House construction

This is a great toy. My son got it for his eighth birthday and he has enjoyed it so far. However, it doesn’t really come with an instruction manual. Instead there is a book that shows pictures of what the pieces look like. You have to guess the sizes of the pieces and how to cut them. If you just want to ‘cut the wood’ it’s great, but if you actually want to make something, good luck.

This was a gift for my 5 year old son. It looked really cool and it came with a lot of “realistic” tools (all plastic and kid friendly, but can still cut the “kid wood,” which is like some sort of light-weight sturdy foam). As the other viewer mentioned there is no instruction booklet. Therefore, nothing to tell you how to measure the wood to cut, nothing to tell you which wood piece to start with before cutting, and no screw size. There are pictures to tell you how to assemble it and you can guess at the right wood piece, but as far as measurements you’re on your own. My son has gotten this out twice and each time very excited to build a tank. However, within about 5 minutes, he has lost intrest (and frustrated), and so have I at this point. The measuring is the problem. It takes me a couple of minutes to figure out which piece needs to be measured and cut, and then a few more minutes to properly measure the wood before cutting. At this point, I’m thinking about letting him just cut the wood however he likes, it might be more fun for both of us. The recommended age is for a 6 to 15 year old. I’m an adult in my 30’s, with a sufficient college education, and this is difficult for me.