Toy trends come and go, but one thing we’ve realized after years of talking to experts, parents, and children is that Magna-Tiles are here to stay. The now-ubiquitous building toy has magnets enclosed within its prismatic tiles so they easily snap together at the edges, letting kids make anything from a flat rainbow to a 3-D boat. Not only are Magna-Tiles a model STEM toy, they are endlessly engaging. Play therapist Joseph Sacks, who uses the tiles often in his practice, finds that “figuring out how the magnets interconnect in different ways is very fun, stimulating, and creative,” and Laurell, a mother of 8-year-old twins, told us the tiles “proved themselves as indispensable” at keeping her kids busy during the early days of the pandemic.
The only downside is that Magna-Tiles can be a bit pricey, so if you’ve been waiting for a sale to start or add to a collection, your moment has arrived: Best Buy is currently selling a Magna-Tiles starter bundle, which comes with 84 tiles and a collapsible storage bin that can be unfolded and used as a playmat, for $40 off. That brings the price of the bundle down to an even $100, and if you’re the planning type, it would make a fantastic holiday gift. We’ve heard time and again that Magna-Tiles tend to remain a playroom favorite for years (while bringing their structures to life, little kids sharpen their gross motor skills and spatial reasoning while older kids get to work on their patience and planning abilities), so if you snag this set now, it just might take you all the way from toddlerhood to tweendom.
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