Continuing our Neighborhood Toy Store Month theme for November, how fun are these?!? Inventive paper engineering meets beautiful retro illustration in this range of papercraft kits from UK company Clockwork Soldier.
From fire-breathing dragon masks, to pop-up coloring scenes, to friendly giraffe or snappy shark wall decor, these FSC-certified, plastic-free kits make a fun activity for kids mostly ages 5-12, although some kits are suitable for ages 3+.
They've also got pocket magic tricks, build your own flying dinosaur, giant ocean origami, create your own fairy door, and more!
The deceptively simple concept of just folding some paper really holds an absolute wealth of benefits for kids!
Following the step-by-step instructions is excellent practice in focus and self-regulation, as well as in developing fine motor skills as you carefully fold and press, and developing patience while you work towards a goal.
Each of the kits also support imagination and role-play in various delightful ways - from discovering a love of performance with the magic kits, to imaginative world-building & story-telling in the fairy door kits or deep sea exploration game.
Building the kits offers children hands-on practice with geometry and architectural principles, enhancing their spatial skills and awareness. There's really nothing like experiential learning when it comes to seeing how things fit together and the inherent mathematics behind shapes and designs!
The kits are further designed for holistic learning across a huge range of topics including nature, dinosaurs, theater, and space. Most of them include some pretty cool educational materials/activities about the theme.
And by taking a familiar material like paper and presenting it in a creative and novel way, these toys help lead kids in discovering the potential of materials that are all around us and will inspire them to create in new ways themselves!
We had a grand time building a few of these kits ourselves, and based on our experience, we would recommend that an adult helps out, and to take your time - don't rush. Crease all the folds on each piece before you start folding, and a bit of tape as you go along to help prevent tabs from sliding back out is a big help as well.
We hope you have as much fun as we did with these! They make wonderful gifts and are a great activity for a parent to do together with an older child.