STEM education is an incredibly important part of the education of every child. Without knowledge in science, math, technology, and engineering—the four fields "STEM" gets its name from—our society simply cannot move forward.
Unfortunately, traditional methods of teaching these subjects are often boring and unlikely to inspire future generations to build careers in these areas. In order to inspire our children, we must provide them with the tools they need to explore the world around them at their own pace. One of the best STEM tools out there is a set of Magna-Tiles or Playmags magnetic tiles.
If your child has ever played with Magna-Tiles or Playmags, they know just how fun they can be. Combining science, math, and creativity, these cool magnetic blocks offer kids endless opportunities to express themselves. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, and each one boasts magnetic edges which stick to the sides of other blocks in the set. This means less frustration with collapsing structures, and more small-scale engineering as the child discovers all the amazing ways Magna-Tiles or Playmags can go together.
While building with Magna-Tiles or Playmags is a blast in and of itself, it doesn't have to be the only way these incredible educational blocks are used. Below is a list of four other ways Magna-Tiles can be used to expand upon your child's STEM education.
Stained-Glass Tiles
Magna-Tiles or Playmags are the perfect addition to any light table. If you've never seen one, imagine a table with a glowing top. Light tables provide sensory and exploratory fun for children of all ages.
If purchasing a light table isn't feasible for your family at the moment, you can roll your own by placing lights inside a transparent box. Just be sure to watch your child carefully when they play with it, to avoid burns.
Once you have a light table, just add a set of Magna-Tiles or Playmags on top for hours of awesome, stained-glass fun!
Refrigerator Creations
Because Magna-Tiles and Playmags are magnetic, they are perfect for adding some fabulous decorations to the front of your refrigerator. Begin by showing your child how the tiles stick to the fridge, and see where they go from there.
Soon enough, they will likely discover the fact that they can actually build out from the fridge and create three-dimensional fridge structures.
Tunnels
Adding some marbles or toy cars to your Magna-Tiles or Playmags play may not be the first thing to occur to you. However, these are actually an excellent addition to building time. Kids love tunnels, and tunnels built with Magna-Tiles or Playmags are the perfect size for tiny cars and marbles.
Tunnel building is an ideal opportunity for teaching some science lessons in gravity, physics, and energy, and it's all so fun that your children are sure to remember the lessons learned, whether they realize it or not. Tunnels can be built freestanding on the floor, or on the refrigerator or other magnetic surface.
Encourage the kids to experiment with different angles and several rolling objects. You'll be surprised just how much they absorb.
Magnetic Experimentation
Magnetic blocks such as Magna-Tiles or Playmags present a great opportunity to introduce children to magnetism and why it works.
After discussing the science behind magnets, head out into the world — equipped with some tiles, of course — and experiment to find out what in our world is magnetic and what is not. Have the children make hypotheses, test their theories, and track the results. This is a great educational family activity!
These are just some of the awesome ways Magna-Tiles or Playmags can be used. By handing your child a set of these fantastic blocks, you will see just how many more there truly are.
Playing with blocks is a time-honoured tradition of childhood experiences. Most of us have memories of construction toys like Meccano and good old fashioned wooden blocks to build with. For centuries, long before early childhood development studies, parents have understood that building projects are an important foundation to logical thinking in young children. Through experimentation, they discover the laws of gravity, structure, architecture, and aesthetics. This creates a depth of knowledge and understanding that could never be achieved through explanations at such a young age.
While your old block sets are still a great way to bond with your child, there are new developments in early childhood learning through toys specifically designed to enhance building logical abilities from a very young age.
The new Playmags line of magnetic building toys combines the mosaic quality of coloured tiles, the building insights of blocks, and the scientific marvel of magnets into one amazingly educational package
What are Playmags?
Playmags are coloured building tiles, about two inches square with magnets along the corners and sides. This allows children to lock them together and easily pull them apart, encouraging infinite combinations. Each tile can link on all sides, creating lines, then mosaics, and finally stacked into increasingly complex buildings. While many of the tiles are square, Playmags has many construction shapes like long and short triangles, windows, cart, door, and fence pieces, allowing your child to get truly creative with their building projects.
