DS, 7, loves building with KEVA, Marble Run bits, wood block, cardboard tubes and just about anything else he can get his hands on. He is not interested in Legos all that much, no idea why not. He also goes in spurts so we have months of Keva and then Marble Run and then some combo.

If you go with Keva do not bother with the special kits. They are more expensive and don't really have anything special in them. The Keva Balls are essentially slightly small ping pong balls. We got the contraption kit last year thinking there were some bridges or the like and there were not.

Anonymous wrote:We have keva planks (ok, knockoffs) and they are so fun! Even now, my 10 and 9 year olds get them out and build. And they don’t take up a lot of room to store.

What knockoff planks do you have/recommend?

Superstructs - they are great!! One set can build multiple things and if you lose one piece it is not a big deal.

http://www.superstructs.com/0504.html

Look at kiwi co crates. Find an interesting one, buy it unused off eBay to try.

Another stocking stuffer is Plus-Plus. My 6 year old likes to free-form build with these and I love that they don't take up much space. The 70 piece tube is fun to get started but we also have a larger set.

The magnatiles you have already are the best, but we have also had luck with Keva planks. We also really enjoy Tegu blocks which have an embedded magnet and click together.

These aren't cheap, because you can only make so much with a single set, but my kids have gotten a ton of use out of this:

https://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Forts-Purple-69-pieces/dp/B001DNHYC0/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3EZNRA3BCJ902&keywords=fort+building+kits+for+kids&qid=1573759565&s=toys-and-games&sprefix=fort+buil%2Caps%2C132&sr=1-5