13 best magnetic toys for every age
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Magnetic toys can be seen as 'open ended toys' that stimulate children's own play and imagination.
And the great thing is, you have magnetic toys sets in every age category.
The best magnet toys are these tiles from Magformers because you can really go in all directions with it. This allows your child to build beautiful works of art, which can always be adjusted during the building process.
But there are many more toys than just tiles. For this article I have tested all sets so that we can recommend something for every age.
How would you like to go through this article?
Below is the list of the best choices, sorted and compared by price from low to high.
Best Magnetic Numbers
Quercetti Number Magnets, with a solid price-quality ratio, are cheaper than Geomag MagiCube Paw Patrol, despite fewer parts. The educational value and the number of pieces justify the price compared to the Janod Story Box Train.
Best magnetic toys for your toddler
Geomag MagiCube Paw Patrol offers strong value with a value for money of 8.5 and recognition as 'Best Toy', while Quercetti Number Magnets, cheaper but with fewer awards, has a lower value for money of 8.1.
Best magnetic train
Janod Story Box Train Fire Department, made of MDF and rated 8.2 for price-quality, offers sustainable playing fun. Compared to Quercetti Number Magnets, more expensive but with fewer parts, the price reflects the sustainable manufacturing and educational prestige.
Best toys to learn about magnetism
With 22 parts and several awards, Thames & Kosmos Magic Of Magnets offers good value for money, comparable to Quercetti Number Magnets, but with a higher educational value due to the scientific approach.
Best Magnetic Toy Trailer
The Melissa & Doug Wooden Truck Crane, with sustainable production and multiple awards, offers value given its quality and theme, compared to the cheaper Quercetti Number Magnets, which are less complex.
Best Magnetic Sand
Spin Master Kinetic Sand offers great value and art theme, more expensive than Quercetti Number Magnets but lacks educational awards; cheaper than Geomag MagiCube with fewer parts but without prestigious awards.
Best Magnetic Toy Animals for Toddlers
Smartmax My First Safari Animals offers good value for money with 18 parts and several awards compared to Quercetti Number Magnets, which although cheaper, has less recognition.
Best Magnetic Toys for Travel
Tegu Pocket Pouch, made of hardwood and rated 7.9 for price-quality, is more expensive than Quercetti Number Magnets and Geomag MagiCube, but offers sustainable production and prestigious recognition with TOTY and UCDA awards.
Overall best magnet blocks
Pixio Neon Abstract Series distinguishes itself with a higher price-quality ratio (8.9) and prestigious design awards such as the Red Dot, which justifies the higher price compared to, for example, Quercetti Number Magnets (8.1).
Best magnetic rods to build with
Smartmax Bars Start Try Me offers more parts than Geomag MagiCube Paw Patrol, which justifies the higher price; both have multiple awards, but Smartmax's value for money of 8 is lower.
Best magnetic toys for your baby
Stick-O Fishing Game, with 26 pieces and themed blocks, is more expensive than Quercetti Number Magnets and Geomag MagiCube, which have more awards but offer fewer pieces, which may justify Stick-O's higher price.
Overall best magnetic tiles
With 30 parts and several awards, Magformers Basic Set offers a higher price-quality ratio than Quercetti Number Magnets, despite fewer parts, due to the extensive recognition and high-quality ABS plastic.
Best magnetic toy car
With 50 parts and several awards, Magformers Police set offers a higher price-quality ratio than Quercetti Number Magnets, despite a similar theme and use of materials.
The above list provides a good comparison when you are looking for value for money.
Below is the list of the best choices, sorted and compared by age suitability.
Best Magnetic Toy Animals for Toddlers
Smartmax My First Safari Animals is suitable from birth, ideal for babies and toddlers up to 2 years, while Geomag MagiCube Paw Patrol is only recommended from 1 year, aimed at toddlers up to 3 years.
Best magnetic toys for your toddler
Geomag MagiCube Paw Patrol is suitable for children aged 1-3 years, younger than Smartmax My First Safari Animals (0-5 years), due to the specific Paw Patrol theme and simple puzzle aspect, ideal for toddlers.
Best Magnetic Toys for Travel
Tegu Pocket Pouch is suitable for older children than Smartmax My First Safari Animals, as it has a higher maximum age (10 vs 5 years), indicating longer lasting play value and complexity.
Best magnetic toys for your baby
Stick-O Fishing Game is suitable for toddlers (2-5 years), filling a niche between Smartmax Safari (0-2 years) and Tegu Pocket Pouch (2-4 years), with a higher upper limit than Geomag Paw Patrol (up to 3 years ).
Best Magnetic Toy Trailer
The Melissa & Doug Wooden truck crane is suitable for slightly older children than Smartmax My First Safari Animals, due to the complexity and theme that better suits the development phase of 3 to 5 year olds.
