For example, if you have shared your Magna Tiles between kids, use a tin can or any other metal object to create a unique rocket ship design. Mostly we like these toys—and think the kids in your life will like them too—because they are open-ended, adaptive, flexible, provocative, and, most importantly, fun. Featuring a unique bevel design, durable and non-toxic materials, Connetix offer endless play possibilities. A magnetic tile marble maze is excellent for visual-motor coordination, visual tracking, and bilateral coordination.

Magna Tiles – Little Canadian Magna Tiles – Little Canadian

Each of these kits can be played with on its own to experiment with connections, signals and inputs and to understand how electronic circuits and computing systems work. This opens up the real possibilities of LittleBits: kids can use them to add motion, sound, and programming to any of their other toys and creations, from, say adding a motor to a Lego car, smart lighting in a doll’s house or scary sounds to papier-mâché Halloween decorations. In a New York Times op-ed, 1 developmental psychologist Alison Gopnik described how kids learn through play: “New studies of ‘active learning’ show that when children play with toys they are acting a lot like scientists doing experiments. The bot lends itself well to group play, fostering brainstorming and ideation, especially among kids of multiple ages: a preschooler can come up with ideas for what Dash should do while an older child programs the commands into the app. Our magnetic tiles encourage cognitive development, spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination, fine and gross motor skills and help children build knowledge around STEAM concepts – all through PLAY!

set has larger pieces that are easier to manipulate for younger kids, though it only comes with 30 pieces. Create big castles and towers, build new homes for favourite toys or explore 3D shapes and patterns, all while having fun. If toys are played with at the kitchen table, ensure the area is wiped down first, and food is put away. Thanks to the familiarity of Lego pieces, the 847-piece Lego Boost is one of the easiest and most fun to build among kits of its size.

Magna-Tiles® Cars 2-Piece Magnetic Building Sets - Magna-Tiles®

They will find making an animal out of different shapes challenging enough without adding a 3D element.We recommended the Kano Computer Kit in our 2015 holiday gift guide as a great gift for “a curious kid of any age who has mastered Lincoln Logs, Erector sets, and LEGOs but isn’t quite up for soldering (or old enough for an electrical engineering degree program). These open-ended resources can be used to support literacy and numeracy concepts, such as discovering 2D shapes and 3D objects, helping children to learn number facts and sight words and more! Magnetic, color-coded, ready-to-go circuit blocks can form the electronic guts of any number of projects and let kids learn how to connect power sources with inputs and outputs. These toys help kids jump into experimenting with electronic circuitry and computing (with no soldering required).

Magna-Tiles - STEM Education Guide How to Clean Magna-Tiles - STEM Education Guide

Using magnetic blocks to make creative designs is a simple and enjoyable way to keep your kids engaged. We spoke with Mike Matthews, the director of curriculum and program innovation at Burke’s, and Jenny Howland, the kindergarten-through-4th-grade technology teacher, to find out what they think makes a good learning toy and which ones would be good choices for kids to play with at home. The simple square design will provide a good base for embellishments, and these will give an element of challenge. Storing tiles in designated bins keeps them clean during non-use and allows children to maintain an organized playroom. This 250-piece set of connectable pieces have ball joints that snap into U-shaped brackets, allowing kids to build shapes and structures with curves, bends and joints.They have had fun playing with some at a friend’s house, and I’ve been wanting to get some for our home.