I love our local Mastermind Toys store! I come here year round, but especially with the holidays on the way, this is one of my favourite places to shop. They carry a huge selection of thousands of quality toys and books, and every single one is selected with an eye to engage and inspire kids.
Another reason I love shopping at Mastermind Toys is the friendly and knowledgeable staff there. They’re fantastic at suggesting gift ideas for everyone on my list, even when I haven’t the foggiest clue. But if you can’t get into the store in person, then Mastermind Toys has you covered with their annual Holiday Toys Gift Guide. Parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles, gift givers everywhere, rejoice! It’s the next best thing to having your very own toy consultant.
When I’m shopping for kids’ toys, I look for toys that will encourage creativity, imaginative play, and problem-solving; in other words, engage and inspire! That’s why Magformers are one of my top choices every year.
Instead of physically locking together like other building sets, these BPA-free HQABS plastic construction shapes contain rare-earth neodymium magnets that attach all around, not just top and bottom. Neodymium magnets are the strongest type of permanent magnet commercially available, and they allow us to build pretty much anything we want with them. The magnets are securely enclosed in small channels that allow them to freely rotate inside so they always connect and never reject. (These are pieces from another set, but I wanted you to be able to see the magnets inside.)
My girls already have some Magformers which they play with all the time, and I love to add new sets with new kinds of pieces to help them create more intricate builds. All the pieces are compatible with every other set so you don’t need to worry about the pieces not playing well together (unlike my kids, that is).
This Magformers Sweet House 64 Piece Set comes with a selection of specialty pieces designed to let my kids build their dream house. It includes double-sided (pink and white) basic building pieces, faux brick/shingle tiles, columns, single and double arched windows/doors, hinged windows that really open, 2 balconies, a set of stairs, 2 (non-magnetic) trees, and a colour-changing LED box for light-up effects.
The set also comes with a booklet with step-by-step instructions for building 10 different houses and shops to get the kids started on their engineering careers. This is The Vacation Home, just one of a virtually unlimited range of designs that kids can create. I love that little balcony!
Magformers are a fun and creative way to introduce mathematical and scientific reasoning, creativity, deductive reasoning, and spatial awareness. This year, we’re also wrapping up this Magformers My First 30 Piece Set for my 3-year-old nephew. He finds our Magformers fascinating whenever he comes over to our house, and he’s just the right age for his own set!
Tie on Some Goodness
One of the things that I appreciate most about Mastermind Toys is how they give back. Mastermind Toys has partnered with Me to We for the Tie on Some Goodness initiative. A portion of the proceeds from the purchase of select toys featured in the 2016 Mastermind Toys Gift Guide will be directed to local and global initiatives for children’s education through Me to We Charity.
Alternatively, you can buy a Me to We Rafiki or Minga bracelet and/or add a $2.00 donation to your purchase when you check out. Your gift to a kid you know and love will double as a gift of education to kids in your community and around the world!
Connect
Canadian owned and operated, Mastermind Toys is Canada’s largest specialty toy and children’s book retailer. They’ve been operating for over 30 years in the Greater Toronto area and have recently expanded to 48 stores in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia – and still growing!
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Gift It
The Magformers Sweet House 64 Piece Set retails for $99.99, and the Magformers My First 30 Piece Set for $59.99. When you purchase either of these sets, Mastermind Toys will donate $2 to Me to We.
Find the perfect holiday gift at a Mastermind Toys near you or go shopping online anytime day or night. Mastermind Toys offers free gift wrapping in store and free shipping in Canada with the purchase of $60 or more!
Win a $100 Gift Card!
Mastermind Toys is generously giving a $100 gift card to one lucky winner to do some holiday shopping! The gift card may be used towards shipping costs too. This giveaway is open to residents of Canada, 18+. All entries will be verified.
Click here to check out my other open giveaways and be sure to follow me on Facebook!
Disclosure: I received sample items for review. All opinions expressed are completely honest and my own, based on my personal experience. Your experience may differ.
I would love to buy the Hatchimals Electronic Hatching Friend – Draggle
I would get the Hatchimals™ Electronic Hatching Friend – Penguala, if I won the gift card
I would pick some Our Generation dolls for our girls 🙂
I would buy Melissa & Doug “Let’s Play House Dust, Sweep & Mop Set, my niece would love it.
My niece would love a Hatchimal !
I’d surprise my son and daughter with a pair of Inflatable Donut Snow Tubes for their winter sledding adventures.
