Products |
Magnetix
By
Published: Jan 01, 2007
Category:
Baby and Children's Gifts and Toys
Look around a restaurant that caters to families. See all the children who have just been seated. They’re happily coloring with the crayons and paper the restaurant has thoughtfully provided.
Look again in ten minutes. Those kids are finished drawing. They are bored.
Look again in fifteen minutes. Those bored kids? Now they’re loud, rude, ill-mannered.
And you think, quoting the comic, “God made small children cute, lest we eat them.”
Our daughter was never in the rude crew. And not because she lacks the badass gene. She is saved from painful public performances because, long ago, her parents went to the clue store and bought a clue. And that clue had one word on it.
Magnetix.
Magnetix are colored plastic building pieces with magnets inside. Kids use the magnetic attraction to slap the pieces together in whatever shapes they can dream up — for minute after delightful minute after glorious minute.
Do kids learn anything about, say, magnetism? Ours hasn’t. But who cares? She’s fully occupied. So involved that, on occasion, we have to go “Tower to Helen” to get her to pay attention to her french fries.
And did I say we sometimes play with these things ourselves? And why not — fun is fun.
Which may be why Magnetix are huge sellers, year after year.
Small objects and small children — trouble, right? Yes and no. We told our daughter at an early age not to put stuff in her mouth, and she heard us, and she hasn’t. Other kids hear that same message and open wide.
The lawyer I almost was says I should tell you about the product recall — and emphasize that it was for Magnetix magnetic building sets sold from September, 2003 through March, 2006. From the Consumer Product Safety Commission press release:
To date, CPSC and Mega Brands are aware of one death, one aspiration and 27 intestinal injuries. Emergency surgical intervention was needed in all but one case. At least 1,500 incidents of magnets separating from the building pieces have been reported. Although the hazard was initially thought to be a problem primarily for children younger than six, it has since been learned that at least ten injuries involved children between the ages of 6 and 11 years old.
If a child swallows more than one tiny powerful magnet detached from the plastic building pieces or one such magnet and a metallic object, the objects can attract to each other inside the intestines and cause perforations and/or blockage, which can be fatal, if not treated immediately.
But — and let me emphasize: BUT — those sets should all be off the shelves by now. In April of 2007, Mega Brands announced that “sets currently at retail better retain magnets due to improved quality control, material and design changes. These products are not included in the recall.” Further assurance: Amazon.com stocks Magnetix.
Just to be as cautious as the most safety-obsessed parent, I have given the suggested ages along with the product link. They’re a guide, at best; only you can assess your child. But it seems to me that if you limit Magnetix play to “restaurant time,” you’ve not only eliminated the last possibility of an accident — I mean, you do watch your kid, don’t you? — but you’ve created a special toy.
And special toys, in our experience, are good through at least the main course.
To buy Magnetix Primary Colors (155 larger pieces, Age 3 and up) from Amazon.com, click here.
To buy the Magz-X Construction Kit (106 pieces, Ages 6-12) from Amazon.com, click here.
To buy Magnetix Hot Pinks and Glitter (70 pieces, Ages 6 and up) from Amazon.com, click here.
To buy a basic Magnetix Construction kit (130 pieces, Ages 5 and up) from Amazon.com, click here.
