Choice Goods Wednesday!

I've been wanting to do a post on this particular item since Christmas, but other things came to the forefront. Back burner be gone! Release the Magnetix!

Over Christmas, Dug's wonderful mother gave the kids a 35-piece set of Magnetix. Magnetix is a cool building set consisting of magnet-ended rods and metal balls. Through the "magic" of magnetism, you can build all sorts of sweet objects.

The only problem is that 35 pieces was nowhere near enough. Fortunately, Ross Dress-For-Less had a bunch of sets. I bought two. One more with 35 and another with 85. So we're up to 155 pieces. And that's still not enough. I find myself just building and building until all the pieces are used up. Then I look sadly at the empty tin.

Whenever the box is opened, everyone gathers around and starts building. It's addictive. The tactile pleasure of snapping the pieces together, the instant gratification of creativity, it's impossible to pass by without building a quick little something.

A cool side-benefit is that my kids are understanding how shape affects stability. Since the rods can move along the face of the ball, a triangular construction is immediately obvious as the most stable shape. My six-year old daughter is constantly reminding everyone, "If you don't want it to move, make it a triangle."

Yesterday, while my oldest kids did homeschool, my three-year old kept busy building all sorts of things for almost an hour! That alone is worth buying a kit.

Being a bit of a nerd, it's obvious why Magnetix appeal to me. But they will appeal to both sides of the brain-spectrum. The left-brainers will love the science/building aspect and the right-brainers will embrace the creativity that this kit unleashes. And the coolest part is the complete lack of age-restrictions. (Well, that's not entirely accurate. You wouldn't want baby sticking those steel balls down her gullet.) In our family everyone from the three-year old to the thirty-five year old enjoy this toy.

Magnetix...they're choice!