I would love to get the Magformers™ Sweet House Light-Up 64-piece Building Set
I would pick some Our Generation doll for my granddaughter. Those are beautiful dolls.
I love board games, I’d get Pandemic. That’s a great game.
If I won a Mastermind Toys gift card I would buy Lego/Lego Friends for my nieces and nephews, and books! aren’t those books just adorable.
If I could get my hands on a Hatchimal I would use the gift card towards that but, I would also like to purchase Legos for my son – they also have some great craft kits that my daughter would love to have.
The 3 in 1 Tent and Tunnel set would get a good workout.
My kids could get some energy out with the JumpSmart Fold-Away Electronic Trampoline!
I would purchase a few brainteasers like the brainstring puzzles,Kanoodle brain puzzle and Jenga.
I’d love to get the LEGO® Friends Amusement Park Roller Coaster for my grandchildren, they’d have tons of fun with that I’m sure. 🙂
I would buy Melissa & Doug Let’s Play House Dust, Sweep & Mop Set my granddaughter would love it.
I would buy the Lego classic!!
I’d pick up a NHL® All-Star Hockey Pinball Game for my nephew
One item we would get is the LEGO Classic Creative Brick Box
I would go with the Lego Star Wars set for my kid.
I am interested in a Hatchimals. They are so big this season so I would like to buy one when I win this giveaway.
I would get the Hatchimals™ Electronic Hatching Friend for my granddaughter if I won the gift card.Thank you
I was in their Barrhaven store on Saturday and bought this for my son -> http://www.mastermindtoys.com/Elenco-Electronic-Snap-Circuits-300-Electronic-Science-Kit.aspx
and got some colouring books for my daughter -> http://www.mastermindtoys.com/Geometric-Patterns-Colouring-Book.aspx
Besos Sarah
Journeys of The Zoo
I would get the 3-in-1 Tent and Tunnel Set for my son.
I would buy LEGO® Friends Horse Vet Trailer for my oldest granddaughter and the LEGO® Duplo All-in-One Box of Fun for my youngest granddaughter. Thank you for the chance to win it!
I would love this doll for one of my granddaughters Our Generation Nia 18″ Doll, I know she would love her.
@tisonlyme143
My son loves the science kits he has his eye on the 4M Levitation Science Kit.
I would buy a Hatchimal (when restocked) for my niece.
I would buy my niece some lego!
I would choose the Magformers™ Sweet House Light-Up 64-piece Building Set! My daughters would love this!
My daughters would love a Magformers set or a Hatchimal! Thanks!
Great prize! I would love to get the folding trampoline. My daughter would love one, but we just have no space. A folding one would solve that problem! More magformers would be loved in our house too. I’ve never seen the house set, too cute!
There are so many great toys! I especially like the farm playset. Remember that Fisher-Price arn with the door that went moo from when we were kids?
I’m sure I’d spend it in an Arts and Crafts section. Maybe will buy something like 3Doodler Start 3D Printing Pen.
I’d love to get the PAW Patrol Roll Patrol Launch ‘n’ Roll Lookout Tower for my daughter.. she would love it!
I’d love to use the gift card on Magformers™ Sweet House Light-Up 64-piece Building Set. Magformers looks like a toy my toddler would love!
Yookidoo Flow ‘N’ Fill Bath Spout Toy and the magformers those look neat
I would get them a Hatchimal!! They really want one!
I’d like some more Magformers. My son loves them so I’d like to see what he could build if he had a few more.
There are a few things I would love to pick up for my oldest daughter. she is autistic and we buy most of her therapy things from Mastermind Toys. I would love to get one of the Playmobil sets or lego sets or the Squigz Starter Set
I would pick up two Boogie Board Scribble ‘N’ Play LCD Colour eDoodlers.
Love the 3 in 1 Tent and Tunnel set too.
We’re huge lego friends here so that’s what we’d probably spend it on!
I`d like to pick up the LEGO® Classic Creative Brick Box – Medium
I would start with the Lego classic creative brick and id also get some board games for the kids
The Magformers™ My First 30-piece Building Set actually looks like it would be perfect for my 20mo.
We love lego in our house. I think I would use the gift card towards the LEGO® Friends Amusement Park Roller Coaster.
Love the old fashioned fun of the Hape Rock & Ride Wooden Dog Rocker. My toddler grandson would love riding this toy!
I would get the Hatchimals™ Electronic Hatching Friend – Draggle, my granddaughter is desperate for this at Christmas!
My son just got some Legos for his birthday today! So anything Lego he would loose his mind. Thanks for the chance.