Best magnetic rods to build with
Smartmax Bars Start Try Me is suitable for children from 2 to 7 years, with an optimal age between 3 and 5 years, which makes it more widely applicable than Smartmax My First Safari Animals and Geomag MagiCube Paw Patrol, which go up to 5 and 3 years respectively .
Best magnetic train
The Janod Story Box Train Fire Department, suitable from 2 years and optimally up to 6 years, is better suited to toddlers than Smartmax My First Safari Animals, which is aimed at toddlers up to 2 years with its soft materials and simple shapes.
Best Magnetic Sand
Spin Master Kinetic Sand is suitable for children aged 3-8 years, ideal for 3-6 years, while Smartmax My First Safari Animals is aimed at 0-5 years, perfect for the little ones.
Best Magnetic Numbers
Quercetti Number Magnets are suitable for children aged 3-6 years, filling the age gap between Smartmax My First Safari Animals (0-5 years) and Magformers Basic Set (5-10 years), aimed at early learning.
Best magnetic toy car
Magformers Police set is suitable for children aged 3 to 8 years, ideal for 4-6 years, while Smartmax My First Safari Animals focuses on 0-2 years and Geomag MagiCube Paw Patrol on 1-3 years, making Magformers a better fit for something older children who can appreciate more complex constructions.
Overall best magnetic tiles
Magformers Basic Set is more suitable for older children than Smartmax My First Safari Animals, with an optimal age of 5-8 years compared to 0-2 years, due to more complex building options.
Overall best magnet blocks
Pixio Neon Abstract Series is suitable for older children (5-10) than Smartmax My First Safari Animals (0-5) due to more complex construction options; younger than Thames & Kosmos Magic Of Magnets (7-12) due to simpler concept.
Best toys to learn about magnetism
Thames & Kosmos Magic of Magnets is more complex and aimed at older children (8-10 years) than Smartmax My First Safari Animals and Geomag MagiCube Paw Patrol, which are simpler and for toddlers (0-3 years).
The above list gives you an indication of the age suitability of each of the top choices.
Below is the list of the 10 best choices, sorted and compared by playing time.
Best magnetic toy car
Magformers Police set with 50 parts offers longer play time than Janod Story Box Train, which has only 6 parts and encourages shorter stories.
Overall best magnetic tiles
The Magformers Basic Set offers longer play time than the Janod Story Box Train due to the greater versatility in building options, which invites more extensive play sessions.
Best Magnetic Sand
Kinetic Sand offers a calming, solo play experience for 10-30 minutes, ideal for creative breaks, while Magformer's Police set encourages longer, more involved sessions with its active play style and more features.
Overall best magnet blocks
Pixio Neon Abstract Series offers longer playtime than Janod Story Box Train Fire Department, encourages creativity with magnetic blocks, ideal for quiet, focused solo play sessions indoors.
Best Magnetic Toy Animals for Toddlers
Smartmax My First Safari Animals offers longer playing time than Janod Story Box Train Fire Department due to the larger parts set that invites more extensive creations and stories.
Best magnetic rods to build with
Smartmax Rods offers longer playing time than Janod Story Box Train due to more extensive combination options, but shorter than Magformers Police set due to fewer parts and intensity.
Best magnetic toys for your baby
Stick-O Fishing Game offers longer playing time than Janod Story Box Train Fire Department, stimulates creativity and concentration, ideal for solo indoor activities where longer building fun is desired.
Best Magnetic Toy Trailer
The Melissa & Doug Wooden Truck Crane offers a play time of 10-30 minutes, comparable to most other products, but the Magformers Police set, with more complex building options, invites extended play sessions of 30+ minutes.
Best toys to learn about magnetism
Thames & Kosmos Magic of Magnets offers a longer playtime than Janod Story Box Train Fire Department, allowing for deeper scientific exploration.
Best magnetic train
The Janod Story Box Train Fire Department offers short playing fun (<10 min), ideal for quick interaction, in contrast to the Magformers sets and Smartmax products that stimulate longer sessions (10-30 min) through their extensive combination options.
The above list gives you an indication of how long the expected play time with each of the top choices is per play session.
Below is the list of the 10 best choices, sorted and compared by sustainability.
Best Magnetic Sand
Spin Master Kinetic Sand, with its high durability score, surpasses Magformers sets, which, although taking steps towards environmentally friendly materials, still use plastic ABS. Janod's wooden toys, FSC certified, offer a greener choice.
Best magnetic train
Janod Story Box Train Fire Department, with FSC® certified wood and cardboard, surpasses Quercetti Number Magnets, which only recently introduced bioplastics, in sustainability initiatives and involvement in reforestation.
Best Magnetic Toys for Travel
Tegu Pocket Pouch uses sustainable Huesito wood and non-toxic lacquer, while Magformers and Smartmax mainly contain plastic, which is less sustainable and has more environmental impact.
