Smartivity Hydraulic Crane Toy for Kids 8-14 Years Old I Ideas for Boys & Girls | DIY STEM Science Toys for 8,9,10,11,12,13,14 Years I Wooden Engineering Game

Learning toy for grandchild

This was the perfect gift for our little engineer. He's 9 and didn't have any issues with this set but he has always been able to complete LEGOs above his age too so being that it is labeled for 8+ is accurate but they may need some assistance.The kit overall is very nice and once together is sturdy and stable enough to play with. While filling and bleeding the hydraulic lines can get a bit messy, after that the system worked great without and issues.With assembly, most of it went off without a hitch. There were a couple parts that were not cut properly but most of it was remedied with an XACTO knife. The biggest issue we encountered was the top plate of the hydraulic center. The pins didn't line up with the keys so there was no way to make the piece fit. The set was usable without it but one of the plungers would move out of place all the time. I finally cut out the slots with my hobby knife and saw to allow the piece to fit. Its off center but does the job.This would have been 5 stars easy but this little misalignment issues was a bit of an issue and for some this may stop the whole build if the alignment issue was somewhere else in the machine. For most I think any small issues could be oversome with some basic tools at home and the final product is educational and fun while also providing quite a bit of replay value.

This kit is very thoughtful. A lot of concepts including lubrication (using a wax crayon), hydraulics, assembly, controls, etc. I think it's a little on the harder end for the typical 8 or 9 year old.The kit is very well designed with a nice manual. The manual is more "lego-like" than other STEM manuals that I've reviewed. There is a little confusion with some of the wooden pieces and you kind of get past it by matching shapes.It can be readily disassembled for use later by younger siblings (I guess it will need to survive a round of play first).

Smartivity kits are challenging, they provide creativity, imaginative play, independent thinking, problem solving skills and this one didn't disappoint. The hydraulic crane is one of the coolest kits yet. Using plastic tubing, syringes, and water, kids create a hydraulic system to move a crane up and down, and grab a foam brick and let it go. Trial and error, cause and effect, you can see your child's mind working, thinking to figure it all out. I highly recommend this very thoughtfully designed kit.

This is a great gift for your budding engineer. Just be aware this is a very cool but complicated build. The instruction book is as thick as a small book and the build aspect is over 100 pages long. My 11 year old loves things like this, but the range says as low as 8 years old. Just make sure you know your child and possibly prepare for lots of adult assistance for a younger child.

I ordered this for my nine year old nephew - he is mechanically inclined and very into building things. He is mostly used to Legos, but this will up the game for him. I can't wait to see him open this - he is going to be so stoked!

My nephew is 9 years old and loves building stem products and legos. Looking forward to gifting this to him for Christmas will post pictures after it is built.

Nice activity to help understand hydraulics. Interesting and fun for an adult who already knows, but really great for kids. Our daughter loves the tractors and such and this gives a great understanding of how things like buckets nad such work.