My little tykes have always enjoyed magnetic tiles. It was love at first contact. The best magnetic tiles are colorful and fun. They bring out the creativity in children of all ages. In fact, the creative possibilities are endless! They are extremely durable, build the logic centers of the brain, and are easily used for educational purposes. They are also the perfect toy for open-ended play.
Best Magnetic Tiles for Kids
While the HLAOLA Magnetic Blocks offers the most tiles at 133 pieces, the Playmags 100-Piece Set is the highest-rated and best-selling. For an inexpensive set, the Jasonwell Tiles Set is a high-quality set for the most reasonable price.
Magnet 130-Piece Tiles Set
Description
The Magnet Tiles Set contains 130 pieces. Besides the tiles, it also contains windows, gates, fences, doors, and car bases with wheels.
The colors are bright and translucent, allowing the light to pass through and reflect. This makes for prettier castles, brighter spaceships, and cars than shine in the sun.
Pros
This Building Blocks Set comes with a warranty card. It also includes a color manual with several ideas for your child to replicate.
This set is very sturdy. The plastic is reinforced very well.
Rather than being merely glued together, this set of magnet tiles is reinforced on the edges with rivets after being welded together using an ultrasonic welding process. This process, combined with the rivets, is safer for toddlers and young children since the pieces are less likely to fall apart and the magnets (which are choking hazards) are less likely to fall out.
The Magnet 3D Set also comes with its own plastic bin. This makes for easy, sturdy storage that lasts.
The set does not seem to scratch easily. Therefore, it also holds its shine very well. This makes the pieces keep their “new” look longer, keeping their bright colors from dulling.
This set is also manufactured with food-grade plastic. This means that it does not contain any recycled plastics or dyes that are harmful to humans. Thus, if your children mouth the pieces or if the pieces come in contact with their food, there’s no need to worry (as long as they’re clean, of course)!
Unlike other brands that we will cover in this article, all 130 pieces have magnets. The magnets are also larger than in some of the other magnetic tiles we will cover.
The magnets are stronger than some of the other brands of the best magnetic tiles we will discuss. This means they hold together well. However, this also carries over to the cons.
Cons
Because the magnets are so strong, they may be difficult for little hands to handle without getting their little fingers and hands pinched at times.
At times, it’s possible to end up with a Magnet Tiles Set that includes a block or two whose magnets do not align properly. However, this does not seem to be a common problem.
Jasonwell 65-Piece Tiles Set
Description
The Jasonwell Tiles Set is a magnet stacking construction kit for toddlers and preschool-aged girls and boys. However, this toy is also great for school-aged children through 12-years-old as well!
The colors are more of a clear pastel. But there are many different colors. You can easily use this kit to teach your children their colors.
Pros
The magnets in this Tiles Set seem to be stronger than others of the same sort, which is good. The fact that they are stronger keeps them from breaking apart as easily as some other magnetic tile block sets. The magnets also have more surface area, which also helps to keep them together better.
The Jasonwell Tiles Set is also made with rounded edges. This makes for a safer product among little ones.
Lastly, this product comes with a nifty idea booklet! It has several patterns inside for fun-to-build shapes, animals, vehicles, and more!
Cons
The box this set comes in, though sturdy, is difficult to store the set in. This is because the tiles must be put into the box in a specific way for them to fit. It’s best to purchase a bin to store them in.
I know of one person that said that they dropped the kit and one of the tiles broke and a magnet fell out. This, of course, is not safe and is a potential choking hazard. However, a little super glue fixed the problem!
The pieces must be lined up just right, in some cases, to create a strong bond or the towers will not hold. Also, different magnets have different polarities, and the tiles must be turned to find the right combination at times.
It has no six-inch magnets as some of the other best magnetic tiles do.
Discovery Kids 50-Piece Tiles Set
Description
The Discovery Kids 50-Piece Tiles Set comes in six colors. Not only is it great for creative play, but it comes with its own storage bag for easy cleanup and storage! Including 25 each, squares and triangles, your child will be able to make most things that they can imagine and make in 3D.
