Mr Z (5) absolutely loves Marble runs. Last year, in Reception Class, he used to play with them in school so much and was quite disappointed that they don’t have one in his Year 1 classroom. He was so happy when I showed him our new Quercetti Marble run that we have been sent for review! Now Mr T is getting older (almost 4 years) he was able to join in and it is a great toy for them to play together.
We got the 45 piece transparent Quercetti Migoga Marble run.
The marble run is made of plastic pieces and is easy to fit together in a variety of designs or layouts. No instructions were given but it is pretty easy to copy the design from the front of the box and you could also make it however you like, which is good as that makes it possible for the children to make it up themselves. With the marble run being transparent, you can easily see the marbles as they travel through which makes it more exciting. I also really liked some of the features included like the wheels as it adds more interest.
There are 12 marbles included in solid colours: Red, Blue, White and Yellow. The marble are on the smaller side and look quite different to the usual glass patterned marbles we have had in the past. They are not as beautiful as glass patterned marbles but Mr Z actually found these plain coloured marbles very good for his marble races as it is so easy to tell which marbles belong to each person.
I love to see the children playing with marble runs as it has lots of benefits and different aspects to the play. It combines problem solving and creativity. Mr Z’s favourite game with marble runs is to race his marbles against someone elses, so he taught Mr T how to play this with him. They then have to think about the different routes their marbles could take, depending on which side they add their marbles.
With the Quercetti Marble runs you can easily expand the set by combining two sets together, as there are other varieties with different features.
Have a look at the video to see the Marble run in action and hear what Mr Z had to say:
This is not the first Marble run we have had, but I would say that a Quercetti marble run gives an excellent balance of price, quality, and usability for a 4 or 5 year old. Mr Z said it was his favourite set which we have had. We have a much smaller plastic marble run set, which is less interesting as it’s quite limited. Then we have a wooden marble run which is amazing but difficult for the boys at the moment, as they find it falls over quite easily which frustrates them. Quercetti is a great practical choice for a decent marble run which can take plenty of use, is able to be expanded, and offers plenty of enjoyment for children (and parents – I’ll admit, I quite like playing with their marble run too! :D)
Quercetti Toys are distributed exclusively in the UK by Alyss Toys