The latest hit toy at our house

I first encountered Fisher Price TRIO blocks when my four-year old son received two sets for his birthday in the fall. I have to admit, I sort of thought they'd be a soon-forgotten toy. Shows what I know.

He loves them. Loooves them. At first he only wanted carefully follow the instructions (with our help) to build just what was pictured on the boxes. But soon he was mixing and experimenting to create elaborate buildings, spaceships and creatures all on his own.

The TRIO blocks fit neatly into the gap he's in now: too big for LEGO Duplo blocks yet still too young to do all the complicated things he wants to do with regular LEGOs. The blocks are a uniform size and the support pieces make easy pillars and curves, which takes some of the engineering guesswork out of building. They were a little hard to snap together the first couple of times we used them, but loosened up after a little use. They've become a go-to birthday gift for us for his preschool friends.

$7 and up at Amazon

[EGM is an Amazon affiliate]