Pros
The pieces of this Building Tiles Set are thicker. This makes them durable, but it also means that they take up a little more space than the first three options that we mentioned. But, remember, they do come with that great bag for storage!
The magnets on these Tiles are also nice and strong. They click together and hold well. This will allow your child to construct large things without them falling apart.
Cons
The downside is that 50 pieces don’t seem to really go that far. It does make a good starter set, but about the time you and your child get going well with the Discovery Kids Building Tiles Set, you run out of tiles. If you buy this set, you’re going to want to purchase more than one set.
These tiles are much smaller than other types of the best magnetic tiles out there. Because of this, some people find that they like other brands better.
Magformers Challenger 112-Piece Set
Description
The Magformers Challenger Set contains 112 colorful pieces. The tiles in this set are different from others in this article in that it also includes pentagons and hexagons.
Pros
The fact that Magformers include these tiles, which are so different from tiles found in other sets, means that, even if your child has other sets, this one provides opportunities and challenges that others do not present.
The magnets are neodymium. Due to this, their connectivity is guaranteed. The magnets are also stronger. Your child’s creation will hold together better and longer, and the towers will be able to be built taller and with more detail.
This set also includes a cruiser car set. Though it is common for many of the best magnetic tiles sets to include bases for building automobiles, the pieces to this set are built specifically for creating the car. However, this also carries over to the cons.
Batlofty Magnet 178 Piece Building Tiles
Description
The Batlofty Magnet Building Tiles come in a set of 178 pieces. It’s great for kids three years old and up.
This 3D Magnetic Set comes complete with two sizes of squares, three sizes, and shapes of triangles, arches, bases for cars, and even windows! Your child’s creativity can soar with these as they construct building after building and automobiles to boot.
Pros
The Batlofty Magnet Toys cost less than other types of the best magnetic tiles I have presented.
These tiles are also brightly colored. They are vibrant, and the colors themselves are “happy colors.”
These are great for younger kids. You don’t have to have the work to get the magnets lined up perfectly. They are also simple to pull apart. However, this also carries over to the cons.
Cons
These magnetic building tiles seem to be weaker than other toys of the same type. I have heard from several people that these weaker magnets make it difficult to build the size of towers that you’d build with other styles.
HLAOLA 133-Piece Set
Description
The HLAOLA Magnetic Blocks comes in 133 pieces. This is a great number for starting out.
These blocks aren’t as popular as the other blocks we mentioned. It may be because of the thickness of the pieces or the fact that many of them are shapes with open centers, which does not seem to be very common for these types of toys.
These 3D Magnetic Building Blocks are made of macaron colors, making these more ideal for girls than boys. If you have both genders of children, I suggest using magnetic tiles that are boy and girl compatible. This way the blocks can be combined if your children decide to build together.
Pros
The HLAOLA Magnetic Blocks are “CPSIA” certified. They are made of durable plastic to prevent breaking and have rounded edges to prevent poking.
The magnets seem to be strong. They also seem to have good contact and hold well, allowing your children to build their hearts’ content.
With its sheer number of pieces, the varying shapes available in the kit, and the fact that there is an expansion kit available for purchase, this building blocks set is definitely in the running for the best magnetic tile set of the year.
Cons
These blocks only have one magnet on each side rather than the two that many of the tiles that I’ve reviewed.. This means that they don’t hold quite as well as other brands.
Another con is that only 58 of the 133 pieces are magnetic. The other half of the set is made up of tops and such.
Playmags 100-Piece Set
Description
The Playmags Set contains 100 pieces. This set includes triangles, squares, and larger squares.
Pros
The tiles in this set are bright and vibrant. This makes for happier play.
The tiles also have stabilizers in each piece. These are crosspieces in the midsections of the tiles. These make each tile stronger and able to withstand more beatings.
Playmags are compatible with other sets. This makes them an even better buy than they already are. Therefore, you can economically expand your current set.