Encouraging Motor Skills
Every action your young child takes is practice for future skilled motor movement. Playmags are big enough to hold easily but complex enough to encourage detailed manipulation. When your child builds things with Playmags, they grasp, pull, set together, stack, and constantly re-arrange the pieces in order to create project after project of colourful and detailed houses, castles, inspiring colourful sky scrapers.
Imaginative and Creative Play
Playmag constructions are as easy to take apart as they are to build, but still resistant to the upsetting 'tumble' of classic wooden blocks. When your child is constantly rebuilding their Playmags projects, they are actively imagining new designs and ways to use each piece in a creative new way. As your child stretches their imagination, more toys will be pulled into the play and the buildings they create will become stages for the incredible adventures of cars, dolls, and action figures.
Math, Geometry, and Science
Every shape has a mathematical truth inherent to it that can be learned at any age. Squares can only have four partners, except when they are part of a cube or connected to other shapes with smaller sides. Triangles can have three partners and can come together to form pyramids if they are all the same height. Combining triangles of different sizes and angles create unique shapes and introduce the concept of mosaics, pictures made with geometric tiles. Without realizing it, your child will gain a deep basic knowledge of the wonders of math, geometry, and science long before their first day of school.
Learning STEM Skills
As your child builds with Playmags, they are gaining a vital understanding of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) skills, which often come together because the STEM concepts are so closely linked. Through geometry and construction, they learn about math and engineering, while the interplay of architecture and magnets teaches science and technology. This elegant culmination of learning opportunities happens without a teacher or a single word of explanation. The child learns on their own because it's fun, never realizing the amazing educational boost they're getting from early childhood toys.
Playmags are the culmination of generations of early childhood development toys designed specifically to help children learn about fundamentals years before they are ready to learn through long form lessons. Your children will play for hours creatively building and rearranging the colourful magnetic tiles into more and more complex constructions. After a few weeks, you'll be amazed to discover incredible new ways colourful squares and triangles can be combined into complex architectural wonders, all before they start kindergarten. With Playmags, anything is possible.
For our full range of Playmags, please click here.
Magnetic building tiles are an excellent STEM toy, which encourages creativity in your child, allowing them to build amazing creations. When it comes time to choose the brand that will work best for them, you want to be sure that you're getting the right one.
If you are trying to decide between Playmags vs. Magna Tiles vs. Neopuzzle vs. Magformers TileBlox? We have put together a simple comparison to understand below.
Durability and Performance
When it comes to durability and performance, Magformers TileBlox and Magna Tiles hold up well. They're designed to take heavy use and keep on ticking. In fact, all four of these great products will allow for many hours of creative play in your home.
They are tough little toys and, as a bonus, they're a building toy that won't get sucked up into the vacuum cleaner. They are also a little larger than many of the building blocks on the market for older kids. So vital pieces will be less likely to go missing at the wrong moment. As a bonus, they all stick to one another for easier clean-up and organisation.
They can handle being stacked high, smashed down, and played with on a regular basis. This is great! Because when you bring these toys into your home, you will discover that your kids can't wait to play with them, build them up, and then knock them down and start all over again.
In comparing Playmags vs. Magna-tiles vs. Neopuzzle vs Magformers TileBlox, they are close in durability and performance, although Neopuzzle is a lower price. Making them a better deal for your money but the quality isn't as good. But we like the Magformers TileBlox as they are STEM.org certified or Magna-Tiles the original magnetic construction toy.
Creative Opportunities
Magformers TileBlox, Playmags, Neopuzzles, and Magna Tiles offer a wide range of creative opportunities. If your child can imagine it, they can find a way to build it with these great toys!
