Geomag Glitter Magnetic Construction Toy Review

Reviewed by Elly Sax

I was sent the Geomag Glitter, 35 piece, to test out and it was enthusiastically received by my 10 year old and her 3 year old cousin. We opened up the box and I have to say I was a little disappointed with the size of the packaging relative to the amount of product. The outer box could be ½ the size and still fit all the product inside easily. It always makes me feel slightly cheated when companies do this, especially as the product boasts that it is made from 100% recycled plastic. Don’t misunderstand me, I love that the product is made from recycled plastic but don’t then over-package the product as it then feels a little like greenwashing.

Once past my initial annoyance over the packaging I got on with looking at the magnets themselves. The description boasts of a storage box being included, which is great, but if you are going to include a storage box then make sure it fits all the pieces. I don’t want it to just hold the rods and the metal spheres, I want it to hold the whole kit so that when we go on holiday or out for a meal we can take it with us to keep the kids entertained and know that it’s all contained in the one box and can be popped away neatly. What I have is a lovely storage box for the actual magnetic pieces and then a load of other bits which I now have to try and not lose.

The kids really enjoyed creating things with the magnetic rods. The 3 year old loved making what he called a train, joining one rod to a number of the spheres and pulling them around the carpet. My 10 year old was more interested in creating geometric shapes with the rods and balls. Neither of them particularly liked the actual plastic shaped panels although they both liked the base plate. The triangular and square segments didn’t seem to quite fit together, or stay put once you had placed them, this led to a lot of frustration, especially with the pre schooler. I had not come across Geomag before, it’s described as the original magnetic construction toy, I expected all the pieces to be magnetic. The rods are magnetic, the balls are not and neither are the plastic panels. The panels are also supposed to click into place to reinforce and decorate your structure but we found them to be quite loose.

The children really enjoyed exploring the toy, they spent a long time playing with it and created some great structures. The younger child was fascinated with the way the rods could be used to collect the metal spheres and wanted to try and see how many he could collect with one rod, then 2 and so on. It led to some really powerful investigative play. My 10 year old also spent a long time creating 2D and 3D shapes and seeing how she could change and adapt the structures by moving the rods. She used the base plate a lot to add stability to her structures but not the plastic panels. The toy overall was excellent quality and would suit all ages and stages of play. I would look to purchase Geomag again but would be happier to just purchase the rods and spheres without the additional panels as in my opinion they didn’t really add to the play experience.

Rating: 4/5

RRP: £26.00

The item can be purchased from The Entertainer here.