Engineering/building toy recommendations

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My son's birthday is coming up and I am thinking about getting him some kind of toy... he's not really into toys but he likes building stuff and especially lately he has been into making chain reaction set ups with dominoes and marble rail and stuff like that. We have a lot of marble rail and different kinds of it. We also have (and he uses) geomags, kapla stacks, mechano, tinker toys (he uses some of the pieces from that box in his creations sometimes but he doesn't build with tinker toys ever). He does not like lincoln logs or lego (yes you read it right- he doesn't like lego...). I was thinking of getting him something new to figure out how to use. Do you have any suggestions?

This is pretty expensive ($140), and might be too advanced, but I thought it was cool:

http://www.scientificsonline.com/product/chaos-tower

I don't know if he would be too old, by my kids liked the Gears! sets when they would still play with things that didn't include a screen. Some of the themed sets are clearly geared toward younger kids, but perhaps a more generic one would be OK. Also, one of my daughter's therapists had a set that I think was called Smart Max or something like that. It was magnetic instead of plastic. I don't know if it is the same thing as GeoMag that you already mentioned.

Also the "Mouse Trap" board game. It can only be built one way, and is a little tough to set up right, but he might enjoy the cause and effect part.

If he will look through books, how about one by Rube Goldberg? You can also find videos on YouTube of people's original Rube Goldberg creations.

How about flying model rockets?

What would be really good is to have him fly with a model rocket club--many welcome kids. Many also have special launch pads with the ends of the launch rods above eye level for safety.

http://www.nar.org/find-a-launch/

Thanks! He does not follow instructions, so it has to be something he can figure out on his own and do his own thing with. Mousetrap might be good for teaching him to follow instructions because it's probably fairly simple instructions and I think he would like the contraptions...

I used to build and launch model rockets. Just in case you can't tell from my avatar.

OP - Does your son like models? In addition to building/launching rockets, I used to like building cars and airplanes. Even though I was a bit messy with the glue/paint. How about an erector set (I have no idea if they still make those)? Does he like space? A telescope can provide hours of fun. How about biology? I still have the microscope my parents gave me. It was fun to put things on slides (as you get to organize things). What about chemistry? I used to love playing with my older brother's chemistry set. How about electronics? One of my favorite activities was building a crystal radio. Though, I imagine today that is considered "old school".

Zelfbouw rc-voertuigen ? rc-engines to build(assemble)yourself ?
My brother was into this, from his teens on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRYMfCJTZEQ

Does your son enjoy puzzles ? If so, there are these amazing 3D puzzles that are out there. I've never built one personally (hope to in the future), but I've seen them in real-life and they're pretty cool !

Stick bombs?

To be honest, I don't think he's ready for rockets. He is not into making model cars or anything like that. We've only ever had one but it never got finished and he has never taken it off the shelf. He doesn't follow instructions (verbal or written or drawn). *I* think he's smart, but I am pretty much alone in thinking that- he has a lot of difficulty doing age-appropriate things (he will be 16 soon). He also HATES glue. He won't touch anything sticky or gooey with a ten-foot pole.

Much to his father's disappointment, he's not into space stuff. We have a telescope and his dad is really into space, so if ever develops an interest, we've got that covered! We'e have a few 'green science' kits and he was never into it, but I think he mostly that he doesn't like following instructions. I was thinking about maybe getting something like this:
http://www.scholarschoice.ca/snap-circuits.html as it seems a bit more open-ended (you are supposed to follow instructions but it looks something you could kind of figure out yourself).


Nope. His dad and I are both puzzle people- we have a lot of puzzles- and he will do them sometimes but he's obviously "humouring" us.


YES! I was just trying to show him this the other day. He liked watching it go but he struggled to do it himself. This is exactly the kind of thing he likes! I think with practise he will get this.

That sounds like fun. When I was young, my parents got me this:

...which provided hours of enjoyment.

We have snap-circuits and we have to have him use it with supervision because my son also is not keen on instructions and there are some rules that have to do with not short-circuiting the thing that have to be followed on the instructions. There is a lot of flexibility, if you are not into doing the projects in the manuals but you still have to follow guidelines.

That is really good to know. Thank you.