Gears Building Blocks, STEM Educational Toys 234 PCS Gears Building Toys Kids Tool Set with Electric Drill, Electric Gears Blocks Toys Birthday Gifts for Kids Age 3+

I bought this as a stem toy for my almost 2 year old boy and he likes to use it and play with it. It is versatile and made well, so he enjoys taking things apart and putting them back together, or at least trying to put it back together. It is a good size for his age and the different colors allow him to organize by size, shape, and color. The tools are a fun and non-harmful way to learn how to use things as well.

I got this kinda as a "lark", as we've a huge collection of different building type toys, from all over the world (mostly metal nut and bolt types) that run the gamete from Lego to professional engineering sets, and I thought it'd be an interesting item for the collection. When it first came I was somewhat disappointed because there were no instructions or really any explanations for building, which as an adult one normally expects in such item.But I got to playing with it, attempting to build one of the larger models on the box. It's really quite an amazingly unique type of set to build with. As an adult I found it somewhat frustrating because if you wanted to follow the pattern on the box EXACTLY you must do some fairly intelligent puzzling to duplicate it perfectly (though in color you couldn't, as the colors of the parts, while quite varied and colorful, are random evidently). But from my neighbor's kid's perspective it was PERFECT, as she's quite young and wanted nothing to do with the exact patterns at all, just started putting things together in various ways that suited her. Lesson learned; the much younger kids this is suited for need no instructions, they just dive in an start putting it together.We found it really great that it was so simple to construct some moving and static models of various degrees of complication, and with the amount of parts in this good sized box there was plenty for about anything we built that day.I found this set really has a lot of potential for a mixed age group of children. Most of the larger pieces fit together like "finger joints" in woodwork, and are very easy to deal with for very young children. The large thread screws, gears, and brackets provide much more possibilities and interest for somewhat older kids, and there's even two potential motorizing items for movement as well as a hand crank for even more added play. There is a motorized "screwgun" that can be used both in movement action and for putting in the large thread screws to hold the gears on the larger bits, as well as many of the brackets and flat "standee" figures that add some additional interest.There's a small bit of "prep" that probably should be done before giving it to a very young child, and that's punching out the sheet of flat figures, and cutting the various parts off the sprues that they come on. There is also one decal to apply to the motor unit, but none of these things are really critical to the building of the set. You will also need 4 AA batteries installed; two for motor "block" and two for "screwgun". My one disappointment with the set is the box that it comes in has a handle, but it's attached to the top which is not tabbed or such to stay in place when picked up with the weight of the set in it. Our fix was to just attach some clear "magic" tape with a curtesy tab on it up the side and over top, as the gloss finish of the box was good enough to keep it from peeling a layer off of it. One could easily attach a tab to the side though and make the box more user friendly.For $40 I find this a great deal for a perfect construction set for the younger children, something that really in our vast collection there's not many of. I really liked it much better than the magnetic ones that I usually let the smallest ones play with. This is right up there with TinkerToys in some ways in my opinion, and I LOVED my TinkerToys growing up.The GOOD: Good number of parts for the money and building Very colorful, and quite a variety of different ways of constructing for a simple type set Great for very young folks Motors work well for exactly what they are for The little Monkeys and Teddys are also quite cute for the ridesThe IFFY: Flat standees really don't do much for me, but some children might find them great Box with handle could have been better constructed for storage with a tab No instructions besides the pictures on the box... but I'm not sure that's a negative at all reallyThe BAD: Nothing that I could find, I liked the set and the price point, I think it's a fairly good deal

This is a hit in our home - kids love it and I love to see them interested enough in anything that they don't want to bury their heads in a screen. I disagree with the age range personally and think it's geared more toward older kids than the ones shown in the pictures. There were no guides or instructions in the box which was a bit disappointing but my five-year-old is more of the creative type and usually disregards the designs offered in kits such as this, in favor of making his own. That said, he is finding this challenging - in a good way. It's not so challenging that he gets bored or loses interest but it's challenging him enough that he's not going to get tired of it any time soon. It's worth mentioning that he's introduced this to a 9-year-old friend of the family and she loves it as much as he does. Because she's older, she is introducing him to designs and ways of using it that he wasn't quite able to dream up yet. My take away is that his designs shall evolve as he ages and this kit won't become a forgotten relic in the back of his closet for a long while. The pieces are strong enough to not break but there are no sharp edges or anything for him to hurt himself on. It does require four AA batteries (2 for the plastic drill and two for the gear box) which are not included. I've ordered a good number of stem/build sets and for the price, this is probably the best value I've found.

This set is of the mind that “Give the kid some stuff and let them figure it out.” It give no guidance beyond the vague pictures on the box. I you agree with the same method, then this box is great. I, however, like just a tiny bit of guidance or a starting point. I cannot have this at the clinic until I ,myself, look at it and build something so for those children that need a guiding hand can still use this set.At first I thought it was great that there was a handle on the box because I could use the box as storage. That is not so. The top doesn’t stay closed with a tab or anything, and the box broke when transporting it from one room to another due to its thin build.I assembled the drill and the little “station” without any problems. The pieces seem sturdy enough to last a while and handle some rough handling. Only time will tell.

Upon unboxing I'm really liking the quality of the set. All of the pieces are finished well with no burrs or rough spots, everything fits together well. This is a pretty cool and fancier version of a set my girls already had that only relied on human power. The little drill is super cute as well as functional and comes with both Phillips and Flat head bits. It would be nice if the drill had bit stowage like my own but it still works well.I had to knock off stars so far because the darn thing doesn't come with ANY instructions/example models to get familiar with the set, that's pretty significant. It's always nice to have some instructions on how to use /assemble the pieces so the kids can get familiar with the set before getting their own creative juices flowing, heck Dad/Mom as well, lol! Going to see what I can find out there on the internet but that part definitely sucks and takes away from the value of the set.