National Geographic 100-Piece Magnetic Marble Run

The fun starts as high as you can reach. With the National Geographic 100-Piece Magnetic Marble Run ($65), kids can let the imaginations roll, building tracks consisting of zig-zags, change-ups, coasters, and catchers. Unlike a floor-based stacking marble run, this is a magnetic wall-mountable marble run, where pieces adhere to any magnetic surface, making it easily removable. Once the track is set up, just drop in the marbles and let gravity take care of the rest, as kids watch how their tracks affect the direction, velocity, and speed of the marbles. This toy helps kids feel constructive, and gives them a desire to optimize their designs. Though this set comes with several different types of pieces, older kids may find that they want to expand their sets to see how far they can take their creation.