Children of all ages were able to play with the blocks at The New Zealand International Science Festival Imagination Playground at the Dunedin Municipal Chambers yesterday.
The blocks feature holes for tubes to connect to and channels for balls to roll down.
Marie Eades, of Christchurch, brought her sons Gus (5) and Ivor (3) to the playground.
Gus said he loved making the balls shoot through the course he had built with his brother.
The balls would go ‘‘really fast’’ around the corner but then hit a bump and stop, a problem he struggled to find a solution for.
Gus was the mastermind behind the racecourse, while his brother helped with the structural integrity of the design, he said.
Festival volunteer co-ordinator Hannah Morgan said the imagination playground was designed to get the children’s creative juices flowing.
The unique way the blocks fit together encouraged curiosity and problem-solving.
Those values would help the children approach science in a practical way when they were older, she said.
The Imagination Playground is be available from 10am to 4pm until Sunday.
