Best flexible magnetic toy rated for bend & stick
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Magnetic toys are great, my son loves them. Combine it with flexible material and the possibilities are truly endless.
Take for example this Smartmax Roboflex. Robot parts with flexible arms and legs that can even serve as a neck. The rods can be bent and have good magnets at the ends to make the robots even more real.
In this article I review the best sets and tell you what to look for when buying toys like this.
These are the nicest sets in a quick overview. Then I'll dive deeper into each of these choices.
Overall best flexible magnet toy
The flexible tubes with magnets on the end make it an exceptional toy, rather than just fun.
Most comprehensive flexible magnetic toy
You bend the flexible pieces over each other so that they become convex and you can make large things with a lot of open space on the inside.
Best flexible magnet dolls
What funny dolls. They can stick to each other (or anything other than the refrigerator) with both arms and legs.
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What we discuss in this comprehensive post:
Flexible magnetic toy buying guide
Before you buy a set, pay attention to these things:
Age
Especially with magnetic toys you want to be sure that they are suitable for the age of your child. You don't want them to swallow magnets.
Toys with small parts such as the Magmen should never be given to small children without supervision.
Smartmax is a lot firmer and you really can't get the magnet out of it. Those are toys that are already suitable from 2 to 3 years old when you are there.
In addition, it should also remain fun for a while. The Roboflex, for example, from 2 to 6 years old. After that, from about 5 to 10 years, the Clixo is very nice again.
Magnet
The magnet must be strong enough to hold the parts in place. Especially with flexible toys that are made to put some pressure on the connections.
Stronger magnets are often a bit more expensive, especially in this toy format.
Replayability
One of the most important things to pay attention to is whether they actually keep playing with it. That's why I rated all sets for replayability on a scale of 1 to 5.
Of course every child is different, but the main thing here is how many different creations you can keep making and how challenging it is.
Best Flexible Magnetic Toys Reviewed
smart max Roboflex Plus
- Flexible tubes make it exceptionally fun
- Many creations possible
- Magnets could have been a little stronger
The possibilities are endless with this set, especially when you combine it with other Smartmax bar sets.
That makes this the best magnetic robots set. You have a regular version and a plus version that is slightly larger.
You can get by with both, although most parents say they would have liked to go straight for the plus version because their child likes it so much.
The flexible arms can be folded to make them bigger or smaller, giving kids endless possibilities to customize and experiment with their constructions.
This feature encourages children's creativity and problem-solving skills as they can come up with new ways to use the pieces.
The magnets are good, but maybe just not good enough. The construction aspect of this set is the most fun.
Playing with it is difficult because the parts can fall off quickly, especially with the craziest creations.
Yet that often doesn't matter because then they just click it back on, and it has even become part of the game every now and then.
The flexible tubes with magnets on the end make it an exceptional toy, rather than just fun.
Clixus Wheel Creator Pack
- Really durable material
- A lot to build with little
- Difficult to master
- Very pricey
It's actually a whole new way of building, with Clixo. They have done research into how 3D constructions work and how you can make as much as possible with as little material as possible.
It is STEM toy par excellence.
You can already see a number of examples on the picture, but the possibilities are actually endless. With 20 pieces you can already make a very large construction, something that would require more than 200 pieces with LEGO.
You bend the flexible pieces over each other, so that they become convex and you can make large things with a lot of open space on the inside.
That's why you can make a lot with little. They compete with magnet tiles and claim to have only advantages.
Takes up less space, you can play it anywhere and not just on a flat surface.
All those things are true, but magnet tiles (reviewed here) are still more fun for younger children aged 3 to 5 years.
After that this will be a really nice set to look at.
It is made of a kind of synthetic paper that is fully recyclable. That also makes it even better for the environment.
It is very pricey, but what a good toy!
Magmen Fidget toys
- Great price for so much fun
- Flexible males can also engage in pretend play
- Magnets can get out
What funny dolls. They can stick to each other (or anything other than the refrigerator) with both arms and legs.
Because their limbs are flexible you can bend them into all kinds of fun shapes. This way it looks like they are dancing, or you can almost make it a building of men.
They are also used a lot in pretend play and so they go on all kinds of adventures. From the refrigerator to the garden chair and hitchhiking on the steel spoon.
The fact that they are males sometimes makes it extra fun to play compared to other magnetic building toys.
It didn't work for me, but I've read that the magnets came loose on some. That is of course very dangerous so I would certainly not recommend letting children under 4 play with it.
Especially not without supervision.
But very fun to play with.
Conclusion
There are not that many flexible magnet toy sets for sale, and not all of them are really good. But this list has some really nice options for you.
Also read: this is the best magnet toy for kids for this year
Always something to do for the holidays or rainy day?
Play Choice now has the ultimate activity book collection, with over 60 pages of fun coloring pages and educational puzzles.
Joost Nusselder, the founder of Speelkeuze.nl is a content marketer, father and loves trying out new toys. As a child he came into contact with everything related to games when his mother started the Tinnen Soldaat in Ede. Now he and his team create helpful blog articles to help loyal readers with fun play ideas.