Cons
However, this 100-piece set of magnetic tiles only contains 82 pieces that actually contain magnets. The other 18 tiles are not magnetic at all. They are actually click-in tiles (windows and such). While this allows for added creativity, it also cuts down on the number of magnetic tiles your child actually has in his or her set.
While the magnets in each piece are strong, some reviews say they are too strong for little hands. Thus, they sometimes cause pinching to occur.
Many people also said that they found pieces that were unfinished on the edges. This made for sharp edges that scratched little hands.
KIDCHEER 72-Piece Tiles
Description
The KIDCHEER Magnetic Tiles contain 72 pieces and come complete with a bag for storage and portability. These multicolored blocks come with squares, triangles, windows, banisters, and several designs.
Pros
This building block toy also includes a booklet, which gives ideas for assembling fun projects. Many people find this booklet helpful.
The set is also compatible with many of the best magnetic tiles of 202o that we are covering today. You only need to be sure that the tiles are similar in size.
Cons
Twelve of the pieces, the castle cards, are not magnetic. Most of the best magnetic tiles have nonmagnetic tiles. This, however, does not stop creative minds.
Best Magna-Tiles Sets
Magna-Tiles 100-Piece Set
Description
The Magna-Tiles Clear Colors is a 100-piece set. The 50 small squares and the 46 triangles each have a 3-inch base measurement. There are also four large squares to make up the 100-piece set.
The colors, like many of the other best magnetic tiles I will be covering, are translucent. The colors on the Magna-Tiles are darker than many of the other tiles we’ve talked about together, offering a nice change in scenery and some more options.
Pros
One hundred tiles seem to be the perfect number of tiles for building towers, castles, and other things your child can imagine up. Children seem to use most of the tiles but do not run out.
Because the tiles are translucent (or clear, as the description states), you can allow your child to combine his play with a light table. In doing so, the tower will effectively light up and practically glow. This will make building his creations even more fun for both him and you!
Cons
They are more expensive than some of the cheaper blocks. However, many people stated that they are worth the money.
The magnets don’t seem to hold as well as some of the other brands that we’ve discussed. Due to this, tall towers are said to collapse when they are built. This causes frustration. It even brings tears to young builders.
Best Picasso Magnetic Tile Sets
Picasso 100-Piece Tiles
Description
The PicassoTiles Blocks are 100 pieces of magnet-building fun! This set is limitless, as you can add more pieces to your collection by merely making another purchase. However, 100 pieces make for quite a sizeable amount of imagination-building adventure.
Pros
These Multicolored Blocks are made of several varying geometrical shapes. This allows your child the freedom to build even more objects! Triangles can be fit together to make roofs or eaves. Small squares can be fit together to build the walls of a dream castle or a cozy cottage. Pick your paradise and build it!
Another great thing about these blocks is the easy clean-up. They lay down flat, magnetize together, and stack for easy storage. Quick and convenient!
The PicassoTiles have also won several awards. One of these awards is the Tillywig Toy Brains Child Award.
Cons
If your little tyke prides himself in making circles, these may not be the best magnetic tiles for him. You cannot use the triangles included in one set to create a complete circle. There will be a small slice missing.
Whereas some magnetic toys are attached with metal pieces, the PicassoTiles are glued together. However, I cannot find one instance where the glued pieces have broken apart regardless of rough play, smashed towers, and thrown pieces.
The last few things are that the edges are rough, which can make for uncomfortable play for the child, and that the surfaces aren’t smooth. While decorative surfaces are pretty, they can make it difficult to slip other toys inside of built structures.
