Building and sandbox games

A sandbox game doesn't always set a goal: blocks, pieces or tools are at your disposal, and you build whatever you want. A house, a bridge, a tower that has to stay standing, a whole village or a wacky machine. Others offer challenges, like building a structure that's strong enough or reaching an exact height: then you have to test, fail and fix. Imagination, a sense of balance and a first intuition of how things hold together develop with each attempt. Free building appeals from 4 or 5, architecture challenges a little later. Giving a grown-up a tour of your creation makes you proud and means explaining your ideas.