Marble Run Toy for Kids?

[mmbrad02]

Do any of you have one of these? And what ages are they best for? My DD is 10 and just kinda at that stage where she isn't out of toys, but not fully into them. Not into teenage stuff, but I guess starting to dabble in that world. But she still enjoyed getting the Amazon, Target, and Walmart catalogs this year and marking items for her Christmas list. Specifically she marked this Marble Run set:

Marble Run

Part of me is excited that she still wants a childlike item, and I'm like "Yes! This is Santa's big gift". Then the other part of me says "She is too old for that, she will build it once and it never be touched again"

She claims they built similar items in Gifted and Talented at school last year. And she really liked it. But that's with friends (and she is an only child). It's not exactly cheap to me (I know there are far more expensive things out there though), so I hate for it to end up being a total waste (however, it wouldn't be the first time)

Just wondered if anyone had any thoughts

 

[Ellie008]

We have one very similar to that. If your kid likes building, it is fun. Are they into legos at all? Mine played with the marble run TONS when they were younger. 10 is getting on the older side IMO, but not TOO old if they really like building things.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We have a similar set that we found at Goodwill when our oldest was about 8 (she's 24 now) and ALL four of our kids have played with it and gotten tons of enjoyment from it over the years. Our youngest is 13 now and still occasionally plays with it (maybe 1-2x a year), so I can't bring myself to get rid of it yet.

 

[unrequited23]

My kids are younger 8 & 6, and we got a set 2 yrs ago and an expansion set last year--we have the mindware one. The entire family still plays with it, adults included.

I stumbled across a set with mini trampolines that seemed like it was geared to older kids and also dominoes are really popular if your child likes to watch those types of videos. (We watch hevash5 because I want my boys to see a girl build cool things.)

Target Circle is offering 25% off of one toy or book right now, so that might bring the price down on a marble run set.

 

[firefly_ris]

My kids have had one for about 3 years and they are now 10, 9 and 7 and they still pull it out.

 

[Lvsdisney]

My DS is 10 and a few years ago I bought him a Gravitrax set. It's a fancy marble run set. They aren't cheap, but they are very well made and have several add on options. Now DD (7) is getting involved and having fun designing them too!

 

[mmbrad02]

My DS is 10 and a few years ago I bought him a Gravitrax set. It's a fancy marble run set. They aren't cheap, but they are very well made and have several add on options. Now DD (7) is getting involved and having fun designing them too!

Someone above you mentioned marble runs with trampolines which I had no idea existed, and googling of course led me to Gravitrax!

Do this brand come with any sort of starter set or is it all small components to buy lots of? I'm okay investing a little money I think, because I totally think my DH will find all this fun too He is an IT manager but LOVES to tinker with stuff, learn what makes things tick, etc. He is awesome for home repairs

We haven't decided whether we are going this route or not but definitely putting some thought and time into researching!

 

[DLgal]

My 16 and 14 year old boys still build with their Quadrilla marble run sets. I would recommend going that route rather than one of these cheap plastic ones. The quadrilla one is superb high quality wood and can easily be handed down to future generations. Plus, they require more understanding of math and physics and engineering to build, so makes kids think a bit harder.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

My ds10 and ds13 love these.. we bought this last year for Christmas at walmart in the generic toy section for $15

 

[BoatyMcBoatface]

Do this brand come with any sort of starter set or is it all small components to buy lots of? I'm okay investing a little money I think, because I totally think my DH will find all this fun too He is an IT manager but LOVES to tinker with stuff, learn what makes things tick, etc. He is awesome for home repairs

We haven't decided whether we are going this route or not but definitely putting some thought and time into researching!

I think there are two Gravitrax starter sets. Full price, the basic one is around $60 and a new larger starter set that’s $120ish or so. I’m pretty sure that you need to have a starter set to use expansion packs, but, while they are extremely cool, you don’t need any of the expansion packs for the starter set. Even the smaller starter set comes with quite a lot. For us the expansion packs have become easy go-to gift ideas for my DS (13), who otherwise doesn’t ever really want much.

 

[Lvsdisney]

Someone above you mentioned marble runs with trampolines which I had no idea existed, and googling of course led me to Gravitrax!

Do this brand come with any sort of starter set or is it all small components to buy lots of? I'm okay investing a little money I think, because I totally think my DH will find all this fun too He is an IT manager but LOVES to tinker with stuff, learn what makes things tick, etc. He is awesome for home repairs

We haven't decided whether we are going this route or not but definitely putting some thought and time into researching!

Yes! There is a normal starter set (approx $60), smaller add on sets (about $30 each) and even smaller add-ons that usually are $10. The kids really enjoy playing with them.