Magnetism and the attraction for your child
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Magnetism is a physical force. The ability to cause attraction and repulsion with other objects.
Magnetic toys are STEM toys because of the physics aspects. This attraction and repulsion makes it so interesting for children to experiment with. It's a strange feeling that you don't find with any other materials.
In this article I discuss what magnetism is and what makes it so much fun for your child to experiment with.
The most well-known effects occur in ferromagnetic materials, which are strongly attracted to magnetic fields and can be magnetized to become permanent magnets, producing magnetic fields themselves.
Only a few substances are ferromagnetic including:
- iron
- cobalt
- nickel
- neodymium (less common and more expensive)
- and samarium
The prefix ferro- refers to iron, because permanent magnetism was first observed in magnetite, a form of natural iron ore called magnetite.
It is also possible to demagnetize a magnet, which in turn offers interesting possibilities for physics experiments.
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What makes magnetic toys fun?
The possibilities are endless. There are no limits to creativity, let your kids experiment with magnetic toys!
You can choose to start small and therefore purchase a slightly smaller set.
If you find that your child is fascinated by the effect of magnets, you could purchase a larger set later. Find one with a theme that appeals to your child!
Children learn to discover the secret of magnetism; they learn all about magnetic force, attraction and repulsion. While building, a child learns to use both hands so that they work well together.
Perfect for training hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills! A child also learns to recognize shapes, colors, and play together. They can let their imagination run wild.
By the way, playing is also important for adults, but instead of 'playing', adults are more likely to talk about 'leisure activities': something someone likes to do in his or her free time.
Doing nice things is necessary to be able to continue functioning healthily, and from time to time to escape those stressful working days and I really enjoyed playing with my son with magnetic toys, because you can use so many fun and crazy constructions with them. can make :)
Create two groups of objects. A group of metals and a group that are not attracted. Then try with the magnet what happens. Then talk about what the attracting group has in common.
This way you can easily explain when a magnet attracts another object.
To further explain magnetism, you can start by saying that a magnet has 2 sides, a positive and a negative one and that these opposite sides attract each other.
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.