What Birthday Gift for Mechanically inclined 4-yr-old?

They the electronic lego kits. Also they have a robotic dog. This one is really updated and they sell it at Target.

I’d second the Lego Mindstorms (the “electronic Lego kits” – it will be easier to find them if you know the actual name). He might be too young to fully appreciate them, but he’ll grow into them – I know people in their 30s and 40s who still play with them.

I had a lot of fun with Erector sets – I don’t know if they still make them.

Maybe some of the more traditional building toys? Lego bricks, Lincoln logs, Tinkertoys. I don’t know if they still make any of those either. In the case of Lego stuff, if you buy the generic stuff rather than the “make this specific thing shown on the box” kits, you’ll also be encouraging creativity.

my dad is a woodworker and used to make marble machines. it’s a really basic idea but children love them. you put the marbles in the top and then they roll down slanted ramps from left to right until they reach a basin in the bottom. i’m sure you could find them on the internet someplace. kids will play with them for hours! the only problem is if kids are too young and will try to eat the marbles.

I was not mechanically inclined as a small kid, but my friends who were into that kind of stuff loved Capsela. I wasn’t sure if they made it anymore so I looked online and it turns out they still sell it. You can check it out here: capsela

I had Capsela as a kid and can definitely second that one, they have kits you can take in the tub which was always a big bonus for me. It’s fairly easy to make something that “works” but you still have to reason out what parts you’ll need and how to get the power from the motor over to wherever you want it. So he’ll be learning but shouldn’t be too frustrated by it.

I had some of the lego kits later on and remember being frustrated mostly by my creations blowing up because they weren’t properly reinforced. I don’t know what state of development you learn the concept of bracing those wonderful gears, but I think it would have to be after 4 ;)

It’s not robotic in any way, but one of my favorites about that age was those little balsa wood planes. Especially ones with the propellers run by the rubber band. They were days of fun, something he can get more advanced with if he likes it, and about $2 (probably $4 now) so if it happened to break after a couple days dad isn’t crying. A decent hobby shop should have a selection.

Capsela.

drool