Construction sets are a perfect way to foster children’s creativity, improve their motor coordination, and nurture their cognitive development. They’re also a toy that is easily integrated with others, and that lets a child’s imagination run wild. Unlike newer, flashier play sets, the Ball Track Construction Set from HABA promises to hold your child’s interest for years to come.

The set comes with 42 excellently crafted beechwood pieces and six glass marbles, allowing for an infinite number of structures to be built. Your child will love to build intricate systems of ramps and tracks, race marbles, then tear it all down and start again!

And of course you can rest easy knowing that this set is built from the finest naturally germ-resistant European timber. And HABA is a company with a conscience—they adhere to the strictest standards to environmental protection and ethical corporate policy.

HABA was recognized recently as the maker of the year’s Best Boardgame at the Annual Middle East Toy Fair in Dubai. This is another indication that the toymaker of classic wooden toys is having some success as it branches out into new arenas for contemporary play.

The award-winning game is called Treasure, ready, go!, and is described as a “turbulent challenge for 2 to 4 adventurers.”

This award should mean that the game’s availability in the US will become more likely; so far the game is most popular in Germany, which is the headquarters of HABA. In German, the game is titled: Auf die Schätze, fertig, los!

What impresses me about HABA is that their wooden toys are made in Germany – it doesn’t get more traditional than that. The wood used is Maple and Beech and smells great.

With all the worries about toxicity and toys these days, wooden toys are really the way to go. Wood is naturally a germ-repellent surface, and HABA wooden toys are often natural, or coated with non-toxic paints and finishes.