{GIVEAWAY!} LaQ Review.... a rival for our beloved Lego!?

We discovered LaQ by chance over three years ago. Wandering through an outlet mall when Lily was about three, we looked through a 'pop up shop' filled with Japanese toys. They had a kids table set up with a bunch of tiny plastic shapes scattered about, that seemed to click together. Lily sat down and was instantly entranced, connecting up all kinds of shapes with her teeny little fingers. We are certainly not the type of parents to just buy kids toys on a whim, but I loved the fine motor aspect and how engaged she was, so we ended up buying a small kit. I know, I know, how spontaneous ;)

So what is LaQ exactly? Well, you can click this link to go to the Japanese site which has a bunch more info. In a nutshell, it's a series of seven small plastic shapes (triangles, squares and joiner pieces) that click together to create pretty much whatever you like, whether 2D or 3D. The pieces click together in the most satisfying little 'snap' and then are easily separated by bending till they 'crack' and come apart. I think this is part of the pleasure of building - the sensory satisfaction! They are really fun to build and create with... and just engage children in a really beautiful way, unleashing all sorts of creativity. Lily and Eli just love squirreling themselves away to make their LaQ creations as I have recorded many times on this little blog, such as here.

Our three engineers gather to do a little post-dinner car building with their new LaQ kit :) This Hamacron kit can make five different vehicles, the kids wanted to try the race car first.

 



Yes, they are sort of like Lego. Now, I would dare not say they are better than Lego (quelle horreur!!), but I would dare to say they are on par! Like Lego, you can build kits or just build freely, wherever your imagination takes you. The plastic is top quality, you can imagine passing it on to your grandkids like you can do with Lego :) With Lego you generally build 3D tower/vertical shapes, but with LaQ you can be creative with 2D images or fully 3D curved and angular shapes. And they are so fun to snap and click together and apart - unlike the agony of prising apart two Lego blocks with your fingernails, haha ;) We are huge Lego fans in this household and always will be, but we REALLY love LaQ too. They are similar but different enough that it's fun to build with both. One bonus is it doesn't hurt to step on LaQ ;)

Concentration Face!

Father and Son, working together on their race car :)

The kids have made do with our tiny little 2D kit for a few years but often ran out of pieces when building. This Christmas I wanted to expand their set to include the 'cornered' pieces so they could build in 3D. I hunted and hunted for a stockist in Australia - they are not easy to find here though they are huge in Japan - and finally stumbled across this absolutely gorgeous (online and real life) store called Crayons. I was pretty impressed - their site is full of creative, quality, exploratory children's toys, including a wide LaQ range. Yippeee!

While making my order I had to make some inquiries about the stock, and lo and behold, the Crayons folk kindly offered to send a couple extra kits - a 3D kit for us to try, and a basic building kit which I decided to give away to share the LaQ love :) So - if you love a good giveaway, this is your lucky day! :) Enter below and you could introduce your children to the joys of LaQ! I honestly believe you will be impressed - kids who visit our home just LOVE playing with it and friends who have purchased it for their kids have become big time fans too.

The finished product - a speedy little race car. They quickly disappeared into their room to make their own LaQ designs right after finishing :)

Lily made a sleigh - very Christmassey ;)

Fire Truck!

A perfect gift for under the Christmas tree, just enter below and your child may be the lucky recipient!

To win, just enter through the Rafflecopter form and answer this simple question: Who would you gift this LaQ kit to, and why?

(Sign in to the Rafflecopter form below and tick the boxes for the entries you want to make. Write your blog comment entry in the regular blog comment box at the end of post (not in the app!). Please let me know if you have any troubles with entering!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Terms and Conditions:
Giveaway is for one LaQ Basic kit (185 pieces) , including delivery within Australia
Australian Entries only. 
Must leave a name and email address if using "anonymous" or a profile not linked to a way to contact you if you've won.
Winner will be deemed most creative/interesting response as chosen by me. This is a game of skill, not chance.
Entries close Tuesday 16th December, 12.59pm 2014. 
Judges decision is final. Winner must respond within 48 hours or prize will be awarded to the runner up. Good luck!!!

**The LaQ Hamacron Kit  (for us to try) and Basic LaQ kit (which we decided to giveaway) were gifted to us by Crayons, but all opinions are very much my own. We are LaQ fans from way back! :) **