Learning Resources Gears, Building Sets and Learning Games

What Learning Resources makes

Learning Resources makes toys and games built around a skill. In our data, its listings cover five types: STEM building kits, toddler blocks, marble runs, preschool games and family learning games.

The building side and the games side work differently, so this page takes them one at a time.

On the building side, the main lines are:

1. Gears, Gears, Gears sets (gears, cranks and moving builds)
2. 1-2-3 Build It sets (for the youngest builders)
3. Engineering & Design sets
4. STEM Explorers and other STEM sets
5. Blocks and marble runs

On the games side, most listings practice math or reading: addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, phonics, sight words and money.

The grid above shows every listing with its age and, for the games, player count where the listing states it.

Learning Resources Gears sets

Gears sets are plastic gears that snap onto posts and a base. Turn one gear with a crank, and every gear meshed to it turns too. Kids learn by watching what happens when a big gear drives a small one, or the other way around.

Eleven listings in our data carry the Gears name. Here they are by listed age:

• 3+: Gears, Gears, Gears Super Building Set 150 Pieces
• 4+: Gears WreckerGears
• 4–8: Gears Robot Factory Building Set, Gears CycleGears, Gears Mega Builds
• 5+: Gears, Gears, Gears Machines in Motion, Gears Robots in Motion, Gears, Gears, Gears Treadmobiles Building Set 108 Pieces
• No age in our data: Gears, Gears, Gears Deluxe Building Set, Gears Deluxe Building Set Pink, Gears Build & Bloom

The Super Building Set lists 150 pieces. Treadmobiles lists 108. The others don't state a piece count in our data.

The sets with "Motion" or "Robots" in the name are the 5+ group. They build things that move. The 3+ and 4+ sets are more about meshing gears on a base and watching them turn.

Marisol's take, looking at a gear chain on the bench: "A gear train is a ratio you can hold. Count the teeth and you've done the math." She then counted the teeth. Out loud.

Who these suit: a kid who takes things apart to see how they work. Who should skip: a child under 3, and a kid who only wants a build to sit on a shelf. Gears are made to be turned.

Choosing between the Gears sets

With eleven Gears listings, the question is less "which brand" and more "which box." The listed facts give three ways to narrow it down.

By age. The Super Building Set is the only one in our data at 3+. If the builder is 3, that's the box by the label. At 4, WreckerGears joins, and so do the 4–8 sets. At 5, the motion and robot sets open up.

By what it builds. The names tell you the theme. Robot Factory and Robots in Motion build robots. CycleGears, by its name, is about bikes. WreckerGears and Treadmobiles are vehicles. Build & Bloom suggests flowers. Machines in Motion is the general moving-machine set. Pick the theme the kid already talks about.

By size. Only two listings state a piece count: 150 for the Super Building Set and 108 for Treadmobiles. "Mega Builds" and "Deluxe" are names, not counts. Read the listing's contents before assuming a bigger box.

For a second set, match the age band first. A 3-year-old's set and a 5+ robot set may sit side by side in the bin for years, but the 5+ set is the one with the parts that move.

Gears for siblings

Two kids, one gear set: it works better than you'd think, because gears connect. One kid builds a chain on one side of the base, the other builds on the other, and sooner or later the chains meet. Then it's one machine and two engineers arguing about which crank is the main one.

If the siblings are far apart in age, buy for the younger one's label. A 7-year-old can still enjoy a 3+ or 4–8 set. A 3-year-old can't safely use a set with a higher starting age.

Other Learning Resources building sets

1-2-3 Build It

• 1-2-3 Build It Rocket-Train-Helicopter, 2+
• 1-2-3 Build It Robot Factory, 2+

Both list 2+. These are the youngest building sets from this maker in our data. The Rocket-Train-Helicopter name lists three builds in one set.

Engineering & Design sets

• Engineering & Design Castle Set 123 Pieces, 5+
• Playground Engineering & Design Building Set, no age stated
• City Engineering & Design Building Set, no age stated

The Castle Set states 123 pieces and 5+. For the other two, check the box for the age.

STEM Explorers and STEM sets

• STEM Explorers Motioneering, 5–8
• STEM Explorers Brainometry, 5+
• STEM Explorers Marble Runners, no age stated
• STEM Force and Motion Activity Set, 5+
• Simple Machines, 8+
• Candy Construction Building Set, no age stated

Simple Machines lists 8+, the highest starting age among the building sets in our data. If you have an older kid who has outgrown the gear base, that's the step up by the label.