Comparing Magnetic Tiles
The table below compares only the recommended products on this page. A low or high Price means it is low or high compared to the other products listed. The Popularity Score reflects how often readers click on and buy the product. The Quality Score is our assessment of the overall performance and satisfaction with the product compared to others in the table.
| Magformers Challenger 112-Piece Set | 8.6 | 9.6 | 199.99 |
| Magna-Tiles 100-Piece Set | 9.9 | 9.8 | 119.99 |
| Magnet 130-Piece Tiles Set | 9.9 | 9.8 | 55.99 |
| Playmags 100-Piece Set | 9.9 | 9.6 | 54.98 |
| Picasso 100-Piece Tiles | 9.9 | 9.8 | 39.99 |
| Jasonwell 65-Piece Tiles Set | 9.9 | 9.8 | 29.99 |
| Discovery Kids 50-Piece Tiles Set | 9.8 | 9.6 | 19.99 |
| HLAOLA 133-Piece Set | 9.0 | - | - |
| KIDCHEER 72-Piece Tiles | 8.8 | 9.2 | - |
| Batlofty Magnet 178 Piece Building Tiles | 3.9 | - | - |
How We Selected the Best Magnetic Tiles
Price
Some of the best magnetic tiles are fairly cheap considering. However, some of them are a little more expensive. In this case, you are paying for the name. However, none of these are extremely expensive.
Consider this, how often do you go out to eat? Do you take your family to Olive Garden? What about Red Lobster? If you cut out one trip (or two depending on how many people are in your family and which set you choose to purchase), you can use that money to purchase a tileset for your child. And your toddler, preschooler, or child will have years of fun out of that one night (or two) that you chose to eat at home.
Build Quality
Each of these magnetic tiles sets are built to the best quality. Some pieces are built with thick, solid plastic. The remaining sets are presented as translucent pieces that are well-reinforced.
There are some magnetic tiles sets that fall apart somewhat easily. Some even arrive separated in the box. This makes the magnets fall out easily. Sometimes they have already fallen out upon arrival. This is a choking hazard to toddlers and small children.
The best magnetic tiles that we have chosen in this article are not prone to do that.
There is one brand that I listed, the PicassoTiles, that has been known to separate due to being dropped. However, they are only shown to do this a very small percentage of the time out of over 6,000 known times that they have been reviewed. It was also reported that two Picasso magnetic tiles broke apart right out of the box. The pieces were easily superglued back together, and they help well. There is only one report of this out of over 6,000 reported reviews.
Compatibility
There would be nothing worse than purchasing magnetic tiles, realizing that you didn’t like them, purchasing new tiles after reading an article like this one, and then finding that you couldn’t use both sets of tiles together. Each of the magnetic tiles listed in this article, The Best Magnetic Tiles, is compatible with many other magnetic tiles.
Magnetic Strength
Some of these have good magnetic strength. Some of these have great magnetic strength.
There are other magnetic tiles blocks that I did not include. This is because the magnetic strength of those blocks is very weak. It is incapable of holding simple buildings together without them collapsing. This causes young children great frustration.
There is one brand that I included in this article, the Magna-Tiles, that don’t have as much magnetic strength as the other brands in this review article. If your child attempts to build towers that are too tall or attempt to move their creations after they are built, they may collapse. However, this was only reported a small fraction of the times, and this brand has a 4.9 rating out of 5.0.
FAQs – Magnetic Tiles
How many magnetic blocks should I buy for my child?
According to several reviews, anywhere between 100 and 133 pieces seems to be the sweet spot if you only have one child and that child is four years old and above. Any less seems to cause a shortage. Less does seem to work fine for three-year-olds, however, unless Mommy, Daddy, or a grandparent are playing along.
If you have more than one child, you may want to have 133 pieces at the very least. The more the better. This is to cut down on the possibility of shortage and the likelihood of squabbles.
Some people want to buy the best magnetic tiles they can for their preschool or daycare, and that’s great! If you’re buying the tiles for your preschool or daycare, I suggest starting with a minimum of 300 pieces.
Do they attach from any side, or does one side repel the other?
If you try to line the magnets up at the midpoints, rather than lining them up correctly (edge to edge), you’ll find that they repel each other slightly. However, they’ll quickly find their polarity and quickly attract each other. This is why the magnets always line up so perfectly once they are connected.
Do you need the 6×6 square as a base?
