After school, I presented a Magnimals™ Monkey and a Magnimals™ Dog to my son and daughter. In true 6-year-old boy fashion, my son ripped into the package while my daughter asked, “What’s this? What does it do? Can I play with it? How do I get it out? Will you help? Can I play with that one too?” and a whole plethora of other 4-year-old girl questions.
I have to say, I was as excited to get these little guys out of the package as my kids were. My old interlocking block kits had animals, too, but they were nothing like this. Two words can explain that charm: curly tales. You can even uncurl the tales, which “snap” onto the body with magnetic force. The same principle applies to the legs and feet, arms and hands and heads of the animals. The body is a lightweight (hollow), metal ball, and as my children quickly discovered, which when banged together with another lightweight (hollow), metal ball makes a very pleasant dinging sound.
The kids assembled their creatures without any input from me – try as I might. My daughter proceeded to name her monkey and attempt to engage my son’s dog in conversation. When my son was less than interested, she decided to talk with the monkey, Ayna, about the weather and whether or not the monkey really liked bananas. After about 15 minutes, my son had left the room, and my daughter had assumed the construction and care of his Magnimals™ Dog.
My son is a born builder (just like his mom), so I thought this was something he would enjoy for a long time. I sat next to my daughter and played along. I messed around with the dog, disassembling and reassembling it, and then it dawned on me – maybe my son stopped playing sooner than his sister because, unlike my daughter, he creates while he is building; my daughter creates after she is done building. Does that make sense? It does to me, and it’s my theory now. I am going to test that theory tomorrow when I add a Magnetix Jr. building sets into the mix.
See parents helping parents in action! 
