Magnetic building kits utilize magnets as connectors, enabling children to create stable and flexible designs. These kits often include magnetic rods and balls or magnetic tiles that easily snap together, providing an engaging building experience.
Picture is an illustration of the Chinese Mag-Wisdom constructors. I didn’t even have time to be upset about not being able to buy these sets right away. Pretty soon I found out that you can buy them in 12 pcs sets. We are waiting for ours to arrive.
SKYMAGS is an another smaller brand of magnetic tile building kits. These building sets contain classic magnetic tiles of different shapes and colours, as well as window panels and carts with rotating wheels. There are few versions of SYMAGS building sets available, but each set contains many different pieces, allowing to create anything from buildings to vehicles. You can also use SKYMAGS pieces together with PicassoTiles and other major brands.
The biggest Clixo set has 60 pieces of different colors. It has the same shapes and same features the smaller sets have. It has flexible panels with magnets you can connect in any position you like. Bigger number of pieces means you can build much, much more from a simple set, making more complicated things.
We liked the panels, you can make a wall, or floor, or ceiling. The panels are multi-colored, some are also transparent. The rod and the panel are connecting well, it is easier to remove the panel with the rod from the structure and disconnect the rod after that than to try to remove the panel from the structure.
We really wanted to try out a completely phenomenon in magnetic building – a round transparent container. We ordered 2 for testing – with balls, which are always in short supply, and curved parpiecests, which we had little. SmartMax released 6 of these jars – with long and short rods, with additional magnetic flowers and with pieces that glow in the dark.
Biggest of the Tegu Jumper sets has 25 pieces of 12 kinds.
Since all Geomag Kor sets have standard pieces, you may use different sets together. There are sets by Geomag brand with extra pieces you may add to any other Geomag Kor sets, like additional decorative pieces or surface plates of another color.
We soon will be able to make an encyclopedia of Magformers clones – Magsmarters, Ginimag, Magic Piece, Mag-Wisdom, and, finally PowerClix by Guidecraft. The latter, although considered American, is still made in China. We checked out the first 2 clones – 100% match in quality and magnetic properties. Magic Piece is very similar to Ginimag. We liked PowerClix because of its magnetic sticks. In Mag-Wisdom, I personally liked the multi-page colorful mathematics album-manual, which I later found on Magformers site – you can download it and use it in a game with a building kit, pretty much like albums for Dienes blocks.
This set by Guidecraft brand is made specially for younger children. The set contains shorter rods, longer rods and balls. All the rods are covered with soft plastic to provide pleasant texture and better grip for toddlers. There are 4 colors and 4 types of textures in this kit. All pieces are much bigger than pieces from the other similiar kit, so swallowing them is almost impossible.
Made from a Chinese magnetic construction set, consisting of 52 pieces, excluding the figure.
By Mary B and 6,6-years-old Willy.
