Magna-Tiles
Open-ended toys are the best. That's why construction sets like Lego, or the previously reviewed Kapla Blocks, or Zomes, are perennial favorites. Their simple, durable, reusable parts build an infinite number of complex creations, providing endless hours of play. The best construction systems will last many lifetimes and are generally worth their modest investment, unlike most toys.
Magna-Tiles are the best open-ended construction set for very small kids I've seen. Magna-Tiles are plastic tiles with tiny super magnets embedded in their edges. Even a very small child can quickly assemble a structure that won't topple, since the magnets snap to form when you get them close to where they want to be. They come in a mix of squares and triangles that tend to "guide" construction towards recognizable building forms, which is okay since there are still many options to explore. But this small boost really aids the youngest toddlers who may have trouble with the go-anywhere blocks of Kapla. Also, the tiles are large, too big to swallow, so safe for wee ones.
We have a set on a our living room coffee table and I notice that adults love to build with them as well since you can erect a cool structure in only a few minutes. Everyone is an architect at heart.
Magna-Tiles aren't cheap. With 8 rare earth magnets per piece, each tile costs about $1. They are pretty unbreakable, so they should outlive you. Get the transparent variety -- they are like stained glass.
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A cool tool is anything useful that is superior to comparable items. If you think this tool is inferior suggest a better one. You are welcome to insult a tool, but comments containing insults to individual people will be deleted. Corrections of fact are always welcomed, if stated politely. Recommendations of better tools are dearly wanted and may be elevated to the front page.
jana
Magnatiles are the hands down favorite at my daughters day care. Children as young as 18 months love to build with them. The 2-3 year olds will also share and build cooperatively. I love them too!
rkt88edmo
There is also something wonderful about hearing the tiles clack and snap together. gotta agree with this review, expensive, but worth it.
christopher
We saw these at Sugar Sand Park in Boca Raton, Florida, and my one nephew was addicted. Incidentally, he's also a Lego fanatic as well, and I had fun showing him how magnets make some constructions possible -- I'm a big fan of projecting the tiles outward and test the magnets. Expensive, perhaps, but coffee table fun for kids and adults. Good tip.
-campaign tourney
Sarah
I work in a toy store, and we carry the Magna-Tiles. They're very popular, but may I also suggest Magformers? They're similar in basic idea, but the magnets are suspended inside the frames - thus they never reject. They're also a bit stronger, so they make awesome travel toys. Our most popular set of 30 pieces is $35, so they're slightly pricier, but they come in smaller packages than the Magna-Tiles.
http://www.magneticcity.com/
Greg
These things are the best!
earthling
I really don't think that nowadays a toy made out of plastic can be "cool" anymore.
That stuff is made out of oil and the world has already shown that it is willing to kill for that oil. Countless biologists are pulling it from the carcasses of perished animals or finding it in stuff we are supposed to eat.
I see the educational value from "construction toys", but when I was a child I received loads of that from toys made from wood or metal. I'm sure they don't kill little Albatros babies by now.
Robert
Hey earthling,
Way to be a real downer.
Kevin Kelly
@folks: We've deleted a few comments in this thread because they insulted specific individuals. Reminder: you can insult tools, but not people.
Fraz
As tough as these blocks appear to be, I would never give them to a young child for fear of them swallowing the magnets.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080205200644.htm
This can lead to life-threatening problems in the bowels, where distant loops of bowel become stuck together, requiring surgery.
Daniel
Earthling, I am afraid that people kill for wood and metal too. War has been with us humans for a lot longer than the petroleum industry has been.
Deva Sagayam
Children should be reintroduced to watching clouds and imagine myriad shapes and forms which we used to do 60 years back.
ideasinca
Actually, in response to earthling's comment, I feel that durable, high-value objects such as these toys are one of the few uses for oil that are environmentally acceptable. What is criminal, and stupid, is to use the precious substance for disposable objects and as fuel, literally burning it up.
I acknowledge that this leaves out the environmental and social costs of extracting and transporting the oil. And it does not address the economies of scale that would be lost were the volume of oil, now so high due precisely to our highly wasteful use of it, to diminish to the amount needed only to produce durable objects.
But unless you primarily use public transportation and have thrown away no plastic for at least a few weeks (shopping bags? food packaging? water bottles? toothbrushes? blister-paks? milk jugs? bought a new cell phone lately?), it seems that there are many better ways to focus your justifiable outrage at the hideous tragedy of generations of misspent oil resources than picking on these toys
Ahn
Fraz, children young enough, or reckless enough, to swallow magnets should be supervised at all times. If they're not, it's likely that this toy will be the least of the problems encountered while raising them.