You know how it can be super-awkward when your kid has two friends over to play? Oftentimes, three kids together just doesn’t gel. Someone is often left out or feels ganged up on by the other two in the pint-sized version of Lord of the Flies. Well, without the whole dead pig part.
Rewind two weeks and I really wondered what on earth had made me let The K Man invite two of his besties over. I’d seen it end horribly before. But I’m a sucker for a great play date while Miss Q is sleeping; I manage to squeeze a lot of home organization into those two hours of occupied and slumbering children. And so my five year old had “the guys” over for a Hot Wheels Track Builder party, where we would unleash the boxes of new Track Builder sets that Hot Wheels sent over for us to test out.
Not one fight. Not one naughty word. Nothing but smiles and laughter and vrooming car noises could be heard in my rec room that afternoon.
And you can have your own Hot Wheels Track Building Challenge, too, and be entered to win a pretty awesome party at home where the Hot Wheels team will trick out the house in glorious blues and oranges. Tracks galore! Maybe something like…this?
THE GOOD
The Hot Wheels Track Builder sets and cars have been played with for hours upon hours upon hours at our house and they’re still a fan favourite. Plus, they’ve held up well against the test of time; we haven’t had any breakage like we did with the Hot Wheels Wall Tracks. They’re basically like a bigger-boy version of Thomas the Tank Engine tracks, which can be twisted and turned in new directions every time you play with it.
The components aren’t too expensive. About $25 for the 5-Lane Tower Starter Set; less than five bucks for the rocket booster, different stunt pieces or the slingshot-style launcher; another $15 for the digital speedometer. You could piece together a pretty impressive track with several bells and whistles for $50. Go up fem there and you’re going to need a monstrous amount of floor space to make room for your child’s creativity.
The connectors are easy enough for five year olds to use, and they actually stay together until you decide to disconnect them.
The tracks are flexible, which means as rough-and-tumble kids are playing with them this way and that, they’re not going to crack.
While there are a few motorized components available, for the most part the Hot Wheels Track Builder is just pure kid elbow grease. And imagination. I love listening to The K Man making up stories about his cars when he’s playing solo and when we have races, he narrates them (very seriously and with a lot of detail). It had been a while since he’d played with his Hot Wheels and the Track Builder sets have really renewed his interest in the many cars we’ve collected over the years. In fact, he said “Mommy, I forgot how much I loved Hot Wheels.” Collective awwww…
Even Miss Q, a three-year-old girl, loves getting in on the action. She managed to score a pink and purple Hot Wheels car and she dives right in with the boys. And holds her own.
THE GAFFE
It can take up a lot of space. If you don’t have 10 square feet to work with, you might feel cramped. Or, perhaps, just motivated to find more creative twists and turns to play in a smaller footprint.
THE GEARS
4.5/5
So…where can you get it?
[…] in the least to see so many awesome Barbie gifts included, nor do I think Mattel was amiss adding Hot Wheels Track Builder pieces, either. And after seeing Monster High Freaky Fusion, my gal is a certifiable fan and I know […]