I’ve been talking about travel board games for a long while. Heck we even have an intensive list of travel board games for preschoolers. No matter what your age is, you will find that board games are a great way to make friends, engage with family and have fun. Magnetic travel games are a subpart of this and they work amazingly well because you don’t lose your pieces that easily.
I guess I really discovered the different types of magnetic travel games only after I discovered my first in the children’s library in the Forum in Groningen. That particular one was from HABA. If you aren’t familiar with the brand, do check it out, they have some amazing games for kids of all ages. These are designed to stimulate their thinking process and help with both fine and gross motor activities.
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Table of Contents
Magnetic Travel Games For Young Kids (Ages 4 And Below)
Magnetic travel games can be used for really young kids. They are easy for children to navigate, usually have bright colors that stimulate them visually and help them with both fine and gross motor skills. There are however a couple of things that I would recommend watching out for.
- Make sure that the games do not have small detachable (or removable in any form) magnets. These can pose a big choking hazard.
- Make sure that the pieces themselves are not small.
- Ensure that there is adult supervision for any game that you are on the fence for.
- Check the age appropriateness of the game. Now this part is a bit hazy. This is because many games that are aimed at higher age groups worked with my children between the ages of 2-4 years. I did ensure that there was parental supervision at all times because children will be children.
Magnetic Blocks Or Tiles
One of the best magnetic travel games for young kids are magnetic tiles of blocks. Now there are many different types of these that are available. Here are a couple of popular ones.
1. Magna Tiles
⭐️ Rating: 4.9/5 (10,372 Reviews) Price: $119.99 Details: Read more on Amazon!
There are many versions of these magnetic tiles but one of the best brands in the market is the Magna tiles. This is because they are more durable and they are easier for young children to use.
For those of you who are not familiar with this magnetic travel game, the magnetic tiles come in a variety of shapes. Generally the base version of the game has triangles and squares. These click together thanks to the magnets on the edges.
Young children love the colors and the fact that these tiles click together.
The game grows with the child because as they grow older they challenge their creative side. The Magna tiles can be used to build houses, structures and even geometric shapes.
The best part is that these tiles may seem numerous but once you stack them on top of each other, they barely take up a lot of space. Plus they are versatile so children are less likely to get bored of them.
Skills That It Encourages
- Hand to eye coordination.
- Gross motor skills.
- Identification of colors.
- Creative thinking.
“I’ll put it like this…..
If I had to get rid of every toy and just keep one, it’d be magnatiles. They’re sturdy (for the most part. I have a two year old who is quite the strong toddler) and they’re fun for everyone in the house to use. A bit pricey, but definitely worth it.”
Andrea (read more reviews now!)
Cool Addons To The Base Unit
So if you have noticed, I’ve specifically shown you the larger set of the base unit because odds are, like us you will buy the smaller one and then land up buying the larger one. That’s why I recommend buying the big box base unit from the get go.
There are some cool add ons that you can also buy.
- Magna Tiles Road Construction Kit
- Magna Tiles Cars
- Magna Tiles Forest Animals
- Magna Tiles Dino World
Mind you, these are just a few examples. The Magna tiles world is really expanding and we’ve been seeing them across different countries. I think at some point, they are going to have a whole set of stuff like Lego does.
Magnetic Puzzles
One of the things that I love about puzzles of all kinds is that they stimulate people to think. The same is true when it comes to children. Now I find that magnetic travel games in the form of puzzles are perfect. Not only are they tiny, they also have a great deal of replayability. By this, I mean that once the puzzle has been solved, it resets and the answer isn’t always the same. Here are some of my favorites.
2. HABA Town Maze
⭐️ Rating: 4.6/5 (10,673 Reviews) Price: $22.99 Details: Read more on Amazon!
The HABA town maze is exactly what it sounds like. A maze that children have to work through. Now this maze is engraved in wood and little metal balls can be led through it with the help of a magnetic pen. The game helps children as young as 2 understand how a maze works and trust me, it is so much easier to explain than trying to get them to solve a maze on a piece of paper. I think this is largely because of the 3D aspect of the puzzle.
The basic idea of this game is that the little balls are actually cars and they have to navigate a road. There are all sorts of obstructions (that you can set) that the child needs to work around. Kids find it fascinating.
One of the skills that gets worked on here is hand to eye coordination and it is very important for kids at this age.
Skills That It Encourages
- Puzzle solving
- Deduction and reasoning
- Hand to eye coordination
“I purchased this for my child to play with on a plane ride. It’s the size of paper and fit perfectly in the backpack. Love that I don’t have to worry about things falling under the seat and this is something he can independently play with.”
Brittany (read more reviews now!)
3. HABA Number Magnetic Maze
⭐️ Rating: 4.7/5 (707 Reviews) Price: $22.99 Details: Read more on Amazon!
