It has been a while since I saw a STEM toy marketed to girls that really caught my eye, so I am thrilled to tell you that the new K’NEX Mighty Makers line makes the cut! Even the small set we were sent to review has real engineering components (a windmill that spins) and takes careful thought and planning to build. The set also teaches about different types of leaves, and has instructions for making models of each leaf type using K’NEX. I am particularly excited to see the Inventor’s Clubhouse set, which has a zip line and a working motor, along with instructions for 10 different mechanical engineering themed builds. The Home Designer Building Set is the coolest DIY doll house building set I have seen for kids. We were sent their Going Green set to try out – and give away to a reader – so if you live in the US or Canada, be sure to check out the giveaway at the end of this post!
Reviewing the K’NEX Might Makers Going Green Building Set
What You'll Find on This Page
Five-year-old Lily and Nine-year-old Emma dove into the K’NEX Mighty Makers Going Green set right away! The set is designated for ages 7 and up. Lily turns 6 next month, and it was definitely a challenge for her, but she could do it with some help from Emma.
Nine-year-old Emma was very engaged in building this set. She doesn’t play with construction toys that much, so I was happy to see her so focused in putting this set together.
The true test of any STEM toy is whether it appeals to both girls AND boys. Seven-year-old Johnny was impressed with the windmill, and thought the set overall was pretty cool.
I am a pretty tough toy critic, and there are three things I would like to see changed with this toy:
- You put together every single piece of the doll, which is awesome from an engineering point of view but not awesome because the legs and shoes come off sometimes – not often, but it’s annoying when it happens (the rest of the doll stays together). The legs and feet either need to come attached, or they need to snap on more securely. We also had the body attached to the hips backwards at the beginning – so if you have one of these K’NEX Might Makers sets and your doll won’t sit down, that’s why!
- The sets that come with two figurines each have one minority ethnicity girl represented, but the sets that come with only one girl all feature girls with light-colored eyes (a range of skin tones and hair colors). The darker skinned dolls with brown eyes need their own sets to star in.
- I do wish one or two of the sets had some boys included. The best toys appeal to both boys and girls, even if the manufacturer markets primarily to one gender.
Overall, I really like the set we were sent, and I would be happy for my girls to collect more of these sets.
Here’s what my nine-year-old daughter Emma had to say about the K’NEX Mighty Makers line:
- These are cool! I think we should save up for another one.
- I like how much detail these sets have.
K’NEX Might Makers Going Green Giveaway
Who do you know who would enjoy this set?
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
My niece would love these
my niece would really enjoy this!
My granddaughter would love to have this. My grandson would probably show her how to do it though. He loves things like this.
My granddaughter would really enjoy this set.
My son!
I would love playing with it but I would include my niece and nephew who would love it too :)
My Grand-daughter would love this set. She enjoys sitting down and playing with Lincoln logs and Legos. I think this would be a great new toy for her.
My son loves building!
This would be great for my daughter. I love empowering her to know that there is nothing she can’t do if she just tries.
My daughter is a big fan of K’NEX toys! She would love this!
My daughter would love this set.
My daughter would love this!
I have 6 grandkids who would love this!
My son would love to have this set
Both my kids would really enjoy this! they love building and tinkering!
My daughter would love it!
Our daughter Evie would absolutely love this set! Especially because it comes with a hedgehog, her favorite animal!
My son would absolutely love these!
My 3 kids the loves of my life would love this Adam and Olivia and Sophia I hope I win my fingers are crossed .
My niece and nephew would love this!! kristiedonelson(at)gmail(dot)com Thank you.
Both of my kids would love playing with this set.
My 3 kids (7,7,9) would absolutely love it!
My cousins would love this set!
My niece would love this set!
My girls would love this , thank you !
I would like to win this for my daughter, she’s 4 almost 5 and she loves to build things.
My neighbors daughter she is so sweet and loves being creative.
My 8 year old daughter would love this!
My nephew would love having it to play with he loves to build.
Both my daughter and my nephew would love it! Thanks so much for the chances to win.
I love this idea. I am currently taking some Gifted classes right now and I have been writing about girls in particular. I love that there are products out there that encourage girls in the areas of Math and Science. If I won I would actually put this in my classroom for them to explore with.
my son
my little niece would love this
OMgoodness…I think my god-daughter would love this. She has a garden too.
Our family would enjoy this set.
I would love to give this to my niece she would love this.
My niece would enjoy playing with this set.
Sadly my girls are too old for these but I LOVE that K’NEX has a girl version!!!
Both my girls would love this. I love that it inspires creativity and imagination. Looks like a great product!
This would be for my niece
This looks like a great set. My son would love it.
I would use this in my classroom for all kids to use :)
My BFF’s daughter would loooove these- she loves to play in the garden and build with Legos- this is a great combination of the two!
my grandson would like this
I loved K’Nex growing up. My daughter would enjoy this alot.