Best Magnetic Toy Trailer
Melissa & Doug's truck-mounted crane, with FSC® certification and CO2 neutrality, surpasses Quercetti's number magnets, which have only recently started using bioplastics, in sustainability and environmental impact.
Overall best magnetic tiles
Magformers Basic Set Line distinguishes itself with an active transition to biodegradable TPE and recycled plastic, which reduces the carbon footprint, while Quercetti Cijfermagneten only recently introduced bioplastics without specific zero-waste targets.
Best magnetic toy car
Magformers Police set uses ABS plastic, but takes steps towards more environmentally friendly TPE and recycled plastic, which has less impact than Quercetti's current plastic use without specific sustainability actions.
Best Magnetic Numbers
Quercetti's commitment to bioplastics and wood fibers makes it more environmentally friendly than Pixio and Smartmax, which do not report sustainable manufacturing practices, but lags behind Janod's FSC-certified approach.
Overall best magnet blocks
Pixio Neon Abstract Series, made from plastic without sustainability initiatives, lags behind Janod Story Box Train Fire Department, which uses sustainably produced MDF and an active reforestation model.
Best Magnetic Toy Animals for Toddlers
Smartmax My First Safari Animals, made from plastic without sustainable manufacturing, lags behind Janod Story Box Trein Fire Department, which uses sustainably sourced wood and is committed to reforestation.
Best magnetic rods to build with
Smartmax Rods Start Try Me, made of plastic without specific sustainability initiatives, lags behind Janod Story Box Train Fire Department, which uses FSC-certified wood and actively contributes to reforestation.
The above list gives you an indication of the sustainability and environmental impact of each of the top choices.
Below is the list of the 10 best choices, sorted and compared by educational value.
Overall best magnetic tiles
Magformers Basic Set encourages engineering and has more recognition than Smartmax Bars, with awards emphasizing parental approval, indicating higher educational value for cognitive development.
Best magnetic rods to build with
Smartmax Bars Start encourages fine motor skills with magnetic construction, similar to Tegu Pocket Pouch, but lacks the texture for sensory stimulation; less complex than Thames & Kosmos Magic Of Magnets, focused on science.
Best Magnetic Toys for Travel
Tegu Pocket Pouch promotes logical reasoning with an award-winning, simple magnetic construction system and short play time, but Magformers offers longer construction challenges, which may have more educational value.
Best Magnetic Sand
Spin Master Kinetic Sand encourages fine motor skills and provides sensory texture experience, which is less directly educational than Magformers and Smartmax, which promote STEM skills and engineering with magnetic structures.
Best toys to learn about magnetism
Thames & Kosmos Magic of Magnets offers complex STEM education, while Magformers and Smartmax focus on simple construction and fine motor skills, covering less in-depth scientific principles.
Best magnetic toy car
Magformers Police set stimulates cognitive development and fantasy play, less focused on STEM than Magformers Basic Set and Smartmax Rods, but offers more extensive playtime for creative play.
Overall best magnet blocks
Pixio Neon Abstract Series encourages construction without sensory stimulation, while Smartmax Safari provides texture for sensory play, which can contribute to a higher educational value for young children.
Best Magnetic Toy Animals for Toddlers
Smartmax My First Safari Animals encourages sensory play with texture, which is missing from Magformers Basic Set and Smartmax Rods Start Try Me, but offers less of a STEM focus.
Best magnetic toys for your baby
Stick-O Visspel Edu offers less architectural education than Magformers Basic Set Line, which won several awards for STEM/STEAM, but stimulates fine motor skills comparable to Smartmax Rods Start Try Me.
Best magnetic toys for your toddler
Geomag MagiCube Paw Patrol encourages logical reasoning, but lacks the longer play time and STEM focus of Magformers Basic Set and Smartmax Rods, which promote construction and fine motor skills.
The above list gives you an indication of the educational value and learning objectives of each of the top choices.
Below is an extensive review of each of these best magnetic toy sets, ranked by our “Toy score”.
From toddler to toddler activity book collection
Educational games and coloring pages for 3 to 6 years
Your toddler and preschooler will love this e-book, along with the accompanying printables. He or she can play with it at every stage of development, together with mom and dad.
Buy at Bol.comWhat we discuss in this comprehensive post:
- 1 1. Magformers Basic Set Line Magnet Tiles (9.2)
- 2 2.Spin Master Kinetic Sand (9.0)
- 3 3. Magformers Police set (8.8)
- 4 4. Janod Story Box Train Fire Department (8.7)
- 5 5. Pixio Neon Abstract Series Magnetic Blocks (8.7)
- 6 6. Smartmax My First Safari Animals (8.5)
- 7 7. Smartmax Bars Start Try Me (8.3)
- 8 7. Tegu Pocket Pouch (8.3)
- 9 8. Stick-O Fishing Game (8.3)
- 10 9. Melissa & Doug Wooden truck crane (8.1)
- 11 10. Geomag MagiCube Paw Patrol (8.1)
- 12 11. Thames & Kosmos Magic Of Magnets (7.7)
- 13 12. Quercetti Number Magnets (7.5)
- 14 Magnetic Toys Buying Guide
- 15 Are magnetic toys more fun than other building toys?
