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Looking for educational toys your child will love?
Matador is a traditional wooden toy construction set that promotes motor and mental development through play.
We recommend the Architect set from 18 months up. The untreated wooden blocks of various shapes and sizes are simply stacked together without rods. The Maker series for pre-schoolers uses wooden rods to connect the blocks.
Matador wooden toy construction sets
'Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I'll understand.'
This Chinese proverb encapsulates the philosophy of Matador. Involvement is certainly the key part when children construct their models, from very basic objects to highly complex machines.
Matador could be the prototype of an educational toy: it combines movement, fine motor skills, three-dimensional imagination, concentration and comprehension of technical concepts. And it is fun!
Children are fully immersed in an intense mental workout and manipulating real objects, not just shifting pixels around on a computer screen.
Matador construction sets are made of untreated beech wood, native to Austria and grown in environmentally sustainable forests.
There are three types of block sizes catering for different age groups: blocks without pins for the 1 to 3 years olds, the Maker series for the 3 to 5 age group and the Explorer series for the older children.
It is interesting to note that Matador construction sets have been around for a very long time. They are well-known all over Europe, but were only introduced to New Zealand and Australia a couple of yeas ago.
The idea was generated over 100 years ago: a father saw his children getting frustrated while playing with wooden blocks; any complex structures they tried to build simply collapsed. Being an engineer, he designed a construction set made of blocks that could be interconnected with wooden rods. This idea took off and has delighted many generations of children.
In the late 1960s and 1970s Matador took a backseat due to the emergence of plastic toys. In recent years high quality wooden toys have made a strong comeback.Since its introduction into Australasia, we had overwhelming enthusiastic response from preschool centres and schools, as well as from parents.
The concept of Matador hasn't changed over the years, except that the factory in Austria now uses the latest woodworking technology to guarantee accuracy and precision down to hundreds of a millimetre. This ensures perfect fit and many years of enjoyment.
All sets come with illustrated instructions, showing many models and encouraging children to build three-dimensional structures from two-dimensional diagrams. Of course, the blocks can be put together in any way and every child will also design and construct their own ideas.
Building models from various parts teaches children how to plan and how to picture the outcome in three dimensions. Complex models require patience, concentration and persistence. More often than not the final result is not what had been planned at the start.
The young engineer needs to correct, dismantle some parts, or start all over again. Larger models will take days to build and this is a great way to learn discipline and even on how to overcome frustration. The outcome will always bring a great sense of satisfaction and pride.
Construction play also stimulates communication; small and large projects can be planned and built as a team.
Matador has been used as a teaching aid in many schools in Europe and internationally. In fact, competitions have been organised between schools with prizes awarded to innovative construction ideas, a concept we would like to introduce here in New Zealand, once we get together a group of enthusiastic teachers (and children!).
Contact Matador
To find out more about Matador and to shop online, visit our website
www.matador.net.nz.
