I tried the brand new Connetix Magnetic Tiles Roads Creative Pack with my four year old nephew. Here's our verdict on what they are like to play with, and if they are worth the £135 price tag.
Magnetic tiles are hugely popular with kids, so it'll come as no surprise that toys like this make it on to our list of the top Christmas toys for this year. My nephew Max, age four, is a big fan of construction toys, and has has a set of magnetic tiles since his third birthday. As well as building vertical structures, he's also used his existing set to make tracks and trails for his array of car and tractor toys. But while these tracks were colourful, they were lacking any real complexity.
Enter the new Roads Creative Pack from Connetix, a collection of 48 black tiles that enable kids aged three and over to build more exciting tracks, including ramps, roundabouts, tunnels and more.
What is it?
The Roads Creative pack is one of two sets in Connetix's new Road range, offering road-based construction play for kids. The first set contains 48 pieces and will give you everything you need to create a fun road set up. The second set extends the scope of play - the Roads, Ramps & Intersections Pack features 16 pieces, including sturdy ramps of different lengths, extra intersection pieces, and more turns.
The tiles don't have any road marking on them, so there's no restriction on play and your little one's imagination can literally run wild when it comes to their creations. At the same time, the tiles will help their developmental skills, like hand-eye coordination and problem-solving, while also broadening their knowledge of STEAM learning concepts, like magnetism, gravity, motion, shape and light refractions.
While the tiles are perfect for independent and collaborative play from the age of three, this toy will grow with your child as the learn how to create more complex structures and layouts. This means repetitive play is easy, and there'll be something new to create every time.
Packaging and set up
The tiles come neatly packaged in a sturdy cardboard box, along with a little booklet of road inspiration, that shows you lots of different ways to configure the tiles. The 48 tiles are organised by their shape in the box, which means you can clearly see the different shapes (all the tiles are black so this is really useful). They are ready to play with straight away.
The magnets are quite strong with these tiles, so younger kids might need a bit of help separating them from each other, especially on the larger tiles. But apart from one instance, Max managed to separate the tiles himself.
What do you get in the box?
- 4 x ramps
- 4 x turns (curved tiles)
- 4 x T-intersections
- 4 x R-intersections
- 20 x squares
- 2 x rectangles (the size of two squares)
- 2 x rectangles (the size of three squares)
- 4 x quarter circles
- 4 x small rectangles (the size of half a square)
What's it like to play with?
The tiles are really fun to play with, and there are endless possibilities when it comes to configurations you can make. The magnets are strong enough that any construction can hold its shape well, but as with any toys of this nature, the structures are not indestructible.
Familiar with the tiles and how they work, Max was straight in there making tracks, but was really excited when he saw he could make ramps for his cars. It took him a couple of goes to understand that he needed some kind of support under the ramp to make it sturdier as he drove his toy bus over it.
While we worked on the first layout together, Max was keen to take over and come up with his own. I really enjoyed seeing his imagination really lighting up, and once he'd built a road, he wanted to incorporate other toys, like the trees from his farmyard set, into the mix to make it more real.
Beyond building a road, he also used the tiles to create a tower and for a version of the floor is lava using his stuffed toy. It's great that he didn't feel limited in what the shapes could be used for. Max was also super excited to show his dad the tiles, as they quite often play together building really fun structures with his other magnetic tiles.
Is it good value for money?
While some magnetic tiles are cheaper than others, Connetix are often at the more expensive end of the scale. The Roads Creative set has a RRP of £135 so they aren't cheap. That price works out at £2.81 per tile, whereas other sets of magnetic tiles, like these from Amazon, could be closer to 0.61p per tile.
However, Connetix tiles are known for their signature strong magnets and are more durable than some other cheaper tiles on the market that may not be able to stand up to enthusiastic hands.
If your budget will stretch, then the Connetix tiles are a lovely high-quality option, and a great companion set for other Connetix tile sets you may have (or have on your wishlist). But if the price tag is just too high, we've listed some fun alternatives below.
You might also like...
These colourful tiles come with magnetic road toppers which offers great versatility. The Road toppers have markings and crossings which can also help children learn rules of the road in a safe environment.
This 40-piece set includes 27 traditional magnetic tiles, 10 road magnetic tiles, two traffic lights, and a car. This would be a great start to a magnetic tiles collection.
Fully compatible with all other major magnetic tiles brands, this set includes 20 road tiles, two traffic lights, and two traffic signs.
For more toy reviews, check out our thoughts on the Really Real Puppy from Little Live Pets, the De'longhi coffee machine toy and this Pati School crafting set.
