I have seen Magnatiles mentioned on several homeschool blogs that I follow. I'd looked them up several times, but they are pretty pricey, so I skipped over them and bought items like LEGO® instead.
The girls have become very creative with the building blocks and and other such toys, though, and I want to keep encouraging those skills. I bought a set of Magnatiles in August, with the thought "I can always return them if they don't turn out to be as interesting as promised."
They are hands-down the most used toy in the house.
The girls use them every single day. They began building small triangular houses, then began experimenting with different geometric shapes.
Little houses...
The Eiffel Tower...
Cool stuff...
Delaney built The Great Wall of China after learning about it on BrainPop...
Sophie made a checkerboard...
And a firework...
Delaney began using the tiles to make other types of designs, like this robot...
A girl with a ponytail, barrette, belt and various other accessories...
A duck...
Sophie made up a game with the triangles. If you step on a piece, you "fall down the chute to your bed".
These are just the shapes that I have remembered to photograph. Both girls have thought of more designs and shapes that I would have thought possible. Delaney created a whole subdivision the other day, with homes and walls. It was great.
Our living room has been covered with Magnatiles for about three months now. They are more sought after than the Ipad - which is saying something!
Our living room has been covered with Magnatiles for about three months now. They are more sought after than the Ipad - which is saying something!
The company offers the translucent tiles that we have, a set of solid colored tiles, and some smaller sets. The 100-tile set is the best value, and I am glad that I purchased it. On the days that the creativity is in overdrive, 100 tiles are not quite enough. The tiles are definitely a good exercise in taking turns and dividing equally. :) I will probably pick up an additional box around Christmas time. I can't wait to see what creations they'll make with 200 pieces!
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I absolutely adore Magnatiles. I, like you, held off on getting them because they are not cheap. That said, every single time we went to a dear friend's home, they were in use. Her two sons have a seven year age gap and they were *always* in use. At parties, boys and girls of all ages always played with them. I finally asked her about them and she said they were worth their weight in gold. So we went for it and they are played with daily, by all three of my kids.
ReplyDeleteAnd two bonuses:
1. They are magnetic so they clean up and store in a flash and
2. They don't hurt when you step on them.
I love Legos, but Magnatiles are my favorite :)
"They don't hurt when you step on them." - YES! The girls did find that if you build a hurdle, jump over it and catch your toe on the hurdle, that stings, but I don't think that's on the list of recommended activities. ;)
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