October 11, 2021 Toypark Australia

Connetix Tiles- What’s so great about them?

Connetix Tiles allow children to construct 2D and 3D shapes, using their imagination and creativity to play and build. Our magnetic tiles encourage cognitive development, spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination, fine and gross motor skills and help children build knowledge around scientific and mathematical concepts – all through PLAY!

📸 @Almas

✍ @Almas

This article is written by Almas, a Primary trained teacher turned stay at home mum from Sydney of two very eager beavers. She was chosen to become a Connetix Tiles Brand Ambassador. Today, let's share her excellent experience with Connetix.

Effective ways of building
It is evident through the many builds and creations the wonderful connetix community creates and posts everyday on their social media platforms that connetix is their favourite resource. These open-ended toys can be built in so many ways, stimulating the child’s imagination and creativity in several different ways. I think it’s sure to say that we all fall short of ideas when we want to create bigger and better creations.
Here are some quick build tips to create stronger and improved creations/ball runs:
1. If you’re building on carpet, try and use the base plates or a large surface area of magnetic tiles for a strong base. This helps the build to stay up for longer without falling down with any accidental hits and touching.

2. Work your way up with your build, starting from the bottom so it doesn’t fall down and double up on tiles when needed.

3. When creating the ball run, try and start with the long tubes and add the ramped tubes when you work your way up to create slopes for the ball to come
down easily.

4. Always!, I repeat always use both the curved tubes when created a turn in your ball run, if you only attach one then the ball flies off. Trust me I’ve had heaps of accidents because of this.

5. Finally, don’t forget to hear that click when you connect the ball run tubes with the tiles or else they don’t stay put!

The tube is clicked on properly

The tube is not clicked on properly

Versatility of Play- The possibilities are endless
Now you’re probably wondering, when will you show us the different ways of using these amazing tiles, how can you play with one toy everyday and not get bored of it?
Well let me tell you, there’s almost hundreds of ways you can use these open-ended toys for play and learning. There’s no one way of using them, as your child grows up their level of play and complexity of play will also develop with connetix, which is why its perfect to invest in. The best thing about it is that, children don’t even know they’re learning since its so much fun!

Here are my top 10 ways of using Connetix Tiles:

1. Alphabet/Number matching and CVC words
You can easily write on the tiles with the Kitpas crayons or a whiteboard marker. We use magnetic letters/numbers to match the letters/numbers on
the tile.

2. Colour sorting
Use loose parts or any items around your house to colour sort. We used our fruit counters here.

3. Two piece/multi piece puzzle
For themed activities or any form of puzzle play, print square or rectangle sized pictures to stick on the tiles with blue tack and let your child solve the
puzzle.

4. Animal cardboard templates
This is such a fun activity for children who love animals. Not only are they learning about solving the puzzle with the tiles but also engaging in shape play.

5. Window lens
Create cardboard templates with holes shaped like the tiles and stick them on the window. They create amazing reflections throughout the day, which is a
lovely sight.

6. Giant words
This is one of the easier forms of play but a fun one. We usually create giant words out of our tiles when we’re doing themed activities like here.

7. Magnetic fishing
Use any form of string or a kids magnetic fishing rod if you have, place any magnetic sea creatures in the matching coloured connetix tiled boxes
and let them play!

8. Window art
So much fun creating window art with our tiles, however make sure to create a strong base with a few tiles at the bottom so the tiles don’t fall off.

9. Fence Play
Take your tiles outside and if you have a fence, turns out they stick on them! We created some of these creations so far.

10. 3D Creations
You can create a number of 3D creations using these tiles. We have created many different things, here’s a rocket, one of our favourite creations.