If they won’t buy you Lego, then you have to create your own building blocks:
I very much like this simple, austere structure that w. and Opa built in the backyard. It has near symmetry, bricks stacked in different directions, organic colors that draw from the surroundings. The tower actually reminds me of a Japanese temple with its simplicity and integration in the natural environment which is, sadly, something that Lego pieces can never quite capture.
the vigorous suck 
mom said
And majestically it still stands!
eluet said
That’s some solid engineering!