1. Magformers Basic Set Line Magnet Tiles (9.2)
- Strong magnets that rotate so it always sticks
- Great examples book
- Greatly stimulates spatial insight
- Very hard to build with
- Won't be fun for every kid
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From: 3 years
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Best: 5 – 8 years
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Up to: 10 years
- Material: Plastic, ABS
- Number of parts: 30
- Dimensions: 29,21 x 5,08 x 24,13 cm (11.5 x 2 x 9.5 inches)
- Price at time of writing: €49,49 – $47.97
- Sustainability: Future plans
- Theme: Building and construction, Tiles
- Storage: Compact
- Safety parts: Rounded corners
- Playing time: Longer (10-30 min)
- Learning objective: STEM/ STEAM, Architecture
The Magformers Basic Set Line has 30 parts (other smaller and larger sets are also available) so that your little one can build endlessly.
The parts are very sturdy and the magnets stick well.
Especially because the magnets can rotate within the plastic casing, a technique that Stick-O magnetic bars also use.
As a result, there is never a tile that does not stick to another, which is something other magnet tiles (we reviewed more here) sometimes have.
This set invites what the Montessori philosophy calls “open-ended play”, a lot is possible and this requires creativity and perseverance.
I also found it quite challenging in the beginning and it takes some building practice. Still, my 3-year-old son was able to make quite a bit with it, first just sitting on the floor:
This really becomes a very nice set from toddlers with a age of 4-5 that they can work with themselves.
2.Spin Master Kinetic Sand (9.0)
- Great fun for endless replayability
- Lasts a long time, actually infinite unless you get it dirty
- It's not really magnetic
- Difficult to build structures
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From: 3 years
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Best: 3 – 6 years
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Up to: 8 years
- Material: Sand
- Number of parts: 1
- Dimensions: 8,13 x 20,32 x 29,85 cm (3.2 x 8 x 11.75 inches)
- Price at time of writing: €24,99 – $15.76
- Durability: None
- Theme: Arts and crafts, Art
- Storage: Normal
- Safety Components: Non-toxic material
- Playing time: Longer (10-30 min)
- Learning objective: Physical development, Fine motor skills
Kinetic Sand is often referred to as magnetic sand because it kind of sticks together, but it's not really magnetic. This gives it extra educational value because it feels good and you can model anything with it. Perfect for fine motor skills and creativity.
It feels really weird the first time you hold it, like wet sand but dry and like it should move differently than it does, sliding through your hand. This composition ensures that it does not dry out like clay and has a long life. If you take good care of it, it will last forever. It is also perfect to combine with sandbox toys or dinos or cars, all of which benefit the replayability.
The "magnetic" properties of the sand make it ideal for indoor use as it will not go all over your floor as loose grains, but will stick together more like loose slices or balls of sand. Good for ease of use and play value. In addition, it is perfect for open-ended play.
When you start with magnetic sand I would advise to start with just a basic set like this one from Spin Master, just sand colored and you probably still have a container somewhere where they can play with it.
In any case, I would use a large plate or container with a little raised edges so that it doesn't fly all over the room.
The material is made of non-toxic polymers and is even free of wheat, gluten and casein.
3. Magformers Police set (8.8)
- Nice set with police and crook
- Great replayability by combining construction and pretend play
- Quite difficult to put together and especially to keep buildings
- For smaller children, the car can be difficult to play with
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From: 3 years
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Best: 4 – 6 years
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Up to: 8 years
- Material: Plastic, ABS
- Number of parts: 50
- Dimensions: 28,58 x 7,98 x 24,13 cm (11.25 x 3.14 x 9.5 inches)
- Price at time of writing: €62,99 – $65.99
- Sustainability: Future plans
- Theme: Building and construction, Tiles
- Storage: Normal
- Safety parts: Rounded corners
- Playtime: Extended (30+ min)
- Learning objective: Cognitive development, Pretend play
Vrrrroem! Are you in time to save the day ?! With this Magformers set you get all the tools you need to build police vehicles and a real desk.
A really nice set on its own that is both educational and fun to play with, and also a nice addition to the basic Magformers set that I named at number 1.
Assemble the cars as shown in the examples or make your own creation in blue, to fight the crooks.
Suitable for children between 3 and 12 years old, but fun between 4 and 8 years old.
This Magformers set is perhaps more fun than the basic set because it is a bit clearer what you can make with it.
