Re-constructing the Construction Kit -- Re-constructing Childhood: A Synthesis of the Influences which have Helped to Give Shape and Form to Kit-based Construction Activities in the Primary School Classroom

Construction-based activity in schools is an essential part of the design and technology curriculum. This paper examines issues behind the evolution of construction kit based activity with a particular focus on some of the individuals who have invented construction kits in the course of the last two hundred years. Consideration has been given to the range of possible influences in their lives that may have shaped the creation of new kits -- especially childhood experiences with contemporary early construction kits. The historical development and properties of construction kits are mainly explored from a structural perspective.