displace Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I know it's hard to judge toys, especially ones so similar. Do you or your kids have a preference? I have preschool and early elementary aged kids. I'm looking for something I can rotate through with busy boxes for preschooler as well as break time from school for older one. I like how the magformers rotate around, but the magnatiles look like they could build more realistic structures as they are solid vs with holes in them? IDK. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momof3littles Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 We love magnatiles. All three of my kids play with them, and they range from 4 yo to 10 yo. They've picked up on some cool geometric principles from using them, which is nice too. I held off for a long time but they've been well worth it. We've had ours for years and added a 2nd set of 100 not long after the first. We often say if we had to get it down to just a small # of toy categories, magnatiles would be included. Lego, Playmobil, Magnatiles, and DD's AG dolls, and I think we'd be good. And books of course. They spend a lot of time with those items. We also sometimes take them when we travel out of state to see family. Magnatiles, a few playmobil people, and a few matchbox cars, and they entertain themselves for a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 We have both Magnatiles and MAgformers. We LOVED our Magformers. But the Magnatiles have gotten more playtime since we got our first set of 30-something blocks last Christmas. The kids doubled their supply for their birthdays in August and there is a LOT less arguing. I'd still like to get 100 more. Help with pieces that go on walkabout and such. Oh my kids are now 7 and 3. My son got the Magformers when he was 3 and has played with them since, with my daughter playing since 6 months or so. No worries. I bought a set of Playmags to supplement the Magnatiles and they fell apart very quickly so I could -not- trust them with my then 2 year old. I'd definitely get the see-thru Magnatiles. There is all sorts of fun things that can be done with lights and such. These are pictures I took. My son made the multi-story creation and wandered off before I could get my camera out. My daughter put her animals inside. Magnatile ark by my boaz's ruth, on Flickr Magnatiles Closeup by my boaz's ruth, on Flickr Magnatile Creation by my boaz's ruth, on Flickr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I'm not familiar with Magformers. Magnatiles were a huge hit here. We had a lot of Magnetics too, but those didn't get much attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyerin Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 We have these generic "compatible with magnatiles" tiles and LOVE them. http://www.amazon.com/PicassoTiles®-Magnet-Building-Magnetic-Blocks/dp/B00AU56C5W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412890484&sr=8-1&keywords=picasso+tiles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 We have both Magnatiles and MAgformers. We LOVED our Magformers. But the Magnatiles have gotten more playtime since we got our first set of 30-something blocks last Christmas. The kids doubled their supply for their birthdays in August and there is a LOT less arguing. I'd still like to get 100 more. Help with pieces that go on walkabout and such. Oh my kids are now 7 and 3. My son got the Magformers when he was 3 and has played with them since, with my daughter playing since 6 months or so. No worries. I bought a set of Playmags to supplement the Magnatiles and they fell apart very quickly so I could -not- trust them with my then 2 year old. I'd definitely get the see-thru Magnatiles. There is all sorts of fun things that can be done with lights and such. These are pictures I took. My son made the multi-story creation and wandered off before I could get my camera out. My daughter put her animals inside. Wow! That's amazing! I didn't know they could be so complex! In my mind I'd just make a house or something. I'm not very creative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 I'm not familiar with Magformers. Magnatiles were a huge hit here. We had a lot of Magnetics too, but those didn't get much attention. I'll have to look up magnetics. Or maybe not if they weren't a big hit. BTW, I'm sure everyone's psyched about having your dancing bacon around. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 I don't own magformers, but we have lots of magnatiles. It's the one toy that gets played with just about every single day. We've had them for at least 5 years, and bought more every Christmas and birthday for years. My boys are 10 now....we've gotten so much play value with those things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Sounds good! I think I'll start with a small collection of knock off magnatiles if we start HSing and add on at Christmas. Otherwise we'll just get some starting at Christmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 OP, I looked at the Picasso Tiles on Amazon. They have great verified purchaser reviews, and people who own both write that they are nearly identical to Magnatiles. The picture certainly looks like our Magnatiles. It might be worth comparison shopping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 And... I go home and my kids have combined the