Stems® – the flexible 3D maker toy review
We were recently gifted two 20 piece tubs of a cool construction toy called Stems by Learning Resources for review purposes. This toy is designed to stimulate STEM learning (science, technology, engineering and maths) the pieces are tactile, brightly coloured and fun to hold.
Each piece is the same shape and made from a strong and flexible material that makes them easy to twist and clip together. We have made a wide variety of shapes including a ball that bounces, a frog that hops, a bird, a hoop, a couple of little men and even a crown!
Stems’ possibilities are as unlimited as a child’s ingenuity or imagination.
Learning Resources
Stems are recommended for kids aged 5+ and I can see why, as a certain level of manual dexterity is required to clip the bobbly little spines of the stems together. This is a fabulous toy for the development of continuing fine motor co-ordination.
Wowsome! These are really fun to play with. When I bent the pieces I thought they would break but they didn’t and they are easy to clip together.
Our verdict
We love the feel of the Stem pieces, they are tough and come in attractive colours that would appeal to both girls and boys.
This toy is cleverly interactive too, because the pieces are bendy, the frog we made could hop along the ground and the ball bounced.
Although the pieces are tough and sturdy, the set is surprisingly light and easy to transport or store in a classroom setting.
Stems also comes in a tub of sixty pieces which works out as better value for the number of pieces you get. For greater creativity and building a larger variety of different items I would recommend that you buy as big a set as is possible.
More info about the Stems toy can be found here on the Learning Resources website.
Other weird and whacky ideas we came up with using Stems are the ‘never-ending flower’, the ‘funky bracelet’, the ‘bun grabber’ and the super dooper gladiator goggles!
How fun! I’ll have to check it out!
I think my youngest would love those! I’ll have to get her some.
I hope she enjoys them. 😊
This looks really interesting! my niece will definitely enjoy this
Great! I’m sure she’ll have loads of fun, even I as an adult find the shapes intriguinging to work with!
wow, those look super cool! I have a 4-year old, do you think they’d work for younger kids? Or just be frustrating??
I do think younger children would find them a bit too tricky to clip together as your fingers have to be quite strong. You could always get them to set aside for next year. 😊
These look like so much fun! My son would love them!
They are certainly one of the cleverest 3d toys I’ve seen in ages.
These look really cool! Kids can do so much more than build a structure will be checking them out thanks!
They are great fun as they are so flexible, something a bit unusual for slightly older kids to play with.