KEVA Contraptions 50 Plank Set

I was surprised, even after reading all the reviews, when I opened the box & found nothing but a slim booklet, 2 ping-pong balls & a pile of tiny planks of wood. I spent just under $30 for 50 tiny planks of wood??? I was disappointed. BUT, after experimenting w/ them my six year old, I can see past the simplicity—the value comes in watching what she does with them. Nothing could be more open ended than a pile of wood—the booklet got us started, but we felt free to go wherever we wanted from there. There’s nothing but gravity to make them stick together, so dexterity, patience, & logic were all required. Every time our structures fell over, which was frequent, we’d laugh & say “We must rebuild!” and start over. I was really impressed with her resilience. I do think $30 is a lot of money for something so simple, even with the pieces being so stackable, AND all the other reviews are 100% correct—50 planks is just enough to start your addiction, not nearly enough to do much of anything with. Especially if you have more than one child. Do yourself a favor & just spring for the 200. That said I really do recommend this as a great toy & think it would span a great range of ages. My six year old still needs my help for the moment, but probably won’t for too much longer.

This toy has challenge, cooperative play, and endless variation. It is perfect for parents and kids alike who like to build, or just want to see "what if I do this? What happens to that?" There is challenge in following the instructions to build different projects, and the beauty is it's all done using only gravity to hold the planks together. This set goes well with the CityBlocks sets. The planks are similar in size and function and add enormous possibility for expansion. In addition to all of this, there are videos in the product description for this and CitiBlocks sets. There are also YouTube videos as well. Interactive and imaginative play are the order of the day with this set.

I was hesitant to buy this for my 7 year old son for Christmas because he's used to K'Nex & Legos, stuff that "clicks" together and stays. I have been VERY pleasantly surprised with this toy. He absolutely LOVES it and can sit and play with it for hours. He gets frustrated if he accidentally knocks it over, but then goes back and builds it all over again. We ended up buying this along with the 200 piece set, which I recommend if you think your child might like it as the 50 piece really isn't that many pieces by itself. Great toy, I highly recommend it if your child likes to build!

Can't say enough about Keva products--we bought this for our 10 year old daughter for Christmas along with the Keva Bot Maze (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B012TT5OH8/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1459189869&sr=1&keywords=keva). It is a little more intimidating than the latter, but still very much enjoyed. A big STEM fan with a desire to become an engineer, she loves the Keva sets and will get more for her birthday. Me, I love watching her creativity in action! She is a perfectionist at times but this seems to be a fun exercise for her that does not frustrate.

I bought this set along with MindWare KEVA Contraptions for my 9yo son. We have only had them for 2 days, but he and his 14yo brother have been immensely enjoying them. Based on the reviews of the other set, it appears there can be some misunderstanding about what is in the box: this is a set of 50 identical wooden planks with instructions for *building* ramps, chutes, funnels and "crazy contraptions". Because no glue or connectors are used, it *is* challenging to build the contraptions but that is also what makes it an extremely open-ended toy. The first night my 9yo was a bit frustrated. We talked about how it wouldn't be much fun if I got him a toy where he "beat the boss" on the first night, and that with this toy he'd have a chance to improve and get better at using it over time, and that as evidenced by his older brother, he'd probably still be enjoying 5 years from now. He took that to heart and by the next morning was already starting to master some of the building forms and had created his own working contraption. This toy requires patience. It would be well-suited for the type of child who enjoys building domino runs -- it requires a similar level of patience, precision and resilience in the face of the inevitable mishaps. The planks are identical in size and shape to Kapla or other Keva planks, though these are pine and not hardwood as the other more expensive sets are. They can used interchangeably with those systems, and thus can be used to construct all the other types of structures one might build with Keva planks. The worksmanship seems excellent and precise. The balls appear to be colored ping pong balls and the only downside to this is that one of our balls already got crushed somehow. However the upside to this is that they are easily replaced/supplemented by readily available ping pong balls. We bought this set along with the 200-plank set, thinking it would give us some additional planks and a few extra contraption idea. I'm not sure that was worth it, and we might have been better off getting another 200 plank set, as with 2 boys using them, we clearly need more planks :) The additional designs in the instruction book that come with this set aren't very interesting or fun. Buying this set alone would be a tease -- there aren't enough planks to build a very big or interesting contraption. I recommend buying (one of more of) the larger set. For those who already own a set of planks, there doesn't seem to be any way of getting the contraption instructions without buying the sets at this time. This is unfortunate. It would be nice to be able to buy the instructions only for my nephews who already own planks, and to buy instructions for more "generic" uses of the planks for my own sons.

I brought this as a birthday gift for my 5 year old. It is tons of endless fun. kids can be very creative and design their own race tracks . It came with two balls and that made sharing lot easier to play with sbilings or a friend. The balls are similar to pingpong balls, which makes it safe. Unlike the electronic toys, contraptions encourages imaginative and creative play. with no batteries paints or plastics, it is very eco friendly.

Fantastic product. Simple allowing kids to be creative. 200 set might be more useful.

Fantastic toy for the creation and construction. My son is 7 and is obsessed with dominoes, this is great as it adds another dimension to his games. He hasnt put them down yet.

Haven't opened it yet.

This is the second one we’ve bought. Easy for most ages. Kids need a bit of patience at first, but then they start to create on their own. Second box is because there aren’t quite enough blocks for the bigger longer designs.

This box of wood had all the boys, from 5 - 65 building happily this Christmas! Great fun, but I still feel it is quite expensive for a box of wood. All the same, I shall probably buy more!