I am sitting watching four boys playing on my carpet during our free play session. Two are six-year-olds, one is a five-year-old and one is almost four. They are happily playing with our Imagimags sets (we have combined a few, as it makes for building much cooler things). There is much chatting and planning and enormous excitement when they succeed in their thinking.
Investing in Imagimags has been a profoundly positive move for our pre-primary and the development of our boys. This has without a doubt become the most sought-after and valuable toy that we have at our school.
There are so many positive aspects to this product and once you list them you realise just how important a role it can play in the growth and development of young children.
Quality and durability: We have 40 Grade R boys who play with our Imagimags every day. During free play, there are a number of younger boys who beg for an opportunity to join in the fun. Our first set was purchased in April 2021 and is still as good as new. The colours do not fade, and the tiles are extremely well-made and robust.
Open-ended toy: If I think of the value of this product as an open-ended toy the list is endless – it is exciting for us as teachers to witness all the different designs and games that our boys come up with when playing with our Imagimags. The tiles are translucent, and the colours are jewel-like – these characteristics stimulate any young child’s imagination. Added to this is the fact that the tiles can be used to build 2D and 3D structures and when you add a few other loose parts like hot wheels, figurines, etc. the sky is truly the limit. We have added a marble run set and a Lego-compatible set to our collection, which has made for even more creativity and fun.
Developmental benefits: Together with the fact that our boys’ imaginations are awakened and stretched, the developmental benefits of this type of open-ended play are vast. When playing with a bigger set cooperative play is encouraged. This not only grows social relations but also encourages good expressive and receptive language skills. Problem-solving, critical thinking, mathematical concepts, creativity, motor planning – the list of areas that benefit from this product is truly endless – and it all happens whilst our boys are having oodles of fun!
Teaching Resource: not only our boys are continuously thinking of new ways to play with our Imagimags. As teachers, we are also coming up with new ways to use them as a teaching resource. They are brilliant as a tool for teaching sequencing, shapes (2D and 3D), working on a vertical surface, and number-related work. We have started using them when teaching phonemic awareness to concretely aid isolation and blending of sounds in words.
As a school, we highly recommend investing in Imagimags as an open-ended toy for your collection – it will be the best decision you make this year, especially for the children in your care.
Liesl Meter
Head of Pre-Primary
St Charles College
Pietermaritzburg