Exploring Magnetism: Play Ideas

By CONNETIX

In ancient times, magnetism must have seemed like magic. Now, we know that magnetism is the ability to attract elements that have magnetic components. Magnets have at least two magnetic poles (sides). One magnet pole is called the north pole, and the other side is called the south pole. Poles will either be attracted to each other or repel. If you want to find out more about magnets, magnetism and how CONNETIX work, check out our blog ‘What are magnets?’.

What Can You Do With CONNETIX?

Not only can CONNETIX can be used in limitless ways, they can also be used on various surface areas – from playing outside on the grass or trampoline, to inside on the dining table or in front of the lounge. You will sometimes discover that certain surfaces are MAGNETIC! This adds a whole new element to your CONNETIX play. In fact, the fun quickly becomes discovering what surfaces in (or outside) your home are magnetic!

Magnetism is the force exerted when magnets attract or repel. It is what happens when electric charges move about. Here are some play ideas that involve exploring magnetism:

Magnetic Surface Scavenger Hunt

What magnetic surfaces can you find around the house? You can have a lot of fun running around the house finding out what is magnetic and what isn’t.

Here’s some ideas for where you can stop on your scavenger hunt:

Refrigerator
Door handles
Baby gates
The garage door
Table legs

Repel and Push

Have you noticed that sometimes when you try to connect your CONNETIX to another magnet it will push instead of pull? It can be great fun to watch how one tile can be pushed along the floor without touching it,

Place a tile on the ground (a hard surface such as tiles or wood will work best)
Place another tile behind it and make sure the poles are reversed (so it’s pushing instead of pulling)
Move the second tile closer so that the first one is pushed along the floor

You could use this idea to set up a race track, and see who can push their tile to the end first!

Discovery Bottles

This is a great way to find out if an object is magnetic or not!

Fill a plastic bottle (such as a water bottle) with items that might be magnetic- nuts and bolts, safety pins, etc.
Add a sensory base (e.g. rice) to the bottle, covering the magnetic items.
Use your CONNETIX to see if you can move the magnetic items from outside the bottle.

Baking Tray Maze

How about using the magnetic baking trays to put a fun little maze together? You can have hours of fun building the mazes, running the ball through it and then starting all over again. How many different mazes can you build?

Get a large baking tray
Set up your CONNETIX inside it to make a maze
Add a ball at one end and have fun tilting the tray to get it to the other side!

Magnet Chains

Have you noticed that when you put a metal object on a magnet, you can stick another object on to that one? How many objects can you chain together off a single magnet?

Hold a CONNETIX up
Attach a magnetic object to the magnet so it’s hanging below the tile
Add another one to the bottom of that object
Repeat until they fall off!

Magnetic Walls Fun

Some houses will have cornices that are magnetic! There are so many possibilities for CONNETIX play if you are lucky to have these. Such as:

Wall Coin drops or ball runs: create coin drops or ball runs against your wall just like you would the fridge!
Rainbow walls: cover your walls in CONNETIX
Symmetry fun: take turns in being the leader and create a pattern for someone (sibling, friend, parent) to copy on the other side of the cornice.

CONNETIX are not only perfect for exploring magnetism, they are an amazing open-ended educational resource for children of all ages, abilities and interests. CONNETIX are more than just toys – they provide STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) learning opportunities through PLAY! Children will explore light, balance, height, measurement, shape, colours….and MAGNETISM! As well as developing social and emotional skills, alongside creativity and imagination. Check out our other blogs to find out just how much CONNETIX have to offer!

CONNETIX

The CONNETIX Team of Play Experts include masters qualified teachers, early childhood educators, industry specialists and dedicated parents who are all passionate about the benefits of open-ended play, STEAM learning and quality resources, bringing knowledge, experience and love of all things CONNETIX to everything they share.

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