Best for 2.5 year old girl - wedgits, gears/gears/gears or magnatiles?

[junebaby07]

I was wondering which of these might be best to get my 2.5 year old daughter for Christmas. We already have duplo and unit blocks, so I was looking for another creative building toy. It is a bonus if it is safe to have around our infant and doesn't need to be 'sequestered.'

Thanks!

[kayte]

I think most of the replies you get here will be for magnetiles. They are pretty popular here. On the recs, I bought them last year for my then freshly three year old. I was kind of disappointed with the initial reaction (and DD is a BIG builder). They were relatively ignored until this fall... but now they get played with every single day.

SO I will suggest magnetiles, but be prepared if they don't get serious play for another year or so.

[ett]

Magnatiles is definitely one of our favorites here. DS2 has been playing with it for about a year now.

The Wedgits sets for ages 3+ will have choking hazards.

[egoldber]

Amy just turned 3. We have the Gears and she likes them, but they are definitely not for her age group. I would wait on those.

I am planning to get Magnatiles for the girls for the holidays. She has played with Wedgits at other people's houses and enjoyed them, so that is definitely something to consider.

[nrp]

We have both wedgits (two sets of 30, the regular ones) and a 100-piece set of magnatiles. DD definitely gets much more play value from the magnatiles. I like to play with them both, though ;)

[hellokitty]

We don't have magnatiles, but I am going to say magnatiles. Gears are great, BUT they are very LOUD (imagine shaking a big box of legos in a plastic container like maracas) and I would say that 3+ would be the ideal age. Wedgits are good too, but unfortunately, did not keep my kids' interest for as long as I would have hoped.

[KrisM]

We have Gears, Gear, Gears and Magnatiles. DD plays with the Magnatiles a lot and rarely with the gears.

[brittone2]

Magnatiles. No gears or wedgits here yet though. DS would like the gears but he is older.

I put off buying the Magnatiles forever even w/ the rave reviews here because the price seemed like a lot for what they were. Last year the kids got some holiday money and I used it to buy them a set of 100. They were 4 and barely 2 at the time, but the magnatiles got a ton of play right away. They get used a few times a week here if not a few times a day some days and they work their way into car play (garages), animal play (barns, fences), Playmobil (houses, garages, etc.), you name it. Most kids who come over to play are drawn to them right away.

Honestly, we could use another set of 100. DD (almost 3) pointed that out to me last night in fact. The kids build some great stuff with them.

[Momof3Labs]

DS2 loves his magnatiles. He got them for Christmas before his third birthday, and has played with them consistently (for the most part) all year. Our Wedgits don't get nearly as much love, and virtually none from DS2 (DS1 occasionally plays with them). Wedgits take a bit more of an analytical eye to assemble something free-form. Magnatiles are so easy to build with that a 3yo can easily do it independently.

[baileygirl]

In our house you can't get enough duplos...

But to answer your question I would go with Magnatiles. I believe Gears have little connector pieces that would be a choking hazard (or at least I think that is why I put ours away). We have a set of JR wedgits that my son (also 2.5) has never played with. I believe the regular sets have pieces that are small...Magnatiles I let the baby play with. I do like the Gear set for the fridge (under $20)...DS turns it on daily and our fridges are pretty full of kid toys.

[vonfirmath]

The only piece in the regular set I would put away from my 2-year old is the white diamonds. Every other piece is plenty big enough.

[hellokitty]

In our house you can't get enough duplos...

But to answer your question I would go with Magnatiles. I believe Gears have little connector pieces that would be a choking hazard (or at least I think that is why I put ours away). We have a set of JR wedgits that my son (also 2.5) has never played with. I believe the regular sets have pieces that are small...Magnatiles I let the baby play with. I do like the Gear set for the fridge (under $20)...DS turns it on daily and our fridges are pretty full of kid toys.

Oh now, if you are going to bring in duplos into the picture, I would go with those, lol. Duplos and legos have been worth more than the $ we paid for them with the play time my kids have put into them.

[KrisM]

I want to add that we got the magnatiles when the kids were 3.5 and 1.5 years. They have never been put away, even with a baby in the house. They have pieces way too big to be choking hazzards.