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Beginner K’Nex Construction Crew: Excavator & Front Loader Review

Posted on August 30, 2010April 21, 2013 by Cindy

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With so many building block sets available today, it is hard to know what brand to purchase for your kids. K’Nex is The World’s Most Creative Construction and Building Toys. It is easy to select the right K’Nex set because they have their products nicely organized by age and complexity levels. I have reviewed several K’Nex toys and their age recommendations have ran true when tested by my kids.

With a 5 year old in the house, we are ready to embark on the K’Nex Beginner Collection. This collection includes lots of great cards, airplanes, construction vehicles, safety vehicles, and dinosaurs – exactly what 5 year olds love!

We were given the opportunity to review the K’Nex Construction Crew line which includes the Excavator, Front Loader, Steam Roller, and Backhoe. I will review the Excavator and Front Loader in this post.

picture of KNEX Construction Crew Excavator and Front Loader — KNEX Construction Crew Excavator and Front Loader

Hands On Review of K’Nex Construction Crew Excavator

The first of the Construction Crew set is the Excavator. The instruction guide for the beginner set of building blocks are all visual, no words. This is excellent for 5 year old kids. The set is for kids 5 and up. There are many small pieces so be careful if you have kids under 3 around the house.

picture of KNEX Construction Crew Excavator Contents of Box — KNEX Construction Crew Excavator Contents of Box

The first step is to separate all of your pieces to ensure you have every part in the box. If a piece is missing, a simple phone call or email will get your replacement shipped to you free. We had all the pieces.

picture of Elijah intent on building the KNEX Construction Crew Excavator — Elijah intent on building the KNEX Construction Crew Excavator

Above, you will see how intent my 5 year old, Elijah is at building the excavator. This is an excellent exercise in building fine motor skills for kids at this age. With some direction from dad, Elijah was able to construct most of the K’Nex Excavator by himself.

picture of KNEX Construction Crew Excavator being built — KNEX Construction Crew Excavator being built

When it got to the wheel belt, Elijah needed help. It was just too difficult for a 5 year old to put on himself and less frustrating for dad to do it for him.

picture of KNEX Construction Crew Excavator Digs up a Bakugan! — KNEX Construction Crew Excavator Digs up a Bakugan!

Elijah likes to take a break from the instructions to build his own creations too. Above it looks like the Excavator has dug up a Bakugan! 🙂 Below, he created Long Leg Man – the yellow blocks are the man’s robot legs according to my 5 year old. This kit comes with 1 Excavator crew man as seen in the picture below.

picture of KNEX Long Leg Man — KNEX Long Leg Man

The picture below shows Elijah holding the lever that actually moves the excavator shovel up and down. This kit is so fun because it has moving pieces, you can drive the excavator around as the wheels move too.

picture of KNEX Construction Crew Excavator Completed — KNEX Construction Crew Excavator Completed

Hands On Review of K’Nex Construction Crew Front Loader

The second of the Construction Crew set is the Front Loader. To be fair, our 3 year old daughter had to have a chance to play with her kit as well. As mentioned above, keep this away from kids under 3 as it has small pieces. Below, you will see the contents of the box. Elizabeth was drawn to the 2 little construction guys that came with this kit.

picture of KNEX Construction Crew Front Loader Pieces — KNEX Construction Crew Front Loader Pieces

This kit is intended for kids 5 and up. My daughter was able to enjoy building this kit with Daddy. It is still a learning experience and exercise in fine motor skill development at this young age. She was able to sort the blocks and retrieve the right colored blocks as we followed the directions together.

picture of Building KNEX Construction Crew Front Loader — Building KNEX Construction Crew Front Loader

Even though technically, she is too young for this kit, she had fun building the Front Loader. Be careful not to frustrate your child with products that are not suited to their age. With this project, we had to walk her through each and every step to get it completed while providing a fun experience. She was so excited and proud when she was able to accomplish the tasks we gave her.

Below is the completed K’Nex Construction Crew Front Loader. The front shovel actually moves, making this a fun kit to build and play with afterwards.

picture of KNEX Construction Crew Front Loader — KNEX Construction Crew Front Loader

K’Nex builds a quality product that my kids love. I like that the kits are interchangeable so that our K’Nex collection can grow as my kids grow to build bigger and more elaborate creations.

Buy K’Nex Construction Crew Excavator and Front Loader

You can purchase the K’Nex Excavator for $11.99 on the K’Nex website.You can purchase the K’Nex Front Loader for $11.99 on the K’Nex website. Or buy online at Amazon.com with below links:

Win the K’Nex Construction Crew Excavator and Front Loader (Closed)

Updated: 9-15-10 Winner Announced: Congratulations, Lauren Presutti, entry #174. Thanks to all who entered.

K’Nex would like to give you a chance to win your own Construction Crew Excavator and Front Loader! ($24 value)

Required Entry

You must visit K’Nex website and leave one comment on this blog post regarding another product your child would like.

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For complete contest rules, please see our Contest Statement and Blog Disclosure. If you ever have any questions on entering to win, just ask cindy@ akronohiomoms .com.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on September 13, 2010 when a winner will be drawn at random and announced the next day. When commenting, please include your email address (not visible to public). I will notify the winners and they will have 36 hours to respond!

This was not a paid post. My own opinions were used based on my perceptions and experience. Thank you to K’Nex who provided products for review & giveaway.

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Cindy

Founder and Lead Blogger at Akron Ohio Moms

Cindy is the top Akron Blogger with her own take on awesome brands for families, where to vacation for families, a beat on local activities and family fun, a knack for getting moms to share , and a house that is always 2 weeks away from a complete remodel!