Smartmax My First Animal Train
(Smartmax $32.99)
Kids can assemble this plastic train with magnetic rods that connect the front and backend of the bright green engine, and three cars. Then the cars click together with the large magnetic balls that fit between them. Similarly, the animals, two elephants, and a lion are fitted together with stout magnetic rods and the engineer stands in the locomotive on a marked foot pad. Smartmax has created a versatile train set that needs no tracks. However, we found that kids have difficulty pulling the train cars apart, once they are built. The powerful magnetic rods require a lot more hand strength to separate than to put together. Also, the blue cage car (for the lion, no doubt) needs to be filled with the lion, before putting the train together. We’re not sure how long this will stay interesting. It’s marked 1-5, but we would say this is more like an older 2 -3 year old toy that will have limited interest to 5s and most 4s.
Ages: Older toddlers, Preschoolers
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2017