Also better suited for the slightly less creative kids as all pieces have a clear purpose, such as:
- windows
- a staircase
- roof tiles
- a prison
- a car chassis
Although all these parts can be combined endlessly so that you can still put something of yourself in them and there are really a lot of nice examples already available in the booklet.
Slightly less educational than the basic set but very fun to play with and a lot more fun than, for example, a toy police set which is just a fixed building and a fixed car.
It becomes especially fun when you have more Magformers tiles. This way you can make more combinations and expand the police station and car.
There are indeed 50 pieces in the set, but most of that is accessories. In the end, you can only combine the magnetic tiles in a few ways.
I would therefore recommend starting with the police set with younger children when you know you will soon be buying more, or else purchase the Basic Set.
4. Janod Story Box Train Fire Department (8.7)
- Can join pretend play
- Fits almost all train track brands
- Ladder is also magnetic
- Not very nice in itself to play with more often
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From: 2 years
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Best: 3 – 6 years
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Up to: 7 years
- Material: Wood, MDF
- Number of parts: 6
- Dimensions: 34,29 x 2,99 x 8,31 cm (13.5 x 1.18 x 3.27 inches)
- Price at time of writing: €18,32 – $25.49
- Sustainability: Sustainable production
- Theme: Vehicles, Train
- Storage: Normal
- Safety Components: Non-toxic material
- Playtime: Short (<10 min)
- Learning objective: Cognitive development, Pretend play
Is your son or daughter fascinated by trains? This Janod Story Train Fire Department Magnetic is a beautiful wooden train that you can use to extinguish all fires!
The train has magnetic parts and is made of solid wood. So you can also play separately with the different cars, and can also be endlessly combined with the Story series from Janod.
The toys is suitable for kids from 3 to 8 years old. I also love that they are wooden toys, just like the Tegu blocks and Melissa & Doug's wooden trailer.
It is a train set that fits on almost any brand of train tracks, such as Brio, Bigjigs, Tiny World and many more.
Pretend play is of course great fun and what child doesn't like to put out a fire. There's bound to be an emergency somewhere along the train tracks!
What makes it even more fun is that the ladder is also attached to the train set with a magnet. This way it stays in place but can also be caught when they are at the fire.
5. Pixio Neon Abstract Series Magnetic Blocks (8.7)
- Very cheap per block
- Huge number of creations possible
- Blocks are very small
- Only suitable for 6+
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From: 5 years
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Best: 6 – 8 years
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Up to: 10 years
- Material: Plastic
- Number of parts: 60
- Dimensions: 0,76 x 0,76 x 0,76 cm (0.3 x 0.3 x 0.3 inches)
- Price at time of writing: €39,95 – $34.99
- Durability: None
- Theme: Building and construction, Blocks
- Storage: Compact
- Safety parts: None
- Playing time: Longer (10-30 min)
- Learning objective: STEM/ STEAM, Architecture
These are quite small blocks, and the age is therefore a bit higher at 6+. This is certain toys that you don't want to swallow.
The 0.3 inch cubes weigh less than 1g and have 6 magnets in it. This way they can stack on top of each other in any way. Very nice for blocky retro buildings.
In the beginning I found it quite difficult to come up with something, but there is an extensive booklet with many examples.
Perhaps the best thing about this set is the Pixio App, which gives you explanations for more than 1000 examples, something you don't get with almost any of the magnetic block sets (more reviewed here) .
Most kids will like it because of the Minecraft look. It lets them build dolls, buildings and trees from their favorite computer world.
Oh well, as long as it's educational. However?
Some customers still find the blocks very expensive because they are so small and indicate that it becomes more fun when you have more than 200.
With the 60 blocks in this set you can indeed work quite well, but to really let your creativity run wild you need more.
6. Smartmax My First Safari Animals (8.5)
- Nice soft animals, big and easy to grab for the little ones
- Magnets click easily but a little one can also get them loose
- Some magnetic bars repel each other and that can be frustrating
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From: 0 years
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Best: 0 – 2 years
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Up to: 5 years
- Material: Plastic
- Number of parts: 18
- Dimensions: 24 x 6 x 24 cm (9.45 x 2.36 x 9.45 inches)
- Price at time of writing: €24,99 – $25.99
- Durability: None
- Theme: Animals, Blocks
- Storage: Normal
- Safety parts: Soft material
- Playing time: Longer (10-30 min)
- Learning objective: Physical development, Sensory play
Is your little one also crazy about animals? The SmartMax My First Safari Animals are toys that is suitable for children from 1 year.
The toys ensures that kids discover the magic of magnets in a safe and super fun way while playing with their favorite animals.
The parts are extra large and soft and simply click on the bars.
The magnets are strong enough to hold the particles together, but it doesn't take a lot of force to take them apart again.
The toys is therefore completely tailored to children's hands.