If you're looking for a toy that offers a wider creative range, Neopuzzle offers a larger variety of pieces than Magna-Tiles. Including wheels, windows, and car bases in the 155 Piece Set. *** Updated: Since reviewing these magnetic tiles, Magna-Tiles has launched many new shapes and sets, which wins hands down the creative side of magnetic play. ***
Encouraging your children to engage in even more creative play. When you want truly limitless building opportunities, Magna-Tiles offers a better opportunity. From constructing houses with windows to creative vehicles. Magna-Tiles has a wider range of pieces that offer more creative fun.
Connecting to Other Brands
Magformers TileBlox, Playmags, and Neopuzzle magnetic tiles are designed to connect well with other brands of magnetic tiles. Including Magna Tiles. That means that if you want to add to your child's set, you don't have to worry about choosing the brand they already have! The versatile pieces easily connect. Even if you mix and match brands, allowing them full creative freedom.
Comparing Playmags vs. Magna Tiles vs. Neopuzzle vs. Magformers TileBlox Tiles for Shapes and Freedom
Playmags, Magna Tiles, Magformers TileBlox, and Neopuzzle offer a broad range of shapes that will allow your child the freedom to design amazing creations. They have varying sizes of rectangles and squares and different shapes of triangles. All designed to fit together in your child's custom creation. Although Playmags and Neopuzzle have a wider variety of options. Allowing for a greater range of creative exploration.
Whether these are a quiet time toy on a rainy-day or simply an addition to your child's creative toy box. Magnetic building tiles of either four of these brands offer a wide range of creative benefits.
If you're looking for a magnetic building set and can’t decide between Playmags vs. Magna tiles vs. Neopuzzle vs. Magformers TileBlox you can't go wrong with the Magformers TileBlox of Magnetic tiles of these brands. As they are the leading brand on the market for magnetic construction toys. All sets will offer hours of entertainment for your child. While encouraging them to increase their spatial understanding, their interaction with geometry, and more.
Magnetic building tiles are amazing toys! That will be sure to capture your kids' attention and encourage them to engage in creative play.
When it comes down to a direct comparison of Playmags vs. Magna Tiles vs. Neopuzzle, vs. Magformers TileBlox the Magna-Tiles or TileBlox clearly wins out as the superior toy as they are STEM.org and the brand has been around for a long time developing magnetic construction toys. Bring them home for your child today and watch them light up while engaging in creative play that's sure to last for hours.
There are other magnetic tiles on the market now in Australia such as Connetix Tiles, Kmart Tiles and Kidstuff Magnetika but in our opinion are an inferior copy of the original MagnaTiles and Magformers. The latter two brands are well respected in the magnetic tile toy industry and are leaders in the field.
Please consider the safety of the magnet when choosing a magnetic tile for your child. Only chose from reputable companies that have invested countless hours in the design and manfacturing of their product i.e Magna Tiles or Magformers.
Our full range of Magnetic Tiles can be found here.
Magna-tiles are one of the best development toys on the market for kids today. They allow your children to construct with ease and make many different combinations.
What makes Magna-tiles so unique is they are clear and coloured geometric shapes that connect via magnets. Allowing your child to build all sorts of shapes and designs. From towers to pretend homes and many different three-dimensional shapes.
Our children who are between 2 and 5 play with the Magna-tiles for hours and almost every day. It is one of the best toys we have bought them. And we own a toy store. Not a profitable one we should add :).
Magna-tiles are a wonderful development toy for children over 3 years. Engaging your child’s mind while also developing their fine motor skills. They help your child learn about math and spatial awareness and they are a toy that develops children through creative play.
We have now sold Magna-tiles for over a year. Selling them to pre-schools, schools, daycare centres and mum's and dad's all over Australia. They are without a doubt one of our most popular toys.
We even recently sold them to a group of engineers doing a workshop in Queensland. That is how much fun Magna-tiles are.
Originally founded in 1997, Magna-tiles have gone on to win many awards for child development. Including the Parents Choice, Tillywig Brand, and Independent Toy Awards. We honestly do not have time to list all their awards. But you can see them here if you want to look.
