Magformers

Magformers are the coolest magnetic toy ever. Kara or I (we both take credit for it!) bought the first set of 30 Magformers (12 triangles and 18 squares) two years ago. The children liked them. They played with them for a half hour every few weeks. Kara purchased a set of 20 hexagons. Hexagons aren't very versatile, so they got limited use. I purchased a second set of 12 triangles and 18 squares. Now two could play with the Magformers at the same time, but purchasing the same shapes meant no additional versatility was added to our collection.

I really, really wanted a set of pentagons, but they are hard to find. I finally located a set on the QVC website as well as sets of trapezoids, isosceles triangles, rectangles and diamonds (aka rhombuses). The only problem was they were not pretty ones. Instead of selling rainbow sets (red, blue, yellow, orange, purple, pink, and green), all the pieces in a set came bi-colored. One side was red, the other purple. Or blue and green. Dull as ditch water once you've seen the rainbow sets. I didn't order them.

Eventually (more than a year and many hours of googling later) I found a USA website that sells rainbow colored sets in every shape. I ordered their deluxe classroom set. It comes with wheels so you can make cars and trucks and whatever drives on wheels. The boys love to build with them. Viva spends more time building with Magformers than she does with the other construction toys in our home, although not as much time as the boys do. I love to build with them, too, but usually the children won't share with me. I need my own classroom set.








Magformers are marketed as the "intelligent magnetic construction set for brain development." Magformers, Inc. is a Korean company and Koreans on rabid about preschool brain development. They spend big bucks to ensure their child has the best start possible. I mention this because Magformers are not cheap. You can buy a beginner set for $30 and have some fun, but to get the full experience you need a large set and that requires more money. In Korea you can buy an Expert Set that retails near $500. No price is too high for brain development.

After the deluxe classroom set I purchased another three smaller sets (the Carnival Set, the Emergency Vehicle Set, the Construction Vehicle Set) and some extra squares, super squares, and rectangles. Those three shapes are the most popular in our household. I will undoubtedly be purchasing more Magformers in the future because they are THAT COOL and we all fight over them. If you want to build a castle, you need a hundred pieces or more. I think I'll buy the Super Set next. It contains 12 super triangles and 18 super squares in hard-to-obtain colors like orange.

If you can't justify spending hundreds on Magformers, try adding up your Lego purchases or what you've spent on your train set over the years. Magformers will entertain your children for years to come. They will never outgrow them. And they can be used to demonstrate the Platonic Solids. How awesome is that?! If you don't know the Platonic Solids, then you can learn them along with your children. Check out YouTube for videos demonstrating how dynamic Magformers are.

P.S. Another reason we don't send Bentley to school is that we have a really good toy, puzzle, and book collection and if he's at school all day, when will he have time to use it?