buildings

Steven Caney's Ultimate Building Book
$29.95
This book really is the "Ultimate Building Book." I am a teacher of third and fourth graders and plan to use this book to supplement my teaching in the upcoming year. It has wonderful construction ideas for children, step-by-step pictures, key vocabulary, great descriptions of all kinds of buildings in both the natural world and those constructed by people, and even includes stories and other language arts connections. Of course the connections to science, social studies, and math are natural outcomes of the projects. Wow! One could teach from this book with no other curriculum and fill a year with child-centered activities and learning. Creative students will love the ideas supplied in this book and every child will be challenged to look at the many forms of construction we see around us with new eyes. I'd recommend this book to parents of kids ages 4-14 and to teachers who enjoy providing creative educational instruction.

LEGO Duplo 5380 Building Set - 71 Pieces
$29.99
Lego Duplo is a wonderful gift for little builders

Pros:

It's incredibly flexible
It stimulates the imagination, and builds hand-eye coordination
The toy is tough, and safe
It works in conjunction with "regular" legos when the child is older
No worries about getting the child a duplicate gift. If someone else got the kid the exact same set, no problem! Twice as many legos is twice as good!
Comes with a neat case to keep the duplos organized.

Cons:

Stepping on Duplos in your bare feet will cause 5 d20 piercing and bludgeoning damage. Dungeons and Dragons references aside, it's very painful, because the toy is so durable. This only seems to bother adults - kids have no problems with this because they have little feet and don't weigh very much.

LEGO Fire Fighter Building Set
$10.99
I wouldn't buy it again. There are just a few more blocks to add to your lego. It did not make an impresion on my 4 y.o. son, and he does not want to play with the set as he loves to imagine himself as a firefighter.

CITIBLOCS Original Wooden Building Block Set - 200 Piece
$49.95
Awesome creative activity for a wide range of ages. Build structures from very simple to very complex. Very educational as well as super fun.