Magna Tiles

Magna Tiles are an excellent investment. Although this magnetic building set is quite expensive it has been a favorite toy for four years and counting. The translucent shapes contain magnets around the edges and easily snap together for quick and easy construction.

Magna Tiles can help children calculate and understand the concept of surface area. They also provide good preparation for engineering careers.

Before I began homeschooling my children I worked as a mechanical engineer. Playing with this toy has direct application to an engineering career. Many parts used in industry are constructed from sheet metal. The parts are commonly drawn as flat patterns with instructions on where to fold them to create the finished 3-dimensional form. This can be easily explained with Magna Tiles.

Here is a flat pattern for a cube, and the 3-dimensional form.

All three of these flat patterns fold into the same 3-dimensional form shown below.

Since we live in Germany we tried to build a castle with our Magna Tiles.

I think it looks more like a church.

Please note this toy is sold in 32 piece and 100 piece sets. We have the 100 piece set.

Here are some more ideas for Educational Christmas Gifts.

* I did not receive any compensation for this recommendation. I'm just a homeschooling mom who has found many products that I like. If you're interested in the products I recommend on this blog I want to make it easy for you to find them. 
** I am an Amazon associate and receive a small portion of the sales on orders made after clicking in from this site, which I promptly spend on homeschooling books and supplies for my children.