Plus Plus- the building toy we are all playing with, even the grown ups

How much building fun can you have with a pile of little plastic pieces? Well, the answer is hours and hours. We have been reviewing a new construction toy in our house called Plus Plus and it has all 5 of us busy making, creating, designing, imagining and building. Even after the children have gone to bed Daddy and I are still playing with it and it is actually quite therapeutic.

So what is Plus Plus? In essence, small plastic pieces shaped like puzzle pieces. The design allows not only flat and simple 3D creations but the pieces can also be put together in ways unlike other building toys such as curves and angles creating some unique shapes and endless building possibilities. That isn't all, with the addition of the base plate to keep things stable you really can let your imagination run wild.

  

Plus Plus comes in three different colours, basic (a mix of bright colours), pastel and neon. Its pieces measure 20mm in size are are aimed at ages 5-10, there are also larger midi sized pieces available measuring 50mm and suitable for ages 1-6, these come in basic and pastel colours.

Plus Plus comes in various size kits and packages from a 70 piece robot right up to a 1060 piece pirate ship or even a race track. There are kits with animals, unicorns and carriages, fire engines, a circus, a campsite and even a Christmas one too. As well as these kits there are mixed colour packs available in all three colours from 100 pieces up to large tubs with over a thousand pieces.

Plus Plus kindly sent us 4 kits to test out and review, the basic 400 piece suitcase carton, a 360 piece roadwork kit, a 220 piece 3 in 1 pastel kit and a 100 piece tiger tube. 

The basic suitcase carton, which retails around £16-18, caught the eye of Little 3 who claimed it as his and set to work building immediately. This suitcase is made of reinforced card and has a popper closure, it is really sturdy and has withstood the amount of opening and closing a three year old can throw at it without becoming loose. Inside it holds 300 basic colour pieces and 100 neon pieces as well as a 12 x 12cm baseplate and a comprehensive 'learn to build' booklet showing all sorts of 2D and 3D building ideas. 

The inside of the box looks delightful with a pirate island scene guaranteed to trigger the imagination. A lilac coloured version is also available with a fairytale castle design as well as a metal tin option in both colourways for around £22-25.

Little 3 finds the plus plus easy to use, clipping the pieces together without difficulty, he tends to make flat creations and likes sorting the colours.

Little 1 loved all the ideas in the 'learn to build' booklet and has spent hours building working her way through it. If you are not particularly good at coming up with creative ideas there are plenty of ideas online, all the instructions from the plus plus sets are available on their website so as long as you have enough pieces you can build a whole lot of great things too. 

Little 2 received the 3 in 1 pastel set, she set to work following the instructions herself and in no time she had created her own unicorn. 

She loved the fact that it could stand up itself and due to the unique piece shape the wings are bendable and can curl so it look like it really could fly.

I loved the tiger tube set myself, 100 plus plus pieces in a tube, perfect for a little gift, complete with instructions to make a tiger, a tree and a bit of fence.

The tiger was quite tricky to build, although clear instructions are included you do need to work out what goes where when connecting everything together as it isn't always obvious from the pictures as the pieces are not outlined so it can be hard to tell which bit goes where however the online instructions are clearer.

Daddy took charge of the 360 piece roadwork set which he build for Little 3, a digger that, due to the style of the pieces and the way it is built, could actually move (if you were careful), some cones, a tree and a truck (see first image on post).

Little 3 loved this set, he played with the digger on his road track, moved around the cones in the back of the truck and kept himself quiet for ages transporting plus plus pieces around in piles. When little hands did bend the digger arm too far it is easy to clip the pieces back into place. The digger is now on his window sill, apparently too special to take apart!

We all love this toy, everyone keeps getting it out and making patterns, shapes or animals with it and even once the Little Ones are in bed I often find myself playing with it when I begin to tidy up! A very versatile toy with plenty of possibilities plus (!) the suitcase carton is perfect for taking out and about or on holiday to entertain.