You can create six different Safari animals with the set of 18 parts, or create your own animal by combining parts of different animals and at a slightly later age, the animals will probably also be able to participate in many more fantasy games.
My son also really enjoyed running around the house with all the bars on top of each other making sure they didn't fall as the magnets are just strong enough to stick together but you have to balance them properly .
Good for creativity and fine motor skills!
If your child is older than 1 year, I would combine them with the Smartmax Start Set. Otherwise you better buy the Start Set than these animals.
For babies they are very nice on their own.
7. Smartmax Bars Start Try Me (8.3)
- Sturdy magnets click easily
- Large shapes suitable for small children
- Difficult to make shapes with
- Ball system slips easily
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From: 2 years
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Best: 3 – 5 years
-
Up to: 7 years
- Material: Plastic
- Number of parts: 23
- Dimensions: 37,99 x 30 x 6,2 cm (14.96 x 11.81 x 2.44 inches)
- Price at time of writing: €44,58 – $39.99
- Durability: None
- Theme: Building and construction, Blocks
- Storage: Normal
- Safety parts: Rounded corners
- Playing time: Longer (10-30 min)
- Learning objective: STEM/STEAM, Fine motor skills
The SmartMax Magnetic Bars Start Try Me are also great fun toys that consists of magnetic rods (and balls)!
This toys contains 30 large elements and an extensive booklet with information and tips for building.
Magnetic rods and balls can be 'stick' together to create the nicest figures. It's simple, because kids don't have to run off with complicated locking mechanisms.
Clicking these elements together is a lot easier than the tiles from Magformers and this makes it toys also really suitable from 1 year onwards, as SmartMax says.
At that age they can't do much with it of course, but a toddler can just grab something and experience what it is like for a rod to "stick" to one of the balls, for example.
As a toddler my son didn't have this set, but he did have the Safari animals from SmartMax, which is essentially the same system with big bars (and then soft rubber animal bodies to stick to them) and he LOVED it!
With these metal balls and rods you can build something different every day. In addition, a child trains his or her spatial awareness with the different shapes. The possibilities are limitless!
Plus you can combine them very nicely with other things from SmartMax, such as the Safari animals that I also discuss later.
But you can actually also combine them with other magnetic materials toys on the list. For example, they also fit on Stick-O parts.
The toys is extremely safe and suitable for children from 1 year.
Smartmax vs Magformers
Smartmax is really for younger children. The bars and balls are large and they click together very strongly so that your child of almost any age can at least do something with them.
The Magformers tiles are a lot more fun when your child gets older because you can really build anything with them. From flat shapes such as a rocket to large castles. Plus it's very focused on geometric shapes which also makes them a lot more educational.
Smartmax is somewhat more limited in the shapes you can make with it, but Magformers is still a bit too ambitious for your toddler or toddler.
7. Tegu Pocket Pouch (8.3)
- Wooden blocks with magnets encourage hand feeling and building too
- Soft sleeve makes it easy to carry
- It is a very small set with only a few blocks
- Quite expensive
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From: 2 years
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Best: 2 – 4 years
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Up to: 10 years
- Material: Wood, Hardwood
- Number of parts: 6
- Dimensions: 15,24 x 8,89 x 4,45 cm (6 x 3.5 x 1.75 inches)
- Price at time of writing: €30,48 – $35.22
- Sustainability: Sustainable production
- Theme: Building and construction, Blocks
- Storage: Storage compartments
- Safety parts: Rounded corners
- Playtime: Short (<10 min)
- Learning objective: VOICE/ STEAM, Logical reasoning
Compact with a soft cover so that everything does not get lost in the children's suitcase, hand luggage or in the car seat. The Tegu pocket pouch is one of my favorites toys for travelling.
They are strong magnetic blocks with which you can build anything.
From Tegu you have many more sets with all kinds of different types of blocks, wheels and more, but with this pocket pouch you have a handy travel building set.
There are not that many blocks so the possibilities may be a bit limited at a certain point, but you can actually build so much with them.
Tegu has thought very carefully about the shapes of the blocks so that they naturally fit together seamlessly, but can also form a lot of different things.
A really nice set for traveling, for example, we took it with us on the plane in our hand luggage, but it can also be very nice for in the car. Try doing that with any other building set!
Tegu blocks vs Magna Tiles
For me, the Tegu blocks are a nice addition to a house with a lot of wooden ones toys. It's just very well made and taking wood and building with it is kind of a natural experience.
The Tegu blocks are very expensive, a lot more expensive than for example Magna Tiles or other magnetic tiles that are made entirely of plastic, plus they really only get fun when you have more of them.
The Tegu pocket pouch is fun for travel, but we don't play with it much because there are also magnet tiles where you get a lot more right away.
If you want to make big builds with Tegu like you can with Magna Tiles or Magformers, then you really need to spend a lot of money on it.
