, of course, more like themes of animals, princesses, castles. A house that is more like a sorter is considered a neutral option suitable for both sexes, and a set based on a favorite fairy tale or cartoon will be an excellent option for older children.

As practice shows, even advanced modern parents do not always understand how far the progress has gone, therefore they perceive the designer in the too old sense of the word. Today, the variety of options for all familiar toys is so great that you can imagine at least ten varieties of plastic constructor alone. The proposed list includes both the simplest options and innovations that have been present on the market for no longer than several years.

• The extremely simple solution is cubes, which are often used in younger groups of kindergartens. Details here are not interconnected at all, they are simply installed one on top of the other. Traditionally, such sets can only be built conditional teremok.

• Block constructor. Perhaps it is the kind that comes to the average person in the head first. Details in it are fastened thanks to the inserted grooves - such as in the famous designer Lego. The latter, by the way, is a variation of the block set, but the details are not necessarily so complex and diverse, the baby can start with the simplest parts of the same type as early as a year and a half. A more complex version, presented by the same Lego, is distinguished by the sharpness of the details for the creation of a certain crafts, which is also facilitated by the attached detailed instructions.

• Plastic screw constructor - The thing is relatively rare, but you can buy one too. A set with screws and nuts is practically no different from a similar metal, except for increased brightness and larger parts, as well as light weight. However, such a set with bolts and nuts is usually considered too childish, and after it, as a rule, an iron equivalent is acquired.

• Among the kids 2-3 years old is very popular and plastic puzzle, which, thanks to its three-dimensional essence, can be called a full-fledged designer. Details, like the cardboard version, are flat, but can be not only conditionally rectangular, but also triangular. Nothing but a house can be made of such parts, but the kids are not yet interested in anything else.

• Extend the possibilities by using plastic constructor type "mosaic"which in some ways is the same puzzle, only makes much less restrictions regarding the angle at which the parts are connected. In addition, individual elements can be convex, which contributes to the expansion of the number of available products, but this requires a good imagination, so this set is for older children.

• An interesting solution is articular constructor, in which the parts are attached to each other by hinges, which allows the mounts to move. The connection is organized according to the principle of a living organism, where a spherical thickening at the end of one part is fixed by a tight grip on another. Assembled figures can bend at any angle, while remaining complete.

• The designer from flexible plastic tubes gives the child the opportunity to abandon the traditional angular forms, curving parts of their own accord. Difficult solutions from such a set cannot be created, however, geometry teachers have already appreciated the invention, since it allows children to understand the essence of three-dimensional space much better.

• Magnetic Designer it is covered with plastic only outside, and inside it there is a real magnet. The assembly scheme here is quite complicated, but there are not so many requirements for connecting parts, because they attract each other in the way that the baby connects them to each other.Such a decision fascinates children not so much with the possibility of constructing some models, as with the fact that the magnetic field is visible, which also favorably affects the understanding of the laws of physics.

• The Internet is full of funny videos where adults are building difficult sloping trackon which the ball should ride, then accelerating, then slowing down, depending on the angle of inclination. Manufacturers of designers have thought about the fact that kids also have the right to join this fun, but since they have no serious technical capabilities for this, they will have to create a complete set. Details are suitable only to create a slide, but it can look very complicated, so the designer is considered to be focused on children of primary school age: serious planning skills are needed to assemble it.

• Electronic designer it is quite difficult to call it a toy, except perhaps a development tool. Instead of parts, it contains various microcircuits, light bulbs, switches and even speakers. The young physicist will simply be delighted, because he has the opportunity to assemble a real, really working mechanism without any extra effort! Moreover, using the example of such a constructor, one can visually show the child many physical laws related to electricity.

Companies that produce various types of plastic constructor, today in the world there are hundreds. There is no possibility to examine them all, so we have to limit ourselves to a brief overview.

Foreign products are known to all, first of all, by the Lego designer. He is handsome and attractive, as well as completely safe, but not very conducive to the development of the child due to excessive schematics of the assembly. In addition, imported goods are traditionally located in the upper price segment.

Domestic products are often considered to be something average: they are quite good at affordable prices, although lovers of sets are often more expensively criticized. The most sensible domestic manufacturer is often called the brand “Polesie”, but in fairness it should be clarified that this is also import (Belarus).

Chinese designers are diverse and in demand for low cost, but the quality here is not always on the level.

Review of the designer "Lego" for the boy, see the following video.