Steady Hands

With steady hands and balanced mind, you too can take pleasure in another Dr. Toy award winner, this one from the “10 Best Toys of 2006”: Kapla Blocks.

It is not possible to describe Kapla Blocks in any particularly exciting way: they are blocks. Wooden blocks. They do not light-up; they do not erupt with loud noises. They are just blocks. Wooden blocks... More precisely, they are wooden planks (made of “pine from renewable French forests”) measuring 1” by 4 ½” by ¼”. Each exactly alike, though you can choose from seven different colors.

They act as blocks because what you do with them is… stack them. It is how you stack them that counts, as you can use the plans included with the kit, or use your imagination to create countless oddities.

Think of them as a creative-form of Jenga.

At top is a picture of my first creation, made from the basic barrel-set of 200 planks. Though they did not have a systematic plan for it, there was a picture of a completed one, which I used as a guide. I am not sure how many I used for it, as there were quite a few left over. What I am sure about is that I need to get more of these things.