Here are a few of our parents comments and feedbacks we have received since selling Magna-tiles.
"An excellent purchase from a great seller. I love this construction toy. This is the third set I have bought. Two for grandchildren who live in the UK and this one for granddaughter who lives here in Oz. I highly recommend this to all. 10/10" by Wendy O
90% of your child’s neural pathways are developed before the age of five years. Enabling play that develops their critical thinking, imagination, and motor skills in turn supporting their early
Because the Magna-tiles are fun and easy to play with, and your child sets their challenge in terms of what they want to create. The ability to build more complex designs increases, as does the challenge level.
You will find your child developing more and more confidence in what they make, and a desire to build more complex structures. Our children have gone from boxes to houses, to castles. And a variety of towers, which have also fallen many times.
If you are considering purchasing Magna-tiles, this is a toy we are 100% sure your children will love. And over the time we've been selling them we have never had a single return.
The shapes are easy to use, attractive in design and all work with each piece. Due to series of magnets that run along the edge of every piece.
This is a toy that all children love including more than just a few adults. We are proud to sell Magna-tiles and we know that you will be thrilled with your purchase.
Please click here for the 32 piece set, 48 piece set and 100 piece sets of Magna-Tiles.
Until next time remember learning should be fun.
We absolutely love Magna Tiles Australia, and if you are familiar with them no doubt, you love Magna Tiles too. If not let us explain not only the benefits of Magna Tiles for your children, but why they are such a wonderful and unique product.
They make a wonderful toy for boys or girls, and are popular with both for either birthdays, christmas, any special occasion or if you just want that educational toy to entertain them for hours while developing their little minds in the process.
For girls and boys of three years of age and up, they were one of the best toys in 2014, 2015 and now 2016. Magna Tiles are “where math, science, creativity meet.”
Currently, we stock the 32 piece set, the 48 and 100 piece sets.
Please note we are waiting for our Magna Tiles shipment to arrive, but we do have stock of the popular Playmags, and Popular Playthings Magsnaps magnetic tiles.
Please read our Review on Playmags vs Magna Tiles if you need help deciding on which set to buy.
Magna Tiles CC 48 Piece DX Set
These tiles are magnetic, and attract on all sides and in all manner of combinations. Enabling young boys and girls to create pyramids, cubes, and many different geometric shapes. Our daughter is currently building little box and triangle houses for her toys.
The Magna Tiles are fun for children because they give them a "hands on" approach to learning. Boys and Girls are able to critically think through play. This happens when the tiles do not lineup the way the child imagines and your boy or girl will need to think through alternatives. This is great for developing a creative mindset.
The Magna Tiles access the right side of the brain, training through simple fun and construction. This helps with math and spatial relationships, by creative building.
It is quite surprising how many development areas the magna tiles impact in young children. The areas include pattern recognition spotting similar shapes like a triangle. Identifying different shapes and colours, spotting how shapes are symmetrical when joined together.
The Magna Tiles are also great for developing fine motor skills. They are ideal for understanding how magnets work, and magnetic principles. They are wonderful for building skills, and developing your child’s imagination. The building options feel endless.
Outside of being a great product for developing your son or daughter, they are also a multiple toy winner.
They have won the:
Sorry to have listed so many Awards, however one of the things we feel as parents, with so many toys on the market today its good to know that you're buying a toy that's well regarded and recognized by the toy industry.
If we were selecting toys for our children (we do all the time :)). We too would want to know if they were award winners, and how they might help our children develop.
This is why we love Magna Tiles, and we know you and your little ones will as well. Great for Boys and Girls 3 years +
For our complete range of Magna Tiles and other Magnetic Tiles, please click here.
Customer Testimonials
What some of Our Customers have to say about Magna Tiles:
"Great product my grandchildren love them,very creative" by Shelia L
"An excellent purchase from a great seller. I love this construction toy. This is the third set I have bought. Two for grandchildren who live in the UK and this one for granddaughter who lives here in Oz. I highly recommend this to all. 10/10" by Wendy O