Automoblox is a brand name of an educational wooden car construction toy

Toy

A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...

 designed by Patrick Calello and produced by Automoblox Company, LLC of Roseland, New Jersey

Roseland, New Jersey

Roseland is a borough in western Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 5,819...

. The toy consists of wooden car body sections with patented plastic interconnects, polycarbonate

Polycarbonate

PolycarbonatePhysical PropertiesDensity 1.20–1.22 g/cm3Abbe number 34.0Refractive index 1.584–1.586FlammabilityV0-V2Limiting oxygen index25–27%Water absorption – Equilibrium0.16–0.35%Water absorption – over 24 hours0.1%...

 wheels and rubber tyres, plastic passengers and polycarbonate

Polycarbonate

PolycarbonatePhysical PropertiesDensity 1.20–1.22 g/cm3Abbe number 34.0Refractive index 1.584–1.586FlammabilityV0-V2Limiting oxygen index25–27%Water absorption – Equilibrium0.16–0.35%Water absorption – over 24 hours0.1%...

 screens. Each car can be disassembled into its component parts and re-assembled, parts from different cars can be combined to allow children to design their own models.

Originally developed in 2003 the wood used in the Automoblox range was Canadian Maple

Maple

Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...

, for the 2005 range the wood was changed to European Birch

Birch

Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...

.

The cars encourage open ended play and incorporate educational features to develop key skills in younger children.

Automoblox have won several awards including an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum award.http://www.toyportfolio.com/SingleProduct.php?ProductID=4196

There are sites in the UK and USA which use the Automoblox range to demonstrate modern car assembly techniques to children.

The Automoblox Range

The original range consisted of three models, the C9 Sports Coupe, the T9 Pickup Truck and the S9 Sedan (or Saloon). The range was extended in 2005 to include the X9 SUV, the A9 Compact and the M9 Sportsvan. In 2006 a special edition of the C9 Coupe was produced - the C9p Pink Coupe.

For each model fitting such as the tyres, polycarbonate screens and passengers are colour coded as follows:

C9 Coupe - Red,
T9 Pickup - Green,
S9 Sedan - Blue,
X9 Suv - Purple,
M9 Sportsvan - Aqua,
A9 Compact - Orange,

Educational Features

The cars are designed to encourage children to disassemble and reassemble them which helps develop fine motor skills. The patented body connectors have different shapes for each model and the passengers in each car have specifically shaped bases which lock into matching sockets in the car to encourage shape recognition and matching. The colour coding of each car encourages colour recognition and matching. The ability to combine parts from different cars encourages goal oriented play and open ended problem solving.

External links

• Official Automoblox Wooden Car website
• Calello Design Associates