Providing young children with STEAM-related, educational and entertaining hands-on activities that rely on their imagination, creativity, and curiosity is one of the best ways to stimulate their interest in architecture, the built environment, art, and help them understand cause-and-effect relationships. That’s the premise behind MAF’s Build Imagination architectural toy kits.
The kits were developed by MAF’s Rae Dumke Development Fund, in partnership with Birmingham’s Baldwin Public Library. Each Build Imagination toy kit (grouped for students in grades 1-3, and grades 4-6) is designed so that children can complete an activity with the toys in the kit in one hour.
Educational toys in the Build Imagination Kits include wooden Keva Planks, Roylco Straws and Connectors, Blocks and Blueprints sets, K’NEX 100 Model Imagine Building Sets, and CMS Magnetics Building Sets.
The kit components can be used to construct structures, mazes, bridges, towers, ramps, and to create a Rube Goldberg Machine (for chain-reaction-based activities) – or as the foundation for countless other architecture-related activities based on children’s imaginations.
MAF’s Build Imagination Toy Kits are available at select public libraries throughout Michigan, including the following. Please check with your library for their policies surrounding their particular kit:
Baldwin Public Library is also home to the MAF Build Imagination Book Collection for children; the books are available for loan to other libraries and for check-out by patrons throughout Michigan. Visit https://www.baldwinlib.org/ for more information.