Marble run tutorial

[thomma]

I want to get one for ds and dd but have no clue where to start. What do you have and why do you love/not love it?

thanks-
Kim
ds&dd 5/03

[erosenst]

We just got the Quadrilla Twist and Rail set, and Abby LOVES it. It can be built several different ways, which means less likely she'll get tired of it.

The downside is that it's relatively easy to knock over (both she and the dogs have done it) and it takes a while to rebuild...and it looks like it will be a while til she can do it on her own. Having said that, she's already figured out a lot of the "principles" of it, which is great.

Kidssurplus has had some great prices on it, and occasionally you can get good prices on new ones on eBay. They got more expensive toward Christmas, but I'm guessing they'll come back down.

HTH - let me know if there are specific questions I can answer.

Emily
Abby - almost 4

[DDowning]

We also have the Twist and Rail Set and we've spent a good chunk of the last couple of days playing with it! I actually also picked up the extension set but just the T&R would have been fine by itself.

Other marble sets that get good reviews are the ones by HABA. A little more simple in design but the same concepts are taught.

Both kids have a blast with this - even my 3 year old gets into it! One thing that I suggest though is setting it up on a table that has a lip around it or else marbles are flying everywhere. Puzzle boards would work too if they are large enough. Yes, it is very easy to tip over and we're working on being careful. One thing the kids want to do is see how many marbles they can jam down at once so i'm thinking of getting a funnel to help that along.

[kochh2]

does the quadrilla set look like you could use it with the haba set?? we ahve something similar to the haba ones, with straight rails and blocks with holes, and will add on to it in time, but i like the quadrilla pcs as well... wondering if they are compatible/??