Disclaimer: We were sent the Build Your Own Marble Run kit for the purpose of this post. All words, opinions and images are my own and may not be copied without my permission.
This week the boys (and I) have been busy having fun with the Build Your Own Marble Run Kit from BuildYourOwnKits.com so we are going to tell you how we got on.
Who are Build Your Own Kits?
Build Your Own Kits are the proud creators of a range of cardboard projects designed to inspire fun and creativity in the minds of our youngsters. Based in Hampshire and part of Paper Engine Ltd, the cardboard and paper kits encourage children to put down their tablets and devices. Take it from me it works!
Build Your Own Marble Run Kit
Over the years we have had numerous Marble Run sets starting with a wooden set when Will was young, through to plastic ones for Lillie, Ollie and now Albie but none have captured the imagination quite so much as the Build Your Own Marble Run Kit has. On Monday afternoon, Ollie, Albie and I set to work on building the Marble Run between us. Ollie and Albie got a little over-excited with extracting the cardboard and paper parts from the sheets so it took us around 3.5 hours by the time we had put all the pieces into the order of what we would need (Mummy likes things in order!!)
What’s included in the kit?
- 153-piece slot together cardboard kit
- 16 press-out sheets (143 press-out parts)
- 10 x swirly glass marbles
- 2 x detailed instruction booklets
- Detailed video instructions available online at www.buildyourownkits.com
Building the Marble Run
The kit which costs £22.99, is aimed at children 8+ to adults. Albie is 7 years old, and Ollie is 10 years old. Whilst they both did well to work out the pieces and provide them in the correct order, they did find slotting some of the pieces together a little tricky, but they did the building as and when they were able to (and not falling out over it).
They found building the main construction out of strong cardboard far easier than the paper components, which were a little more delicate for their impatient hands.
We all found the guide book really easy to follow with colour coding and symbols so there could be no mistaking which pieces needed slotting where. When the boys could not add a piece themselves, they would direct me exactly where it needed to go, so they felt like they were doing the building even if they weren’t doing the physical part.
Brains in Gear
What really impressed me was how both of the boys were quickly able to see how the marble run worked. Their logical brains could already see the parts which hadn’t yet been added to the construction.
Marble Run Complete!
With the Marble Run complete it stands an impressive 50cm tall and feels very sturdy. I am pleased to say that it didn’t fall apart when I carried it upstairs to the boy’s bedroom for them to continue playing with and a week later it is still standing tall and providing lots of fun. It has even made the Beans question whether they could create their own Marble Run from scratch which is amazing.
Also Available
Other kits available in the range currently include:
- Build Your Own Telescope Kit
- Build Your Own Plane Launcher Kit
- Build Your Own Microscope Kit
If you buy 2 more kits from their online shop you can save 15% which makes them ideal for your Christmas shopping savings.
To read a detailed review on the Build Your Own Plane Launcher Kit head over to my fellow blogger A Moment With Franca.
I wouldn’t have known that was made from cardboard from your photo. That looks great. A good rainy day activity. Or lockdown activity!
Yes exactly!! Get one in, I think we’ll have lots more rainy days and possibly another lockdown too 🙁
My kids love marble runs. We have a solid wooden one that is enormous and great fun. This sounds like a nice big sturdy one.
We have had so many different styles over the years, we never get bored of them.
This looks cool, what a fun piece of kit. I bet Jack would really enjoy putting this together!
It’s a great activity to do together too.
oh wow ! i totally love this set! i think its uber cool and will help with the creativity plus i can see hours of fun there too kind regards Pati Robins @ style squeeze blog
Yes, it is, I loved doing this as an activity with my boys. We had lots of fun together.
What an amazing review! Build Your Own Marble Run Kit looks great for kids ? My nephew and niece would love this surely?
My boys have already got their eyes on some of the other sets in the range.
This is such a cool idea and I know my girl would love something like this. I had something like this when I was a girl.
Kids love something they can get their teeth stuck into don’t they?
I love marble runs. I had when when I was kid and would play with it all the time. Love that this one is made from card and not plastic
I like that more companies are turning to eco-friendly approaches.