A construction set is a standardized piece assortment allowing for the construction of various different models. Construction sets are most often marketed as toys. Popular construction toy brands include Lincoln Logs and LEGO.

Toys

Psychological benefits

Construction toy play is beneficial for building social skills and building trust in others because it acts as a collaborative task where individuals have to cooperate to finish the task – building an object out of Lego, for example. The effect was found in high school students. For children specifically, children who complete models using toy building blocks have much better spatial ability than children who do not complete such models. Spatial ability also predicts completion of models. Construction toy play is also beneficial for autistic children when both individual and group play with building blocks is incorporated. Autistic children who played with building blocks were motivated to initiate social contact with children their age, able to maintain and endure contact with those children, and were also able to surpass the barriers of being withdrawn and highly structured.

Lego health concerns

Red and yellow Lego building blocks, which were manufactured between 1963 and 1981, can release carcinogenic cadmium when exposed to stomach acid in amounts exceeding today's limits about 10-fold.

Categories

Construction sets can be categorized according to their connection method and geometry:

Influence on architecture

Renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright credited his childhood building blocks designed by Friedrich Fröbel as a major influence, and his son John Lloyd Wright invented the widely-known Lincoln Logs building set. In addition to teaching architectural concepts such as modularity and load-bearing construction, many architects credit construction set play as influencing their later design.