This post was originally published on this site
TO The LIST of things at which Europe bests the U.S.—public transit, charming accents, life expectancy—we can now safely add toys. Across the Atlantic, boutique brands are designing low-fi, high-quality building sets that can help shape kids’ spatial reasoning, focus, motor skills and creativity. What’s more, the kits are intricately amusing, something rarely seen in plastic playthings. “We want children to learn that it’s very satisfying to build something beautiful which is your own,” said Dutch toy designer Léon van Geest. But you needn’t endure a cramped economy flight to pick these up; we found the best kits available…