Kids learn through play. As a parent or a teacher, it’s important to provide a fun and engaging outlet for your child or student. Magnetic Tiles work because a child can use them in so many different ways. They are also great for motor skills, family togetherness, and entertaining kids at home.

Building towers and other awesome structures are just a few of the fun activities you can do with Magnetic Tiles. Sometimes it’s hard for kids to decide what to do – they have so many options. However, I’ve found that using Magnetic Tiles in 10 different ways is the best way to get your child or students excited about them. But before we dive into the ideas, let’s talk about magnetic tiles and why it is essential for play?

What are Magnetic Tiles?

Magnetic Tiles are made from ferrous metal that has been coated with a special material called magnetite and held in place by epoxy. The magnetite (magnetic iron oxide) attracts the paper clips and buttons at the bottom of these tiles.

Magnetic Tiles are an example of open-ended toys. Open-ended toys are ones that children can use in different ways. For example, they can play with them alone or in collaboration with others. Magnetic Tiles are great for both these types of play.

Why are Magnetic Tiles Important for Play?

Magnetic Tiles are one of the most used toys for play and are considered important to support a child’s development. Many parents and educators have used magnetic tiles because of its undeniable impact it brings to a child. The following are important reasons why magnetic tiles are important for play.

1. Open-Ended Play

Magnetic Tiles help children continue to build their creativity as they play. The varied textures and colors allow for children to experiment with different ways of building and creating. Magnetic Tiles also enable your child/student to be creative and imaginative. Children can develop their creative skills by playing with magnetic tiles. It is a great way to foster creativity and imagination in children and young adults.

2. Problem-Solving and Building Skills

Magnetic Tiles help children develop problem-solving skills and cognitive reasoning when figuring out how to build their structure.

3. Motor Skills and Fine-motor Development:

Kids can build towers or structures that they can then knock down or take apart and start over again. In addition, magnetic Tiles enhance the development of fine motor skills; how we use our small muscles in our hands and fingers, wrists, forearms, and thumbs.

10 Fun Activities and Play Ideas with Magnetic Tiles

1. Magnetic Measurement Activity

Measurement is the foundation of making comparisons. Your Kid can practice measurement by identifying things that are taller/shorter, lighter/heavier, faster/slower, bigger/smaller. 

The more you encourage your child to practice, the more he will get ready for finding relationships and collecting data and comparisons down the road. Thus, having your child engage in this magnetic measurement activity is an excellent activity to start.

2. Dominoes

With a bit of imagination and creativity, you can create dominoes and other exciting games like those you played as a child.

To do this activity, first put a long row of squares on the floor and place another square shape magnetic tile on the tops of the tiles. Keep doing this until you have a long line of squares on the floor. Once done, push the first tile over and let the rest fall like dominoes. It is such a relaxing feeling to see them fall one after another, so there’s no doubt that your child will keep doing this activity over and over again.

3. Magnetic Tile Color and Shape Match

It is a fun activity for your child to help introduce color and shapes. If you have an available refrigerator with you, then it’s good to go.

Prepare white paper and tape it to the bottom of your refrigerator. Mark the white paper with letter X using coloring pens. Gather all triangular shape magnetic tiles with different colors, but ensure that the number of magnetic tiles corresponds to the number of letter X. Once placed, Allow your child to match the colored letter X with the triangle magnetic tiles. Magnetic tile color and shape match is effective for developing your child’s early math skills.

4. Maze

You can use magnetic Tiles in so many ways, and mazes are one of them. It is a fun way for your child to use his creative imagination, learn shapes, colors, and develop fine motor skills.

Make a maze using the magnetic tiles available, and then allow your kids to blow the ping pong ball through the maze without knocking it down. Then, you can twist it by allowing your kids to have a friendly competition of who’s the fastest at getting the ball from start to finish.

5. Building Towers

It is a classic and favorite activity among kids and adults. How high can you build the tower before it falls? This activity also works on problem-solving skills and builds hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and coordination, spatial relationships/visual perception.

You want to ensure that your child chooses different shapes such as triangles, squares, or rectangles. You can even add some magnetic tiles with holes; they make good keys for the tower foundation. 

6. Build Your Name with Magnetic Tiles

Guide your child to recognize the letters on his name with this activity. Build your name with magnetic tiles is a hands-on way to start talking about the letters in a name.

The first thing you need to do is count how many letters are in your child’s name. For example, let’s say your child’s name is Peter which is composed of five letters. Next, draw four rows with five circles on a large white paper and tape them on a wall surface. Make sure it is good for sticking the magnetic tiles like the refrigerator. But before taping the white paper on the wall, make sure to write your child’s name in the rows using a marker.

Prepare your square-shaped magnetic tiles by marking a letter on its surface; consider having upper and lower case letters. The first and second rows should have included all your child’s name letters, but the first row should be left uncovered. Next, in the second row, allow your child to match the letters written inside the circle with magnetic tiles of the same letter.

The third row includes fewer letters of your child’s name for him to fill in the missing letters with magnetic tiles. Finally, the last row must only include the first letter to fill in the remaining missing letters.

7. Magna-Tiles Uppercase Alphabet

Being able to recognize the letters in the alphabet is very important for future reading and spelling. This activity will help your child identify the letters in the upper case alphabet and reinforce reading and spelling.

You need to print and cut the magnetic tile uppercase alphabet cards for reference. Then, using the available magnetic tiles, ask your child to match the letters from the print with the same colors.

You will be amazed at how focused they get doing this activity while slowly learning the concept behind it. For further details regarding the activity, you may visit, Adventure In a Box.

8. Puzzle Match

Create tangrams by drawing shapes and figures around a pattern of magnetic tiles and ask your child to figure out the correct pattern by putting the tiles the correct way. Make it simple and fun for younger children by doing one or two tiles. Make flowers, animals, or any random patterns you think can entertain your child or older children.

Make the puzzles easier by handing your kid the pieces needed to finish the puzzle. Or make it more difficult by allowing children to search the pieces of all other magnets hidden around your house.

9. Sorting

It is the process of separating and placing different objects in a specific order or in categories considered orderly. Therefore, children need to learn how to sort items into groups and then into categories.

Develop the game by asking your kids to find items around the house in the same color and shape as the magnetic tiles. Or create a small box in a single color and have your kids sort colored pasta, rice, and beans. Letting them know the correct categories for each object will help them understand how to use different colors and shapes to sort items.

10. Magnetic Tiles Color Mix

This particular magnetic tile activity explores the mixing of primary colors. And helps your kids discover all sorts of new color combinations.

Setting up Magnetic Tiles Color Mix is very easy. Start by showing your kids the three primary color tiles blue, red and yellow. Then, allow your child to look through each primary color; it is best to look towards the window to discover the different color combinations.

While doing the activity, ask your child with these phrases:

• What color do you think you will see if you combine blue and yellow? 
• Have you tried combining yellow and red?
• What color do you think you will see if you look through blue and red?

Magnetic tiles improve fine motor skills, cognitive skills, problem-solving skills, and creativity. 

By playing with magnetic tiles, not only does your child develop his cognitive but his imagination as well. And it is easier to clean compared to playdough or paint because you can just put them away from wet or dry they will never stain anything. They are also very easy to store around the house because they don’t take much space.