About K'NEX

About K'NEX

K'NEX is one of the most successful construction kits in the world. It is based around a series of "Rods", which can be joined together by "Connectors", such as the one shown in our logo. Once they have mastered using these simple components, children and adults alike can use their imagination to make potentially millions of different working models.

It is ease of use and versatility that make K'NEX such a good investment for educational purposes, whether at home, or in schools, clubs, family learning or post-16 education. You will find that there is no upper age limit for enjoying K'NEX - it is suitable for all ages from 5 to 95. There is also a version of K'NEX with bigger components for under 5 year olds, called Kid K'NEX (see below).

Building K'NEX models helps children and adults to understand subjects such as structures, forces and simple machines, in the way that Meccano educated an earlier generation. However, Meccano was aimed and advertised exclusively at boys, whereas in our experience both girls and boys find K'NEX easy and enjoyable to use. K'NEX can also often be used effectively by children with learning difficulties, once they have mastered the basic techniques for joining Rods and Connectors together.

A further strength of K'NEX is that, when used to set Challenges, it can help both children and adults to develop skills such as innovation skills, problem-solving skills and team-working skills. These are skills that will be much sought after by employers, whether the child grows up to become an engineer or an artist.

The most recent developments in the K'NEX world are Kid K'NEX, Micro K'NEX and K'NEX bricks, as explained below. Note that, to differentiate between the four different varieties of K'NEX, we refer to the original K'NEX rods, connectors etc as "classic" K'NEX throughout this website.

About Kid K'NEX

Kid K'NEX is a version of K'NEX with larger, chunkier Rods and Connectors that small hands can easily join together. It is ideal for children aged 3 to 7, compared with the 5+ age range recommended for classic K'NEX.

The bright colours and ease of use of Kid K'NEX appeal to young children, but undoubtedly its most attractive features are the extra components such as eyes and wheels, as the photo shows.

About Micro K'NEX

Micro K'NEX consists of rods and connectors that have very similar shapes to classic K'NEX rods and connectors, but manufactured to a smaller scale.

All but the largest K'NEX roller coasters use Micro K'NEX parts.

Micro K'NEX parts can be connected to classic K'NEX parts via "transition rods", shown in red at the front of the vehicle in the photo opposite.

About K'NEX bricks

There was a time when K'NEX bricks were included in many smaller K'NEX sets, but they are no longer manufactured.

Many KNEX brick parts have holes in, to enable them to be joined to K'NEX rods and connectors via "brick adaptors", as shown in yellow in the photo.

K'NEX sets and the availability of K'NEX parts

All current K'NEX sets comprise:

a) Kid K'NEX parts, or

b) Classic K'NEX parts, or

c) Micro K'NEX parts, or

d) A combination of classic K'NEX parts and Micro K'NEX parts.

Older sets may comprise any of the above options, and in addition, some older sets included K'NEX bricks.

We stock a large proportion of the parts used in the many different sets manufactured since K'NEX was launched in 1991.

These parts can be purchased in our K'NEX Parts shop.

To find out more about K’NEX…

To find out more about K’NEX, please download Matthi’s presentation (4Mb).

Om meer te ervaren over K'NEX mag je graag Matthi’s presentation (4Mb) downloaden.

Erfahre mehr über K’NEX indem Du Matthi’s Präsentation (4Mb) herunterlädst.