Spring into Creativity: Nature-Inspired Builds with CONNETIX

By Lucy Giesbrecht

As the days grow longer and the weather warms, spring offers the perfect opportunity to explore the wonders of nature and infuse your playtime with a burst of creativity. With CONNETIX, the possibilities are endless, and what better way to celebrate the season than by drawing inspiration from the natural world? From playful races to intricate structures, these nature-inspired builds are perfect for sparking imaginative play. Let’s dive into four fun and engaging ideas that will help your little ones spring into creativity with CONNETIX!

1. Spring Flower & Hidden Hexagons – How Many Can You Find?

Celebrate spring with this fun and engaging hexagon hunt. I built this vibrant flower using 42 small equilateral CONNETIX triangles on our magnetic wall, creating a mix of distinct and overlapping hexagons. The challenge? Count how many hexagons you can find in this blooming design. You can also design other simple flower or shape builds using only one specific shape of tiles, like small squares arranged into a box, or isosceles triangles to form a large pyramid.

This playful springtime activity is not only a great way to enhance visual perception, pattern recognition and spatial awareness, but it’s also a fun game for kids and the whole family to enjoy together. Whether you’re working as a team or competing to see who can spot the most, this creative challenge brings excitement and learning to playtime.

How many hexagons can you find? The correct answer is 14. There are a total of 13 small hexagons and 1 large hexagon. Among the 13 small hexagons, 7 are distinct, while the remaining 6 overlap.

2. Worm Race

Inspired by my daughter’s favourite board game Da ist Der Wurm Drin, I recreated the game using CONNETIX for a fun, hands-on experience. I made a few adjustments to the original design to better suit the creative possibilities of CONNETIX. Using an IKEA Drawing Paper Roll, I drew simple columns to serve as each player’s worm track and marked a start and finish line. This game is designed for 2–5 players, but you can adjust it as needed.

To set up, I scrambled small rectangles and squares into separate piles per colour—Red, Orange, Blue, Yellow and Green (or any colours of your choice). I also repurposed an old dice, which includes a joker side. If you don’t have a colour dice, you can use a regular one and label each tile pile with numbers instead.

How to Play:

Each player chooses a worm track on the paper.
Players take turns rolling the dice. The colour rolled determines which tile they can take from the pile.
The player adds the tile to their worm’s path, extending it forward.
If a player rolls the joker side, they can freely choose any tile they want. Since squares make the worm longer than small rectangles, choosing wisely can be an advantage!
The game continues until one player’s worm reaches the finish line.
The first player to reach the finish line wins!

It’s a fun, colourful race that adds a creative CONNETIX twist to a beloved game! Who will build the longest, fastest worm?

For an exciting variation, this game can also be played as a Snake Race! Instead of using rectangles and squares, you can build your snake with diamond tiles, triangles or other shapes. Simply adjust the columns to be wider so the snakes have more space and don’t stick to each other. To make the game even more fun and exciting, you can also add a power-up option on some tiles, where players can gain special abilities or advantages in the race. Which version will you try first?

3. Rose Ball Run

I built a Rose Ball Run using only CONNETIX tiles, without the clear ball run tubes, making the design both elegant and challenging. The stem structure was inspired by one of @ourplayfuldays Instagram incredible ball run builds, providing a strong yet creative base for the rolling pathway. Constructing this type of ball run is not just about aesthetics—it’s an engaging way to think critically and analyse how and where the ball will roll. Every angle, slope and connection matters, requiring adjustments and problem-solving to ensure a smooth descent. This hands-on process enhances spatial awareness, patience and creativity, making it a rewarding experience from start to finish.

4. Quacking Good Fun: A Duck Build that can Become a Ball Run

My fourth idea for this blog is a duck build set in a charming pond scene. Springtime is a season of renewal, and it’s also when ducks are most active – nesting, hatching ducklings and gliding across ponds as nature bursts into life.

This simple yet delightful creation can easily become part of a nature-inspired setup for kids to explore and learn about animals, specifically ducks and how they thrive during this time of year. It’s a great way to spark curiosity about wildlife and seasonal changes while encouraging storytelling and imaginative play. But the fun doesn’t stop there! This duck build can also be upgraded into a hilarious ball run—a “pooping duck” that drops a ball as it waddles along. This twist always brings laughter and excitement to both kids and adults, making it an interactive and engaging addition to playtime. Whether used for learning or just for fun, this build is sure to be a hit!

As April blooms with fresh ideas and playful possibilities, I hope these creative builds inspire you to explore, experiment and have fun with CONNETIX in new and exciting ways! Whether you’re designing intricate ball runs, bringing nature to life with simple yet meaningful builds, or adding a touch of humor with a pooping duck, there’s always something to discover. Building isn’t just about stacking tiles—it’s about thinking, problem-solving and most importantly, enjoying the process. So, grab your tiles, let your imagination take flight, and see where creativity leads you this spring! I’d love to hear which build was your favourite or if you’ve tried any fun variations—let’s keep the inspiration rolling!

Lucy Giesbrecht

Lucy is a mom and content creator on Instagram, passionate about building big architectural structures with CONNETIX. She considers herself as an #adultswhoconnetix, and loves sharing play ideas, how-to-videos and her love for indoor gardening.

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