Awesome Building Blocks

These unique building blocks hold together using a traditional fabrication technique known as a dovetail joint. Unlike other wooden blocks that fall apart when stacked, these hold together into sturdy and complex structures thanks to their tight-fitting, interlocking design. The puzzle-like pieces hold together without glue and come in 30 shapes and three heights.

A fun alternative to Jenga, Round Tower Tumbling Blocks give the classic rectangle stacking game a curvy twist. The bright box contains 54 colorful wooden blocks in two different shapes (rectangular and semi-circular) that build a circular tower. Take turns removing one block at a time — by color for added difficulty — until the tower topples.

Ordinary LEGO bricks are made from molded plastic. For something with more substance, check out these cool metal building blocks from ScrappersOutpost. The CNC-machined bricks interlock just like the real deal too. They come in aluminum, brass, or copper, and there are discounts for buying multiples. They also make a keychain version.

For those unfamiliar with them, Kapla planks are basically skinny wooden dominoes. You can use them for building structures and knock them, which is more than half the fun. Enjoy a variety of complex structures as they topple in this clip from the aptly-named Kaplamino.

Calling occupants of Planet Earth! This fun kit lets you build a pixelated 3D model of our globe using 1338 tiny bricks. The resulting planet is small enough to fit in the palm of your hands, and will look great sitting on your desk or bookshelf. Just don’t let the dog get ahold of it, or you’ll have a tiny armageddon on your hands.

Hobbyist Crouzier Benjamin loves to build complex structures using thousands of Kapla wooden planks. For this build, he took about 2 weeks assembling 20,000 of the beams, then watched it all fall in about 30 seconds. Check out his YouTube playlist for lots of other fun architectural collapses.

A new take on building blocks, the uniquely-shaped NoilzBox are made from colorful bits of silicone, allowing them to be stacked and flexed into shapes that would be impossible to create with traditional squared-off bricks. Also, they won’t hurt if you step on them barefoot.

A fresh take on snap-together building blocks, each oversize Light Stax brick has a built in LED light source. When placed on the powered base block, your creation lights up. Available in sets ranging from 12 pieces to 102 pieces, as well as an educator’s set with multiple power bases.

Designed by James Paulius, Areaware’s Blockitecture are minimalist and cute architectural building blocks. The wooden modules come in themed sets including a park, a housing complex and a factory. You can also purchase all sets as a discounted bundle.

We don’t recommend giving little kids Jecka’s tiny building blocks, especially since these kits look like food, but if you’re a grown up, there’s no reason you can’t have these cool and colorful fast food sculptures on your shelf.