Blocks and marble runs

• Buddy Builders 32 Pieces, 3+
• Letter Blocks, 2–8, 36 plastic pieces, storage included
• Tumble Trax Magnetic Marble Run, no age stated
• STEM Explorers Marble Runners, also filed with marble runs

Letter Blocks is one of the few listings in our data that states storage is included. That's not a small thing. A set with a home gets put away. A set without one gets found later, one block at a time.

Learning Resources math and reading games

The games side is where the math teacher in me pays attention. Most of these games practice one skill, and the name tells you which.

Math games

• Sum Swamp, addition and subtraction, a dice game
• Pop for Addition & Subtraction, 2–4 players
• tri-FACTa Addition and Subtraction, 6+, 2–4 players, a triangle board, 100 cards and 4 trays
• tri-FACTa Multiplication & Division, 8+, 2–4 players, a triangle board, 100 fact cards and 4 trays
• I Sea 10, 6+, a card game with 90 number cards and 10 Shark cards
• Mathswatters, 5+, 4 fly swatters, 90 double-sided bug cards, 3 dice and a spinner
• Dino Math Tracks, 5+, 2–4 players

Money Bags (counting money) and Buy It Right (a shopping game) round out the math group. Neither states an age in our data.

The two tri-FACTa games are the clearest pair. Same board shape, same card count. One practices adding and subtracting at 6+, the other multiplying and dividing at 8+. A triangle with three numbers is a fact family, and a fact family is the whole of third-grade arithmetic on one card. My seventh graders could use a refresher, honestly.

Reading and phonics games

• Pop for Blends, 6+, 2–4 players, 92 blend cards, 8 Pop cards and a spinner
• Snap It Up Phonics Word Families, a word card game
• Alphabet Island, 4+, letters and sounds
• Sight Word Swat The Original Sight Words Swatting Game, no age stated

Alphabet Island starts youngest at 4. Pop for Blends at 6 fits a kid who already knows letter sounds and is starting to put them together.

Thinking and fine motor games

• iTrax Critical Thinking Game, 6+, 44 pieces, 25 double-sided pattern cards
• Noodle Knockout Fine Motor Game, 4–8, 2–4 players

iTrax lists pattern cards and an activity guide, so check the listing for how many can play at once. Noodle Knockout is for hand control at 4–8.

How to pick a Learning Resources set

Here's the short version, built from the listed ages:

1. Age 2: 1-2-3 Build It sets, Letter Blocks.
2. Ages 3–4: the Gears Super Building Set, WreckerGears, Buddy Builders, Alphabet Island, Noodle Knockout.
3. Ages 4–8: Robot Factory, CycleGears, Mega Builds.
4. Ages 5 and up: the Motion and Robots Gears sets, Treadmobiles, the Castle Set, STEM Explorers, Mathswatters, Dino Math Tracks.
5. Ages 6 and up: tri-FACTa Addition and Subtraction, I Sea 10, Pop for Blends, iTrax.
6. Ages 8 and up: tri-FACTa Multiplication & Division, Simple Machines.

Then decide: build or game. A builder who likes moving parts gets a Gears set. A kid working on a school skill gets the game that names it.

Learning games at home: a teacher's note

A learning game works best when it's a game first. If it feels like a worksheet, kids can tell. The games in this lineup that use speed, swatters or a race give a reason to answer fast. The ones with a board and cards give a reason to answer right.

At our house, a math game at the kitchen table on a school night is a hard sell. The same game on a Saturday morning, with nobody calling it practice, gets played twice. I don't explain why. I just leave the box out.

How many can play

Where a game listing states players, it's almost always 2–4: Pop for Addition & Subtraction, Pop for Blends, both tri-FACTa games, Dino Math Tracks and Noodle Knockout. That fits a parent and a child, or two siblings and a grown-up. For a classroom-size group, these aren't built for it by the listing. For a kid alone, the building sets and iTrax are the better fit, since the game listings that state a minimum start at 2.

Who should skip Learning Resources

• A child under 2. No listing in our data starts lower.
• A family looking for a strategy game for adults. These are skill games for kids.
• Anyone who wants a finished model for a shelf. Gears and STEM sets are made to move and come apart.

For building toys across brands, see the building toys section and the marble runs page.

Small parts and magnets

Check the age label on the listing. Toys with small parts are a choking hazard for children under 3. Gears, connector posts, dice and marbles are small parts, so sort them back into the box after play.

The Tumble Trax set is a magnetic marble run by its name. Swallowed magnets can cause serious internal injuries. Keep loose or broken magnetic pieces away from young children.

Pick the skill, check the age, and leave the box where somebody will find it on a Saturday.