The Original Blocks and Marbles by Tedco

The Original Blocks and Marbles by Tedco just has to be one of the top ten classic toys for kids (and adults!). It comes with a cloth bag to store the blocks and marbles in and there are no instructions...just follow your imagination for hours of fun designing new paths and drops for the marbles to travel through. It's great fun and the most exciting part is watching your child create new, intricate designs!

No batteries required! No plugs to plug in! The wood is so beautiful and the simplicity of this toy is misleading--it is not simplistic at all! It's wonderful and I'm so glad Josh loves to build and create. When he first starting building paths, they were simple with just one or two paths connected and maybe one or two blocks high. Now, he has gotten so good at building that his creations take on a life of their own! (I have had no hand in helping him and he manages to come up with some pretty elaborate designs without having seen any patterns or previous designs demonstrated for him! He's literally better at this than I am!!!)

This is one of his latest creations. Last week, since I noticed his designs were getting taller and taller, I decided to get his old wooden blocks and integrate them into this set so that he can use them to stack more towers and build with them, instead of using the hollowed out pathways as pillars. I recommend getting the biggest set you can afford because the blocks get used up quickly and once kids get into this, they will certainly want more blocks to build with. You can get this in the standard set with 21 blocks and 8 marbles, the super set with 45 blocks and 14 marbles or the master set with 80 blocks and 20 marbles. We opted for the super set since it was right in the middle. I wish we had gotten the master set, but I didn't want to get that until I was sure Josh liked this toy first. 

This is one of those toys that is just worth every single penny! If you're going to splurge on a nice toy for your child, this is the one to get--it's so dynamic, challenging and fun!

It's a good thing Santa put this under the tree! :)