Photo by Anton Olsen
There is yet another building toy on the market. A whole lot more than one actually. I counted at least a dozen at Toy Fair before I lost track of them all, but LaQ was the only one I recognized from last year. Their literature piqued my interest, so this year I made a point to stop by and see what made them unique among the other “new” building toys.
LaQ has 7 different types of parts. The triangle and square bases can be connected with any of five different edge connectors. The challenge comes in applying the limited number of pieces to make complex shapes and models. Building with LaQ felt more like solving a puzzle than just playing. Creating normal shapes and familiar figures takes some planning, though, and a lot of trial and error.
The gals in the LaQ booth were kind enough to send me home with a small sample kit with enough pieces and instructions to build an ostrich. I got bored last week while waiting for my home partition to fsck and dismantled the ostrich and attempted to recreate it without the instructions. What I ended up with looked like a turkey with liberal artistic license. At least two out of three family members agree that is looks like a turkey.
Wired: Thought provoking, challenging to work with, and a cool idea for connecting pieces.
Tired: Might be a little too challenging (frustrating) for some kids.
You can find out more about LaQ at their site and purchase them from Amazon.
