Magnetic Blocks reviews: Magna-tiles, Magformers, Smart Max and Tegu Blocks

For Tegan's second birthday, I finally decided to invest in magnetic blocks, and I honestly wish I would have sooner! I chose to buy three small sets of three brands, Magna Tiles, Magformers, Smart Max,and Tegu Blocks. I wasn't sure which ones would suit us as all three sets really do different things. I'll be doing a in depth review of each on separate posts as the review might get lengthy. First up, Magna-Tiles! 

Magna-Tiles-$75 for 48 piece DX set (includes some "special" pieces like a door and car)

So Magna-Tiles hold the title of the king of all magnetic building blocks, and it is true. Magna-Tiles are thick, sturdy, and the magnets are powerful. The price reflects this; however I would consider these a "heirloom" quality toy-as heirloom as plastic can get! These will easily last multiple kids, and because they can serve such a large age range it is SUCH a good investment. We had a one year old friend play with these intently, as well as us adults!

I took these photos JUST this morning as she was playing with them!

What does Magna-Tiles work best for? Building structures! And large, fun ones at that. You can't find a better set to build structures, because of the powerful magnets it is easy for a young toddler to build houses. You can let your imagination roam and build castles, forts, you name it. That is what makes these tiles so great for many ages is the ability to make simple or complex designs. As you will see in my next reviews of the Tegu Blocks and Magformers, these are the best and maybe only blocks to build such structures. They are not good for building things such as 3D images, such as animals, flowers, ect.

Even if you don't have a light table, they look beautiful in sunlight!

However, some people will ask if they should just invest in Magna Tiles before wood blocks and the answer is NO! There is one plus/minus and that it is easy to build with. If you start your child off with these, they might get frustrated with traditional blocks. Traditional wooden blocks provide much needed motor skills, as well as patience, and above all, deep problems solving, "Why did my tower fall over?" While magnetic blocks can also foster this, they don't replace wooden ones. Also, they don't replace Mega Blocks (large "baby" legos) or Legos themselves. It is important to understand that really they all foster specific and different skills!

 You will need a large set. These 48 pieces were not enough, I also suggest getting a classic set rather then the DX set for your starter. An "Ideal" collection would probably have 200 pieces, but you can easily start off slow and build your collection. We are planning on buying her another larger set for Christmas. The tiles ARE large though. Bigger than you might think!

Easy to build

Don't forget they have a "Ice" and "Black" set that although not as cost efficient as buying a large set, are a fun addition to the collection. Frozen lovers will love to build castles with the Ice set!

They also have a "Solid Color" set that tends to run $10 cheaper than the transparent set. We chose the transparent set because we plan on using them on the light table, but if that isn't a worry for you go ahead and save the $10!


I have had some people ask me about Picasso Tiles, and for $40 cheaper they will catch your eye. However, they are not worth long term investment. If you are on a really tight budget, only have one or two children, these will work. But if you are like me and have young kids with more in the future and want a set that truly last through the years, it will be better to invest in Magna-Tiles. I also had a few crack on me. The magnets are not as strong as Magna-Tiles and larger structures are harder to build, as well as younger kids will get frustrated they don't "connect" as easily.

I was also recently told about Play Mags with a positive review. Not as strong or as thick as Magna-Tiles, but much better than Picasso Tiles. If I get my hands on a set, I'll update the review, or if you have a set let me know what you think!

I think any STEM focused family, or a family that simply enjoys building, Magna-Tiles are a MUST in your toy bin. If you had to chose ONE magnetic block to buy, I would also suggest Magna-Tiles due to the versatility in age range, quality, and building ability.

Let me know what you think of Magna-Tiles!

Egg Splat Painting

First off, let me tell you the hardest thing about this activity was carefully cracking the eggs! Talk about a pain in the butt and my scrambled eggs had shells in them for days...

But it was fun! I simply cracked the tops of eggs, used the yolk, and washed out. Once I had a dozen I filled them with paint. I used recycled shipping paper as our work place. 

Tegan was pretty confused about it at first, she wanted to "Dump" the paint out. And when she did throw them, she wasn't quite strong enough to break them

But nevertheless, she had fun.

She realized there was more paint inside them after she poured them out, so she tore them apart which was actually pretty fun for her to do because it made it all slippery. 

After she had cracked them all, I let her put water in the paint bottles that had only residue left in and she "painted" with those.

Overall, this is better suited for children strong enough to throw the eggs hard. Or, climb a small ladder or slide and "Drop" the eggs, which is what I think we should have done! For the work of trying to delicately crack the eggs, I wouldn't do this again haha!

Thanks for reading!