With two kids of my own, a niece, a nephew, and ever increasing birthday party invitations from my girls’ school friends, I’m always on the lookout for new toys. But I know from hard experience to look for quality toys that will last. I’m looking for toys that kids will play with for months and years, not just a few days before they’re forgotten or broken.
I’d heard of Magformers magnetic building sets before, but I’d never seen them in person, so when we were asked to try them out for ourselves I jumped at the chance. The kids were pretty excited too!
Instead of physically locking together like other building sets, these BPA-free HQABS plastic construction shapes contain rare-earth neodymium magnets that attach on any side, 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 safely and securely enclosed in small channels that allow them to freely rotate inside so they always connect and never reject.
We received two sets to try. The 124 piece Math set is part of Magformers’ Educational Line and comes with 124 magnetic shapes, 39 printed plastic number cards, and a math workbook. The workbook has exercises and activities for teaching shape and pattern recognition, numbers and fractions, geometry, symmetry, and 3D spatial awareness. I thought this was a fantastic way of keeping Tee’s skills sharp over summer vacation.
It’s really cool how the pieces just snap together. 13 different shapes in bright primary and secondary colours provide lots of opportunities for fun and creative building. Each piece is a different colour on the reverse side so there are tons of colour combo options.
We also received the 100 piece Imagine set in pinks, purples, and turquoise. This set comes with 15 different shapes including some neat curved pieces and two rechargeable LED light-up tiles (USB cable included) which were fun to add into our structures.
Personally, I’m not crazy about the idea that girls need their toys to be pink, but mine were just happy to add new colours and shapes into their play. All the sets and pieces are compatible so we just dumped them into one big bin and got busy building.
Magformers are one of our favourite toys right now. They’re fun and colourful and the hollow shapes are easy for even the littlest fingers to manipulate. Playing with them can be as simple or as advanced as your child’s developmental level. My three-year-old likes to stack them, count them, and create simple shapes. My five-year-old builds three-dimensional figures. Even hubby and I like to play with them. They’re just so much fun!
We shot this quick video of hubby making an icosahedron – a 20 sided polyhedron. (Apologies for the quality. Yes, my video camera sucks but it’s all I’ve got right now.)
I love that playing with these engages mathematical and scientific thought, creativity, deductive reasoning, and spatial awareness. STEM skills (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) are vital to any child’s future, and Magformers are a fantastically creative way to introduce these skills. Most of all, they’re fun!
Win a Set of Magformers!
This giveaway is linked up with the Looking Forward to Fall Giveaway Hop, hosted by Viva Veltoro and Lindsey Blogs. After entering here, scroll down to see all the other giveaways worth at least $25!
Magformers is generously giving one of my readers their choice of either of the sets that I reviewed: the 100 piece Inspire set or the 124 piece Math set. Enter to win in the widget below. This giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the US, 18+. All entries will be verified.
While youβre here, check out my other open giveaways on my Giveaway Page!
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. This post contains affiliate links. This West Coast Mommy is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. I will receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no additional cost to you. This income helps pay for the operating costs of my website β thank you for your support! So Easy Being Green, Viva Veltoro, and the Looking Forward to Fall participating bloggers are not responsible for sponsors who do not fulfill prize obligations.
My son would love the Magnets in Motion 61 Piece Gear Set.
My 4yo son would love any of the XL or RC sets. Honestly, he’d play with them all, but I know he’ll love the cars and construction sets the most. Anything with wheels!
My Grandsons would love the Magnets in Motion 83 Piece Power Set, it would keep them quiet for hours!
My nephews would have a blast with the Magnets in Motion set!
My grandson would also like the Dinosaur set!
I’m sure they would enjoy any of the Magnets in Motion sets
My grandson would love any of the vehicle sets.
Magformers have been my girls favorite for almost 2 yrs now….we’ve got a couple sets and they are always fun, even when travelling. Love the Super Brain set!!
I can see my children and grandchildren having hours of fun with the Super Brain set. Very cool!
These are super awesome and I would love to own all the sets, but the Safari Set seems pretty cool to build some animals and the rc ones are awesome too!!
My nephews would love the light show set.
My son would really enjoy the Magnets in Motion 61 Piece.
My son would like the XL Cruisers Emergency Set.
The Super Brain Set looks amazing too!
We have an Inspire 30 piece set and love it. The only problem is – it’s too small. So, I know what we would like – Super Brain Set. But until we will be able to get it… I’d love to win one on here π
My son would love the Magnets in Motion 83 Piece Power Set
My grandson would like the super Brain Set.
My granddaughter would like an RC Set
My grandson would absolutely love playing with the RC Custom Set. π
I would love to be able to get the Magnets in Motion 83 Piece set.
These Magformers are so cool! I know that my Grandson would love the Designer Set! He’d love to build his own Helicopter π Thanks for this chance!
I think my son would like the “Super Brain Set.”
My son would love the XL cruisers car set. He loves cars and vehicles of all sorts.
We already have a couple sets! My son would also love the super brain set!
I am thinking that my nephew would really like the Magnets in Motion 37 Piece Gear Set
My son would love the Cruisers Car Set. We have the basic set. He loves it!! FYI the twitter link you have is not for the official Magformers site. You have a Korean twitter listed. The Magformers is @Magformersllc
My kids would love them all, but I think my son would love the RC custom set since he is really in to cars now.
Alysia would like the Magnets in Motion 61 Piece Gear Set I am sure (she’s fascinated by gears)
My boys would love the Light Show Set! They’ve been really into glow sticks and flashlights lately, probably because of late summer nights out back!
The Super Brain set looks fun.I never heard of Magformers before.Will be on the lookout for them,thanks for sharing!
I think the kids would like the magnet in motion 83 piece set
My kids would like the super brain set
My nephew would love the Dinosaur set!
My grandchildren would just love the Magnets in Motion 22 Piece Power Set.
My little guys would love the Dinosaur Set.
My nephew would love the Dinosaur Set
DD likes the look of the Super Brain set…so she can make a castle π
I think my little guy would love the Deep Sea set!
I think that my daughter would really like the Safari Set. Magformers look like so much fun. I’ve had my eye on them for awhile.
The Safari set looks really fun.
My niece would love the Magnets in Motion sets!
I’m sure my daughters would love the Magnets in Motion 37 Piece Gear Set. My oldest always amazes me with what she builds… I swear she’s going to be an engineer. This is right up her alley!
My son’s would love the would love the Super Brain Set. I think the sky would be the limit on what my boys could build with that.!
I think that my grandsons would naturally migrate towards the XL cruisers car set and my granddaughters towards the super brain set π
My sons would love the Dinosaur set!
I would love the Magnets in Motion 37 Piece Gear Set for my granddaughters!
Magnets In Motion looks fun.
I visited Magformers and another set my child might like is Super Brain set.
I think my granddaughter would love any of them but especially the Magnets in Motion sets, 32 piece one. Or the Magformers Inspire set.
I think our girls would like the Super Brain Set π