We have 3 of the Kid K'nex sets and together they have been the most played-with toys at our house for the past 4 years. My kids are now 11, almost 7, and almost 4. I would highly recommend any of the sets to any parent with kids under 5. Most of the pieces are safe enough for toddlers (the smallest blue connectors should probably be put out of reach if you have kids who chew on toys but the rest of the pieces are fine). They are durable and don't require batteries :-).

My son loves making all different kind of buddies and other things too. Wish it came with more pieces, we need to add to this set.
We really enjoy it.

I bought these for my son (then 4.5) last Christmas and I bought my daughter (6.5 at the time)a bucket of regular Knex. Well within a week dd was begging ds to play with his Knex box and they both still play with them daily a year later. I ended up buying another bucket plus another kit because they love Kid Knex so much. Dd and ds rarely touch the regular Knex because they have so much fun with the kid version. They come with cool eyes and wings and shapes and the kids love to make all different kinds of creations with them. I am now back on ebay to buy a couple more bins of these because the kids are fighting over the pieces again because they want to build so many things!

My 5yr old really loves to play with these. They may even be his favorite toy. As the other reviewers have mentioned, he can go for long periods of time creating odd little creatures. Although the parts are wacky and "alien," lending themselves to original creativity, the 50 ideas chart models ways to make them into familiar structures like kites, bats, helicopters, and hot air balloons. He's been playing with them for about a year and just recently started using the "idea chart" to build those "creations" (his term).

After this year of near daily play, they're in as good shape as when we first bought them. He recently chose to return a set of Magnetix (which kept twisting up and falling down rather than holding their structure) and wants to get the Kid K'nex Playground Pals- 80 pcs and Kid K'nex Zoomin' Buddies-81 pcs sets to go with his "Bucket of Buddies." Parts include 1 pair of wings, 1 pair of feet (though the connector "joints" can also work as "feet," 1 pair of hands, 1 pair of "ears," 3 sets of eyeballs, softer bendable lengths, stiffer lengths, a crinkle hose length, a pair of hooks (or tails), various connecting "joints," and a few short rotating axels. 70 pieces in all. Box indicates for ages 3+.

My son is high energy and full of life, so he'd much rather spend all day outside than at a table putting things together. When I can get his attention focused onto an activity, however, he really does spring to life and his imagination soars. This toy was a recommendation I read about and I purchased it for his 3-year birthday. He loves, loves to watch my husband and I make creatures and "pals," but is still a little timid about doing it himself. I think manual dexterity challenges him a little bit at this age, but that will improve with time. Still easier to grasp and work with than tiny Legos, and with this toy, there's not as much danger if there's a smaller sibling wanting to join in the fun.