magformers and magnatiles in one tray now. So we'll see how they play with them now that they are together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerileanne99 Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 We have some of both, and they get used for different things. To just play and build with, my dd much prefers the Magnatiles. She likes that they are more 'realistic' for building structures and the like. It may also be because we have a lot more Magnatiles! Lakeshore Learning has them, and once a month they run a BOGO 1/2 sale...if you watch for it (sign up for email or text offers) then you can get a really good deal if you are looking for more than one set. In addition, they have a Teacher's discount card that homeschoolers qualify for. Another really cool thing she loves about the Magnatiles- they work really, really well with a light table. Of course, everyone has a light table stashed away, right? No? Us either, but I found that if you take a shallow Rubbermaid or similar storage container with a white lid and put a string of white Xmas lights inside the box? Easy Peasy light table and double the fun of the Magnatiles:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksr5377 Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Has anyone found any good deals on Magna-tiles? I would like to add more to our collection. The best place I have found so far is Lakeshore Learning with a 20% coupon (they have them out frequently) which brings the 100 piece set down to $103.99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Has anyone found any good deals on Magna-tiles? I would like to add more to our collection. The best place I have found so far is Lakeshore Learning with a 20% coupon (they have them out frequently) which brings the 100 piece set down to $103.99 That's a great deal. I've been watching over a year and finding the 100 pc set for $1/pc is the best it gets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zuzu822 Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 We have some of both, and they get used for different things. To just play and build with, my dd much prefers the Magnatiles. She likes that they are more 'realistic' for building structures and the like. It may also be because we have a lot more Magnatiles! Lakeshore Learning has them, and once a month they run a BOGO 1/2 sale...if you watch for it (sign up for email or text offers) then you can get a really good deal if you are looking for more than one set. In addition, they have a Teacher's discount card that homeschoolers qualify for. Another really cool thing she loves about the Magnatiles- they work really, really well with a light table. Of course, everyone has a light table stashed away, right? No? Us either, but I found that if you take a shallow Rubbermaid or similar storage container with a white lid and put a string of white Xmas lights inside the box? Easy Peasy light table and double the fun of the Magnatiles:) *gasp* No way! I never knew that! I order from Lakeshore constantly. There's not a store near me...can you use the card online? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerileanne99 Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 *gasp* No way! I never knew that! I order from Lakeshore constantly. There's not a store near me...can you use the card online? Unfortunately not:( The Teacher's Club card applies to in-store purchases only. We don't have one near us either, so when I need things I usually order online if the discount is good enough. (And I get almost weekly coupons either via email or text) or plan my purchases to coincide with a trip to the city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 Thanks for all the tips and creativity suggestions! I'm not sure what lakeshore is but I'll look into them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 I'm not sure what lakeshore is but I'll look into them. It's Lakeshore Learning. Its a school supply store. My local one has free kids crafts on Saturday. http://m.lakeshorelearning.com/h5/index Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerileanne99 Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 For anyone leaning toward Magformers, Barnes and Noble has them as part of their BOGO 1/2 off sale online. There is also a 20% off coupon someone posted in the Xmas deals thread. They have both the 62 piece set and the 14 piece set. If you don't want to get 2 sets, 20% off the $99 62 piece set is still a good deal:) ETA: the code for 20% off is bnfriends and is good until tomorrow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer132 Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 We have play mags. All my kiddos love them. We've played with the mag formers and we have liked play mags better. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerileanne99 Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Coincidentally, Zulilly has Magformers on sale up to 45% off. I tried to post the link but it includes my email address:( Sale through Sunday... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 My kids enjoy magnatiles but after trying some magformers I would love to pick some up; it seems they have stronger magnets and you can build taller/more solid structures with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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