GREETINGS TO PARENTS, TEACHERS, DAY-CARE STAFF, AND ANYONE WHO WORKS OR PLAYS WITH CHILDREN!  (After all, QUARKS are not just for grownups!)   Creativity and a facility for novel solutions begin in childhood.  The earlier, the better.
A toy for creative play must be abstract, unstructured, and essentially simple in form; yet offer complex and rich opportunities for the child to restructure a small and manageable part of the universe.  Let us add to this recipe a little bit of imposed structure: the need to solve a problem of simple, intuitive mechanics.  
ELWOOD TURNER presents to you and your child QUARKSTM. The creative possibilities of QUARKSTM are an open-ended challenge to your child's imagination and dexterity (and yours, too!).  ELWOOD TURNER recommends QUARKSTM for children as young as three, and as old as he is.

Building with QUARKSTM Creative Building System.
The point of this toy is "making things work". I.e., designing a device (vehicle, architectural concept, etc.), and then using the various pieces to bring it off in the most elegant fashion possible. (Minimal structure for maximum function.)  The constructions shown on the following page( CLICK HERE to see how the parts go together, and what you can build with QUARKS™) are suitable for older children & adults.

Children younger than 8 years of age build simpler things, and should not be coached to try to make the designs shown here. Well, OK, they can try the "Moto-Crank". But let them do it their way! QUARKSTM is a perfect toy for children as young as three. Very young children make simple, non-functional designs, and usually attach a pretend name and story to their work. Read Play-based Learning in Very Young Children  for more about this.

QUARKSTM can be used in many ways. If you like a challenge, you can work with QUARKSTM as you would the pieces of a difficult jigsaw puzzle. The answers come after many hours of trial and error. The "Vehicle with Four-Wheel Steering" took us several tries and many hours, to get it to work just right with the fewest parts. Do it your way! You may be able to solve these mechanical problems better than we did!