8. Stick-O Fishing Game (8.3)
- Fun underwater theme with different ways to make characters
- Good explanation booklet
- Reversible magnets in sticks so it always sticks
- Fishing game doesn't work very well
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From: 2 years
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Best: 2 – 5 years
-
Up to: 6 years
- Material: Plastic
- Number of parts: 26
- Dimensions: 25 x 25 x 8 cm (9.84 x 9.84 x 3.15 inches)
- Price at time of writing: €46,99 – $57.23
- Durability: None
- Theme: Building and construction, Blocks
- Storage: Normal
- Safety parts: Rounded corners
- Playing time: Longer (10-30 min)
- Learning objective: STEM/STEAM, Fine motor skills
If your child is 3, I would already recommend the Magformers or Magna Tiles because you can already help build things until they can do it themselves.
And then we also have the Stick-O fish set for the little ones among us!
This toys gives children from 18 months the opportunity to play with magnetic building toys.
The toy set consists of 26 shapes with which your little one can build the nicest characters, all in an underwater theme.
With of course a magnetic rod for good fishing!
The way you can easily create your own animals makes a magnetic fishing game like this a lot more fun than other fishing games I've seen.
These are essentially just wooden rods and some wooden pieces with a magnet in them.
This set really lets your child build an underwater world so that they can also get creative:
The toy remains fun up to an age of about 5 years.
If your child is younger than 2 years old, you may want to consider the MagiCube from Geomag.
It's only 3 blocks so they can't build that much with it, but it's more suitable for 1 to 2 years.
Stick-O vs Smartmax
Stick-O is for smaller children than Smartmax and, in addition to fun building bars and balls, also offers more shapes. As a result, you get less real building material for your money and the quality of the Smartmax magnets is slightly higher.
It's nice, those shapes. Especially for the toddlers and toddlers among us. For example, with the fishing game you also get a fishing rod, but the best are the fins and tails to make fish with.
It is more about creating a fantasy world than unleashing your creativity on structures such as cubes and castles, so for me Smartmax is a much more educational magnet toys.
9. Melissa & Doug Wooden truck crane (8.1)
- Nice set with cars and trailer
- Good size to play with other cars
- Magnet is very weak and hard to keep the cars on it
- Wooden stop block of the trailer broke off (after angry throwing)
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From: 2 years
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Best: 3 – 5 years
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Up to: 7 years
- Material: Wood, MDF
- Number of parts: 5
- Dimensions: 35,56 x 15,24 x 7,62 cm (14 x 6 x 3 inches)
- Price at time of writing: €23,49 – $15.79
- Sustainability: Sustainable production
- Theme: Vehicles, Car
- Storage: Normal
- Safety parts: Rounded corners
- Playing time: Longer (10-30 min)
- Learning objective: Physical development, Fine motor skills
This wooden trailer from Melissa & Doug is great fun to play with. He has a magnetic crane with which he can pick up the supplied cars and put them on the trailer.
It says for three years and up, but our son really enjoyed playing with. He's 2 years old and a little bit, a few months, but it was so frustrating too.
You can pick up cars with the magnetic crane on the truck and they are reasonably fixed in themselves, but you also have to be quite dexterous with that magnet.
If you don't take it easy, the car will fall off, and at his age he couldn't have it so good that it didn't work. Yet we also think it is good for him to learn to deal with it so early so that he will also learn some patience.
But it is indeed really for 3 plus to be able to make full use of it.
The idea is actually to hoist them up and the semi-trailer can be attached to the truck, so that the cars can all be placed on that semi-trailer.
For me the magnet could have been a bit stronger, but on the other hand, that is also the game I think. In any case, he loves it and really wants to play with it.
We have more magnet toys such as the magnetic blocks and the magnetic animals (also discussed in this article) and they stay in place very well because this is also a magnet and so is the one in the car.
What is on top of the cars is really just a metal point to hoist them up, but attaching a magnet to another magnet is much easier.
By toys In combination, our younger son can also play with it and can drive around without it falling off.
All in all a very nice piece toys where they can discover a lot.
10. Geomag MagiCube Paw Patrol (8.1)
- Very easy blocks for little ones
- Fun game to match the right blocks
- Not really replayable after toddler age
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From: 0 years
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Best: 1 – 3 years
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Up to: 3 years
- Material: Plastic
- Number of parts: 5
- Dimensions: 21 x 7 x 17 cm (8.27 x 2.76 x 6.69 inches)
- Price at time of writing: €15,99 – $15.99
- Durability: None
- Theme: Games and puzzles, Puzzle
- Storage: Normal
- Safety parts: Rounded corners
- Playtime: Short (<10 min)
- Learning objective: Cognitive development, Logical reasoning
Is it your little toddler's birthday, or do you just want to surprise him or her with something new? toys? The Geomag MagiCube Paw Patrol magnetic blocks are toys which is specially designed for the little ones.