No, you do not. You can build your creations with an open bottom, or you can build a base by attaching smaller squares and triangles together to form a larger square. This larger square can then become the base in the absence of the 6×6 square. Fair warning, though. Creating a building or tower with an open building makes it less steady and more likely to collapse.
Can you use these magnetic tiles with a light table?
Yes and no. That is, you can use some of the best magnetic tiles with a light table. These only include those which are translucent. The remaining brands, however, are not see-through. Therefore, the light will not travel through them, making a light table of no consequence.
When you use a light table with translucent magnetic tiles, the tiles will glow. Your child’s creations seem to take on a life of their own. Many children (and their parents) enjoy playing with the magnetic tiles on a light table. Most of these parents will tell you that light tables are worth the investment.
Will the magnetic tiles attach to a refrigerator?
Magnetic tiles will stick to any magnetic surface. This includes a whiteboard, refrigerator, and even a metal garage door! This makes for even more fun play! You can build flat creations on the refrigerator. You could also lay the whiteboard down and use it for a base so you can maximize your use of the pieces that you have.
What age range do magnetic tiles work best for?
Children (and adults) of all ages tend to enjoy playing with magnetic building tiles. However, preteens seem to lose interest after a few days, and teenagers tend to tinker with the tiles here and there. The magnetic tile blocks are best suited for preschoolers and children, ages 3-10.
Some parents have found that their 2-year-olds enjoy the tiles just as well. This does not seem to be the norm, though. If your toddler is advanced, he or she may enjoy playing around with these magnetic tiles. Otherwise, your toddler may not have the coordination or motor skills necessary to build with them.
How durable are magnetic tiles?
Most of the best magnetic tiles, which we have covered, can be dropped, misused, and abused and still stand on their own two feet (if they had feet, that is). The exception is if you intentionally try to break them. Don’t go taking a hammer to them or stomping on them to prove me wrong. I’m not going that far.
Are magnetic tiles phthalate, BPA, and toxin-free?
Yes. They are also lead-free and free of heavy metals. All of these brands are made of child-friendly plastic. At least one brand, the Magnet Building Tiles 3D Magnetic Blocks Set, is made of food-grade plastic. This means it’s so toxin-free that everything about the magnetic tiles (even the dyes in the tiles) is proven to be so safe for your children that you do not even have to be worried if they come into contact with their food!
Are my electronics safe around magnetic tiles?
Typically, you have to be careful with strong magnets around your electronics. However, you don’t have to worry. Your computer, television, iPad, and other electronics are most likely safe around the best magnetic tiles sets. I mean, I wouldn’t go setting a whole set on top of my hard drive to prove my point–and you shouldn’t either since that much magnetic field in that vicinity just might be enough to cause some scrambling. When playing with the tiles at a distance within reason, however, you’ll be fine.
I do not know, however, if the magnetic field of an entire set of magnetic blocks is strong enough to have any kind of effect on a pacemaker. You should speak to your healthcare provider if you’re concerned.
How do you clean magnetic tiles?
The best way to clean the magnetic tiles is with a wet rag dipped in a mixture of mild soap and water. Some people say to add a little white vinegar to the mixture. This would help to sanitize.
I clean with a mixture of water and white vinegar all the time, so I’d add vinegar to my mixture anyway, but that’s up to you. Vinegar can cause your skin to itch or even burn a little if your hands are dry or sensitive.
If you do add vinegar, add about 1/2 of a cup to 1/2 of a gallon of warm water. Add a long squirt of mild dish soap to that. Palmolive works great. Mix the solution. Dip the rag into the cleaning solution, ring it out well, and wipe down the blocks one at a time.
Do not submerge the magnetic tiles. You may get water between the two pieces and into the inside of the piece itself where the magnets are. If you do this, the magnets can rust. The tile, also, may never dry completely, causing mold. Then the magnetic tile would have to be discarded.
If you do accidentally get water inside of your magnetic tile, try burying it in rice for 24 hours like you would a cell phone that had been drowned in water. This may draw the moisture out.
