0 to 9 Magnatab

My 3 year old class LOVED it!

I just also purchased both the upper and lower case handwriting and cursive hand writing alphabet ones for my children (5 1/2, 8 and 10 year olds) and for my daycare (2 1/2-5 year olds). They love the magnetic aspect and their interest is held for quite some time (they’ll practice on these for anywhere from a 1/2 hour to an hour just for fun)! These are highly effective in encouraging and establishing pre-cursive writing skills, basic fine motor skills and refining existing writing skills, at each stage of development for the age groups I’ve mentioned above. I wish I’d had these when I was overseeing the preschool and lower school curriculum for two private schools for five years prior to starting my daycare/homeschool co-op. I’ve had these number practice and the upper and lower case alphabet handwriting ones for a number of years (before purchasing the cursive ones now as well) they are a favorite amongst the children I care for and they still look practically new. My youngest has been writing (handwriting) all the letters of the alphabet and these numbers since she was 3 1/2, greatly due to these products, in conjunction with number and handwriting work sheets and “write and wipe” products, after her introduction to handwriting using these products (the same goes for the children in my care). She’s already writing cursive letters of her own volition after using the cursive ones for only a few days, with no other cursive writing practice sources. I highly recommend these!

I use this material in my Montessori classroom, and there is rarely a time when there is not a child using it. When introducing it to a child, I teach them to find the "1" and then follow the arrows and I insist upon the importance of always tracing the numbers in the correct directions. It's the perfect follow-up to the tactile sandpaper numbers, because it adds the skill of holding a writing utensil when tracing, while still providing guides and the magnets as an extra attention grabber. I also have the kids "erase" the magnets with their finger the same way the traced them, so they get that extra sensory experience as well as double practice with tracing each number. My only complaint is that the magnet pen is a little bit too strong, and sometimes pulls up magnets that are not right under it. This means that sometimes the whole number gets completed without the child having to drag the pen all the way around. This is especially an issue with the number 8. I just implore the kids to make sure they trace the whole number, even if it tries to finish itself first! Overall, I love this material and so do the kids.

I bought this for my four year old son (three at the time) per recommendation of his preschool teachers. Another child had brought this toy in & he enjoyed playing with it for a while. It is great for teaching him to write his numbers....as long as we don't lose the magnetic pen...which we recently have.The only cons I have found are that sometimes a few of the magnetic balls get stuck & won't go back down which frustrated my kids when they want to "rewrite" their number. I think this has only happened to 2 balls in the year & a half we have owned this. My twin 2 year old girls also enjoy playing with this but if they aren't bring shown how to "write" with the pen, they just scribble & pull the magnetic balls up randomly, which may defeat the educational value of learning to write, but at 2 years old it is actually encouraging to hold a pen & work on their fine motor skills. This is a great educational toy but don't expect your kids to be writing numbers on paper after playing with this for a few hours!

We bought this for our 3 & 4 yo, they both love it. This helps teach them to hold a pen and they are able to follow the arrows with little to no assistance. This helps alleviate wasting a lot of paper. Must buy for anyone looking to teach their children to write the alphabet

My 3 year old and 5 year old love this and it has been a great tool to help them learn their numbers. I even like to sit down and draw my numbers on it. It is very therapeutic. It has kept them occupied for short periods of time and is educational! I ended up buying this because my nephew got it for his birthday and it's been great to take to restaurants, on trips and anything else you can think of.

Doesn't exactly flow for writing, as it seems more fascinating for my 3 year old and his 5 year old cousin to poke in the balls individually. However, it is still a rather amusing product for them. and since they already know the names of numbers, they seem to enjoy taking turns and playing companionably with it.If the user is intentional it can serve the purpose of tracing shapes. But the attractive action of the balls sort of sidetracks from the main purpose. Good as reinforcer though but not as main handwriting material. Based on this, I believe the free draw magnatab may be a good product to consider.

This was a Christmas present for our daughter this year, and it is a hit. The design is cool, and the small, metallic balls snap right in to place as she traces her numbers. There are smaller, step by step instructions (the numbers 1, 2, and 3, with arrows) that help the child learn the proper movement in writing their numbers. This tablet is also nicely sized and sturdy. We love it.