Quercetti Toys are a fantastic line of educational toys from Italy.
The company describes its philosophy as follows:
Quercetti Intelligent Toys are specifically targeted for the ages 3 to 12 and are designed to encourage reasoning, creativity, mobility skills and cooperation among children. Each toy stimulates equally the right side of the brain (for fantasy, intuition, imagination) and the left side (for logic, math, language) to promote harmony and interrelation between the two sides and to teach children to think in a complete way. Our toys are never repetitive but always inspire new discoveries and inventions, helping children acquire new precious talents for their adult life. In brief, Quercetti Intelligent Toys help children's brains develop to the best of their potential.

One of our favourites from the line is the collection of Skyrail Marble Runs. There can't be a better toy to combine physics and fun for the whole family. Imagine creating your own roller coaster complete with loop-de-loops and hairpin turns; your passenger is a marble (metal or glass) and the only limit is your imagination. You can build the toy in a relatively small space or you can let it impressively take over your playroom or living room. While the toy comes with some basic building plans, and it's probably a good idea to follow one of the plans the first time, the toy is completely open-ended. Once you've basically figured out how it works, you can go wild and experiment, building it as you wish, even looping over chairs and tables if you wish. You're not restricted to "ten designs".
Where does the physics come in? For instance, if you have a loop de loop, you need to make sure that you have built the track to get enough velocity that the marble will go all the way around the loop. If you have sharp curves, you need to make sure your marble isn't going too fast. The metal and glass marbles behave differently because of weight. So, in designing your marble run, you are experiencing the real-life effects of physics forces like gravity, acceleration, kinetic energy, centrifugal force and friction.
There are various versions of this toy, some smaller, some larger, some with suspension strings and with motorized elevator available as well. And last but not least, we just find it's a great toy to have going during those wonderful two weeks off at Christmas and New Years. Fun to tinker with, fun to just watch the marbles go, it will be a focal point for your family and guests!
Reader Comments