People always ask what is a good gift for a pre-teen or teenager on the autism spectrum. One of our best purchases for our son has been Keva Planks. We first discovered them at the Hands On Discovery Center, our local science center. Our kids love playing with them and our middle son loves building incredible creations with them. While his brothers go all over the center, he stays at the Keva station and just builds.
It is a chance for him to explore his creativity and focus on designing things, which is something he enjoys and finds very calming. He could spend hours working on these. Seeing how much he and his younger brother enjoyed playing with the Keva Planks, I set off in search of where we could find some for them to use at home.
While they are a little expensive, they are a quality product. I don’t mind paying more for quality. The set we purchased even came with a storage bin to keep them in. Plus, this is a toy that is great for all ages and you can play by yourself or with others. I love products that multiple people can play together, but can also be played alone.
You’ll need a large flat area for them to build their creations. This product is great for encouraging creativity. It also helps to work on patience and fine motor skills, as you have to be careful the taller you build.
Our son wants to design video games and you can design your own characters and levels using these blocks to see a rough design of what they would look like. You could also use these if your child has an interest in architecture, as they can build buildings and bridges.
They have many types of kits, including the Brain Builders sets, Structures sets, Contraptions sets and Bot Maze. All kits have are compatible with each other.
Brain Builders
The Brain Builders are designed for preschool and elementary school. This set contains 2D diagrams that your child can use to recreate the patterns on puzzle cards into a 3D structure. This set teaches problem solving, a skill many children lack. Children use the cards to figure out how to build the figures on their own. It develops fine motor skills and patience. The Junior kit is a great starter for kids 4 and up, while the regular kit further strengthens building skills. These are a great introduction to STEM puzzles.
Structures
The Structures kit is focused on building and design. It comes with an idea booklet or your child can create their own design. This kit can grow with your child, being simple designs when they start and more complicated designs as they get older.
This kit helps teach through STEM play – balance, leverage, geometry and even basic engineering design skills. You can build anything you can think of from bridges, towers, buildings, and even characters. I love how this set develops creativity. Best for ages 5 and older.
Contraptions
There are several Keva Contraptions sets available – Contraptions, Contraptions Catapult, and Contraptions Reactions. This set focuses on building ball tracks. The kits each include an instruction book to get your child started. Then they can move on and make their own creations. STEM skills include physics, geometry, balance, leverage, engineering.
The Catapult set, in my opinion, is the only kit I wouldn’t recommend as it is not as sturdy as their other kits. Although the website suggests best for ages 7 and older, some instructions may be better suited for 10 and older.
Bot Maze
The Bot Maze is a cute set. You can customize your bot with the craft supplies included in the kit. I would recommend that you wait overnight after gluing before using your bots to make sure everything dries properly.
When the bot starts to move slowly, you’ll need to change the batteries. Your child can design mazes for their bots to race through. These bots are small, so this kit is not appropriate for younger children or children who put things in their mouths.
Final Thoughts
I highly recommend Keva Planks. They are great for problem solving, building, creativity and keeping your kids occupied for a while on something that doesn’t involve a screen.
I love that Keva Planks can be as simple or a complicated as the designer wants them to be. My youngest enjoys just stacking them, while my middle son creates elaborate characters or buildings.
The planks are sturdy and consistently shaped so it makes building and stacking easy. They are also smooth, whereas a lot of cheaper sets have rough edges or aren’t smooth.
The planks are a good size. They are small enough for little hands, but still large enough that they can be used to support large structures.
It’s good for individual play or group/family play. I’ve even built things with the kids and had a good time playing together as a family.