This one is only nice to buy when they really just turn 1 so that they can still use it for a while, because with 3 years it is actually no longer fun.
But super suitable and magical for your little one to see how you can combine different blocks to make a nice dog.
Just a bit more fun than just a block tower because the magnetic effect with which they click together is really nice for a toddler, but on the other hand it is only 3 blocks.
They can build and play with the help of the three large, magnetic blocks. The blocks have a Paw Patrol theme, and the blocks allow you to flip them over and build the most popular characters.
The toys is suitable for toddlers from 1 to 3 years old.
Geomag vs Magformers
Geomag is for a lot younger children than Magformers. For example, Geomag Magicube is fun up to and including a year or 2, max, and Magformers only really become fun at about 4 years old.
11. Thames & Kosmos Magic Of Magnets (7.7)
- Very educational
- Learn about the compass and magnetic fields
- Tired of it quickly
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From: 7 years
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Best: 8 – 10 years
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Up to: 12 years
- Material: Plastic
- Number of parts: 22
- Dimensions: 29,21 x 6,4 x 19,61 cm (11.5 x 2.52 x 7.72 inches)
- Price at time of writing: €20,79 – $27.73
- Durability: None
- Theme: Purely educational, Science
- Storage: Normal
- Safety parts: None
- Playing time: Longer (10-30 min)
- Learning objective: VOICE/ STEAM, Science
Magnetic blocks are fun to build, and a bit like discovering what such a magnet feels like. However, Kosmos has a set that your child will really learn from!
They know how to explain magnetism in a playful way, full of games and facts. It's not called "Magic of Magnets" for nothing.
In addition to building a real compass, there are also a number of extra activities that keep learning about magnetism fun.
It's not an overpriced set, although they might get tired of it quickly.
12. Quercetti Number Magnets (7.5)
- Fun for small children to organize and bigger ones to practice sums
- Cheerful colors really appealed to my son (3)
- In the end it's just numbers
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From: 3 years
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Best: 3 – 6 years
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Up to: 6 years
- Material: Plastic
- Number of parts: 48
- Dimensions: 29 x 5 x 13 cm (11.42 x 1.97 x 5.12 inches)
- Price at time of writing: €7,99 – $19.68
- Durability: None
- Theme: Purely educational, Science
- Storage: Normal
- Safety parts: None
- Playtime: Short (<10 min)
- Learning objective: STEM / STEAM, Mathematics / arithmetic
Is it time for your little one to learn the numbers, and do you want to do this in the most fun way possible? The Magnetic numbers 26 pieces are then ideal toys!
With this set you get 26 numbers in different colors. The numbers are magnetic and made of plastic. Learn to count and recognize the numbers with this super fun one toys set!
There are not only numbers, but also calculation symbols such as plus, minus, divided by, fraction.
This way it can be fun for school children to practice with.
Please note: the parts are designed to be small, and are therefore not suitable for small children who are still prone to... toys to put in their mouths.
Magnetic Toys Buying Guide
Before I dive into each of these best options, I want to think about how you should choose exactly.
Even now that we've already pretty much narrowed down the selection to some of the most fun and educational sets learning about magnetism, it may still be difficult to determine what is right for your child.
When you look for magnetic toys Here are the most important things to consider:
Is it appropriate for your child's age?
Important for two reasons:
- Not only should your child be able to understand it and know how to play with it, it should also be challenging while still within their current developmental level. Overall I would advise to toys buy one with an age range that just starts at the age of your child so that they can enjoy it for a little longer (although the Magformers are very early at 3 years!)
- You don't want to underestimate parts that are too small, especially for children under 3 years old, because they could otherwise swallow it (with magnetic toys even more dangerous than with other species toys!)
Does it suit your child's interests?
Many children like to build, but not all children.
Much magnetic toys is made for fun building, and especially for being creative and coming up with buildings yourself.
Does your child not like to build or do they not have that much creative talent? Then choose a set where it is clearer what to do with it, such as the magnetic animals or Janod's fire train.
Size and price
Finally, about the size of the set and the price.
You know best what your budget is, of course, and it is also important to look at how many pieces and different shapes one has toys package has.
The more pieces and shapes, the more they can do with it, that's for sure. But I have noticed that it is often the case that with more pieces they also stay interested longer.
And I don't mean in minutes of playing time, but really in years of playing time.
So look carefully at what you buy and remember that sometimes cheap is also expensive. Buy made a I always say, a set that will last a long time and remains educationally fun.
Are magnetic toys more fun than other building toys?
Of course, opinions are divided on this, but the magnets in blocks or tiles do give an extra dimension to building. It's easier to make large structures and you can stack things that would otherwise fall over.
The magnets in tiles also allow you to create many geometric shapes which can make it more educational than many types of building toys. That is why magnetic tiles and blocks are often seen as STEM toys.
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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.