Japanese Magnet Block (Toyroyal) made the ends of the sticks lighter – they used to be black, now they are blue and white. The colors of the pieces was improved – now there are several bright colors. And they added a funny 8-shaped detail with spirals. It can serve as the body or eyes of some characters from Japanese cartoons.
The base is a metal ball. The triangular and quadrangular segments are attached to it with a magnet in their narrow part. Plastic covers of different shapes are attached on top, they are the same for triangular segments. But for quadrangular segments – there are 3 different types of lids. So you can give the models different shapes by turning or rearranging the parts. To make the constructed object more recognizable, the sets may have fins, tails and horns/ears.
Just enough parts to build a structure with 2 slides, as in the sample on the box. The charm of this set is in the 4 panels that can serve as a roof, and a floor, and a wall, and 2 slides. Very long and pretty, with low sides. In addition, the set already contains wheels and cabins. So you can play right away, you don’t have to wait until the parents purchase additional cars. Age – from 5 years, but our 2-year-old fan of magnets and cars had it just right.
An analogue of the Japanese Magnet Block. Simple set with balls and rods. There is a base board with grooves for installing balls and a black metal surface. This Chinese manufacturer also has a set with wheels – Car Playground.
I didn’t pay attention to this building kit before. But I was wrong… We enjoyed playing with another magnetic set with large colored balls and sticks, until we accidentally came across this one – we bought a small set for a trip. The set had eyes, and the children were hooked. I began to look for it on the Internet, shopping – I found several sets, including magnetic animals and a train. The set consists of large metal balls and plastic rods with magnets. In different sets, these basic elements are supplemented with eyes, tails, legs, wheels, coasters (as the one on the photo – blue one for 3 balls) and many more interesting details. This sets was produced by Mega Blocks corporation.
A Clics fortress for the friends. It has towers, a lake, sandy beachs and lawns. On the other side it has some openings at the bottom where you can hide. Alesya meticulously examines the new building.
ClicsToys is a Belgian company that was established in 2001. It makes the well-known Clics building blocks in its own factory in Kempen. Clics building sets have square pieces of identical form and shape. They easily connect at their edges, creating joints you can move.
With These plastic squares, you can create surfaces and fold them into 3D shapes. There are endless possibilities, even though Clics have very few extra pieces and accessories. Some sets have wheels and decorative panels, but this is pretty much it. On the other hand, Clics sets usually have many pieces, so you can create something truly complicated from just one set.
Since the basic pieces of Clics are squares, all the basic forms you can assemble from it are cubic or brick-like. However, thanks to the movable joints, you can assemble them at different angles, creating different shapes.
There are ways to create triangular or sloping figures if you assemble the pieces just right. The cubes, however, are the most sturdy and reliable structures this set can offer. There are also a possibility of creating a flat mosaic, combining the pieces of different colors, as the bottom of this Clics fortress shows.
The fishing rod is flexible and has a reel with a swivel handle.
You can also create this sad little animal with a tail.
Snake from the Zoob Jr constructor. The craft is simple – kids make snakes like this one often. But we took our Zoob Jr out into the countryside and discovered that in the sun it becomes very soft, almost rubbery, and the parts hold on weakly. But it floats great!
Back in 1997, inventor Michael Grey introduced Zoob, a toy inspired by the science of motion and organism development. Zoob represents an acronym for Zoology, Ontology, Ontogeny, and Botany. Each set has rod-like pieces with joint balls and sockets on their ends. Each of these balls has small bumps on its surface, so the joints can both move and stay in a certain position if you need them to.
This innovative toy features a ball and socket connection system, mimicking the natural movement and design found in people, animals, and machines. With just five basic shapes, Zoob offers 20 different ways to connect them together.
Zoob building sets have won awards because they’re different from regular building blocks. They use plastic pieces that snap together, like gears and joints, to build all kinds of objects, limited only by your imagination. After you build something with Zoob, you can actually play with it – the pieces were designed to move after being assembled, so you can have fun with the toys you create.
Zoobs are great for helping children improve their fine motor skills. The pieces are small enough to easily manipulate and put them together, but they’re not too tiny like some other toys, so it’s easier for kids who find small objects tricky.
To make the slide structure hold well and firmly, it is better to reinforce the sides without the panels with diagonal fasteners – long rods. This will be more reliable. Not only native SmartMax cars roll down the slides well, but also any small vehicles – the width of the slide is 2.5 inches.
