The Mega Ball Run from Smartmax is an engaging toy with a hundred possibilities of objects and contraptions to make and play with. I’ve teamed up with the brand to bring you a full review of the best Smartmax magnetic building set.

My boys are pretty imaginative, and I feel like they’re always creating new contraptions around the house. Its been a long winter and over the past few months of playing indoors with the same old toys, I’ve been noticing a few more of my kitchen tools disappearing. My spatulas, rolling pin, and egg beaters, mostly. They are always trying to build and create with what they can find, and so as soon as they got their hot little hands on this Smartmax Mega Ball Run, I knew they would just go to town!

What’s in the Smartmax magnetic building set?

This box contains 74 pieces of magnetic balls, rods, tunnels, connectors, spouts, and a slide. Everything is safe, high-quality, brightly colored, and appropriately sized for small hands.

The thing about this set that makes it different than others is the magnetic component to all the pieces. The ends of the rods are magnetic, and each of the balls are magnetized so that they become the center connectors for the structures, as well as the rolling act. No matter your child’s age or ability, they can get started right away by connecting balls and rods to create new and multi-dimensional shapes and designs. What’s the recommended age for this magnetic building set?

Having small toys around the house with a crawling baby is a huge concern for us because our baby is still putting everything into her mouth. While this set is safe for ages 3+ and for play ages 5+, if the pieces were left out accidentally, or a ball went missing, I can rest easy knowing that these balls are NON-SWALLOWABLE. Eating magnets is a frightening thought, but the balls are 1.8-inch in diameter and all of the pieces are sonic-welded, meeting the toughest safety requirements. From the get-go, we started making fun shapes and letters on the floor. The neat thing about these pieces are that they can be just as fun on the ground with young children that are just learning their letters and shapes.

For this reason, I think the Mega Ball Run set is very accurately intended for to be safe for ages 3+ and for play at 5+. My three-year-old was happy to connect and create while my five-year-old was driven and excited to really build and explore. This set is different than the other SmartMax sets because it contains tunnel pieces, connectors, and a slide that allow you to make a path for the balls to take. This lets you take stagnant pieces into motion and the possibilities of what you can create are endless!

We were all relieved to find a colorful building guide inside the box. My boys are great at following directions when there are picture instructions in front of them, and these offered great ideas of ways to connect and examples of what to build. What can you build with this Smartmax magnetic set? As we started building more things, we wished there were more pieces in the box (particularly more of the x-shaped bars because they are so structurally strong), but this only made us think more creatively about how to make our vision come to life. Plus, we always have the option of buying other SmartMax sets, such as extension sets, curved bars, or just more basic piece sets. There are even some SmartMax Power Vehicles that would be a blast to incorporate. All of the SmartMax sets are compatible with each other and easy to find online. We also wish that the balls were magnetically stronger so that they could handle the weight of taller structures without collapsing, but perhaps that would make all of the pieces too heavy or too strong for small children to pull apart. We’ve been able to create such exciting structures over the past few days! Every time we open the box, we come up with something totally new, but always imaginative and creative. My kids have enjoyed discovering new ways to safely use magnets and entire set feels extremely durable and long-lasting.

Buy it: You can purchase this SmartMax magnetic building set online and at Amazon.com. The Mega Ball Run is a winner!

Disclosure: I (Camille) received the SmartMax Mega Ball Run at no cost to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.