My daughters build with Knex but we don’t have any pink ones. I end up building the ferris wheel or roller coasters for them.
My daughter would love this set.
My girls would get this.
My son (7) and daughter (5) would love this so much! They love building!
My nieces and nephews would love the set.
My son would enjoy this. He loves building things.
My grandson would love this set, thanks!
My kids would like this!
my daughter lily would go nuts over these k’nex!
Yes my daughter would like it
My son until my daughter gets old enough to use them!
I am also a mom of 4 – three girls & 1 boy! It is a lot of work, but a lot of fun! :)
It really is fun – worth all the work!
I love STEM toys. They are especially good for the kids when school is out for summer! It keeps them busy with a fun & challenging toy! If I won this set, I would give it to my young nieces. They love Legos, and I’d really like to turn them on to K’NEX! Thanks for the chance to win!
My daughter would LOVE this set! Thanks for hosting such a fabulous giveaway!
My niece Natalie would LOVE this!
My two grandsons would enjoy this.
Our kiddos :) thx
My son would love playing with these awesome these Knex
Thank You for the chance
I have a little boy who is still a little too young for this set unfortunately. But, I know my cousin’s girls would love to play with this. It looks like such a fun set that is also educational. That’s great.
My daughter would enjoy this!
My best friend’s son would love this.
Very cool! My 6yo would love these!
My daughter would love this!!!
My son is just getting to the age where he would really enjoy this!
My son is just reaching the age where he would really enjoy this!
My kids would love playing with this
My oldest son would love this.
My friends’ children would love this!
My niece would love this set!
My daughter would really enjoy this set. she loves to put building sets together
I have an 8 yr old son that loves to build and a 5 yr old niece that comes over often and likes to play with his toys, so both!
My 6 yoa niece would really like this set. Thanks.
partymix25(at)hotmail(dot)com
My son would love this! :)
Oh my grandson would go nuts! He is in love with windmills and wind turbines! We drive by the wind turbine by our home a couple times a week and just watch it go around and around. He would love this set!
My niece would love this set!
This is a great idea – the kids look so absorbed in it too!
My best friend’s nephew would absolutely love this! She can’t afford to be the “cool” aunt that often, so I’d definitely give it to her to let her give him a random “thanks for being awesome” present!!!!
I think both my daughter and son would really enjoy playing with this set!
I would love to win this for my niece!
My grandson would love this.
My soon to be 6 yr old daughter would love it. Daddy will so volunteer to help her build it :)
I think my son would like this.
My son!
My son would actually like this and I would love to help him build it. He loves building things!
My cousins would really enjoy this set! They love building stuff!
I never realize K’nex has sets for girls! Thanks for sharing with us!
This is a brand new line – very exciting!
Nice to see Knex in action – I see them come up as ‘recommended’ sometimes but hadn’t seen them played with. Thank you for the review!
They are very different from most other construction toys, and well made. I could see Smarty enjoying this line, particularly the Inventor’s Clubhouse set.
I’ll keep these in mind for our next birthday girl.
My niece would love this!
These are pretty cool MaryAnne! I actually wish toys weren’t always marketed to boys or girls and like you said, it should apply to both.
What a fun set! I love how it looks gender neutral and I think all of my children would enjoy it.
My daughter would definitely love this, but I can also see my son building it because he loves building things.
mrsbrockavich48 (at)gmail (dot)com
My daughters (6 and 8) are very into building with Lego and regular K’nex. They would love these!
I’ve never seen K’nex sets with people in them! Or in “girl” colors, for that matter. I’m interested enough to check the other sets out in the store, honestly. I only hope they’re more versatile than just “build what’s on the box”, which is like the Lego Friends sets do. Thank you for the giveaway!
You definitely need to check out the Inventor’s Clubhouse set – it is the one that really caught my eye, and it includes instructions for ten different builds (with plenty of room for making up your own, I would assume)! Even this simple set had instructions for turning the pieces into models of different types of leaves. The house set also is set up so girls use it to design different types of houses.
Oh, and I’m pretty sure this is the first time K’nex has included people in their sets. Very fun!
I would love to show this set to my friends’ daughters! I grew up playing with Knex, and i think it’s awesome that they are now making sets like this! The colors are fantastic, too! ^_^
My niece would love this
My daughter would love these!
I would give this to my son
It looks intriguing! I agree with you on boy/girl minifigures – same thing fully applies to Lego Friends where only a few sets come with boy minifigs!
Oh, J would love it! I’d have a hard time keeping Little Sister away though since she’s always interested in everything he does. The pieces look very small.
Yes, definitely a choking hazard… Maybe a naptime toy?
I love the idea of engineering toys aimed at girls and I really like how this set does not seem to be overwhelmingly pink. Thank you so much for your thoughtful review. My daughter is still too young to play with K’Nex, but I’ll have to keep this in mind for when she’s a little older.
I agree, it’d be nice if they had things like that with boy figures, then all 3 of my kids could play together.