The HABA Number Magnetic Maze is very similar to the HABA town maze. This magnetic travel game also uses colored balls and there is also a maze but it is geared towards teaching the children to count. Aside from being educational, it also one of the fun magnetic travel games in the market.
The child has to guide the right colored ball to a slot depending on the number written at the side of it. Worried that your child can’t read their numbers yet?
This game helps the child count the number of balls and link them to the number written at the side. It’s a manual action and a fun one at that. That is why it is one the popular magnetic travel games.
Skills That It Encourages
- Counting
- Hand To Eye Coordination
- Color recognition
- Deduction and reasoning
“This product is beautiful and colorful. i was afraid that my 2 year old wouldn’t get it but she did very quickly. The balls and magnet are strong and do not get stuck when moving them around the maze. inevitably it will get some scratches (plastic on plastic will do that) but that just happens with use. Highly recommend.”
Jessica (read more reviews now!)
Magnetic Story Telling
There are a lot of magnetic travel games that are aimed at story telling. They have different scenes and magnetic pictures that the children can use to develop a story or just to play around. I find that these games do well with young children too.
Our first introduction to it was through a public library in Groningen where they had a HABA Peter and Pauline Farm. The kids loved it from the first moment they started interacting with it. Needless to say, it got added to our collection of magnetic travel games rather quickly.
4. HABA Peter And Pauline Farm
⭐️ Rating: 4.6/5 (862 Reviews) Price: $14.99 Details: Read more on Amazon!
So we never really bought the HABA Peter And Pauline farm but a different version not because we didn’t like the game but because it was available in the library and we could choose to buy another one of HABA magnetic travel games instead. That being said, I’ve seen the kids interact with it on multiple occasions and they love it.
As can be imagined, this game is all about farming and the produce. The magnets are themed and the children can choose to grow their vegetables, pluck them and take them home. There are various scenes that they can use to reflect these activities.
One great part about this particular game is that it comes in a metal tin which acts as the base. The scene is inserted in the tin and the magnets are stuck over the scene. This way, the magnets remain in the box at all times and do not fall out.
Skills That It Encourages
- Story telling
- Creative thinking
- Motor skills
“This is the perfect reusable version of a sticker book. The set comes with so many wonderful characters and backgrounds. Our two-year-old sticker fiend is very happy with his magnets he can use over and over again. It’s so clever that the metal storage box is what you attach the backgrounds and magnets to. It makes this a great (supervised) activity for car trips.”
Lauren (read more reviews now!)
5. HABA Dress Up Doll Magnetic Game
⭐️ Rating: 4.5/5 (1,083 Reviews) Price: $19.99 Details: Read more on Amazon!
Okay so this is the game that we bought instead of the HABA Peter and Pauline farm. The game in all its essence is pretty cool. It has 4 different scenes as backgrounds. It also has a magnetic girl who the kids can dress up in a variety of outfits. There are also a variety of different accessories that can used in story telling.
Think of it as a magnetic doll house if you will. The best part about this particular item is that it is extremely portable. Which makes it a perfect magnetic travel game and an epic doll house at that. You can see why the kids love it. It totally makes one of the best magnetic travel games.
Also since you can put a scene in both parts of the metal tin, the child can use it together. This enhances the play.
Skills That It Encourages
- Creative thinking
- Role playing
- Story telling
“So cute. Reminds me of the old paper dolls I had as a kid but this is so much better. Very sturdy and easy for little hands to do.”
Marcia (read more reviews now!)
6. Melissa and Doug Wooden Magnetic Picture Game
⭐️ Rating: 4.5/5 (1,315 Reviews) Price: $19.99 Details: Read more on Amazon!
This is another great one when it comes to Magnetic travel games. The Melissa and Doug Wooden Magnetic picture game is aimed at children who love to tell stories or who are stimulated visually.
The wooden box contains a couple of different scenes and there are a number of wooden magnets that the child can use to stick to these scenes. It is a very interactive game and one that the parents can also join in. The best part is that there is no right or wrong. All that the child has to do is use his or her imagination.
As you can see, this is one of the coolest magnetic travel toys in the market.
Skills That It Encourages
- Motor skills
- Creative Thinking
“My 2 year old granddaughters love stickers and this product keeps them engaged for quite a while.”
Eva (read more reviews now!)
And there you have it. These magnetic travel games are fun, easy to carry and have a ton of replayability. You don’t have to worry about the pieces rolling all over the place and they can easily be played in planes, trains, buses and even cars.
I think that is one of the real reasons why we carry magnetic travel games with us. Plus as an adult we find them easy and fun to use to engage with the kids too!
Have you used any magnetic travel games on your trips? Which ones did your kids enjoy? Let us know in the comments below!
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