Category: Gifts for Him

Disclaimer – We have received this item for free or on a loan basis for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

I’ve been really looking forward to this advent calendar! As children, we loved making our own toys so this Marble Run from Build Your Own Kits.  The kit arrives in flat form, with 24 days’ worth of instructions under advent windows which children can open and use piece-by-piece to build their own marble run. The kit is made entirely of engineered cardboard and there’s no gluing, sharp objects or tools needed.  If you want to, you can build the whole kit in one go without opening the windows by using the instructions which are also included. In the interest of doing a review, that’s what I opted for, and had great fun in doing so!

The enforced cardboard pieces are easily popped out but for little fingers, there is a cardboard too.  The instructions are without words, so even smaller children can read them, but I would suggest that the age 8+ years on the box is about right, as it took me a few turns of the paper to be able to work out how some of the pieces go together.  The instructions say that it’s 3.5/5 in difficulty and I would agree. Some of the parts fit together with ease, and there are steps which are repeated so once you get the hang of it, you can just go on and do the next part.  It’s incredibly rewarding though, even if it is a bit fiddly at times. It took me about 90 minutes to put it all together non-stop on my own and that was with scratching my head for a few minutes on one part!

The Marble Run builds up in stages with square structures on levers and balances. It’s a fabulous way to learn about physics practically as you have to get the pieces fitting together correctly for the whole kit to balance and fit together. The levers at each side move the trays inside the box, which is on a frame and therefore allows the users to adjust the level of the trays to move the marble around the course.

From the start, it’s very easy to understand the instructions. Even without words, you can work out how to put the pieces together because the instructions show you which sheets of cut-outs you need, plus they pieces are numbered. Where there are multiple pieces that fit together, they are colour coded too, so you can hold up the model against the instructions and see how they fit together.  Once you have all the trays and the frame made up, the instructions tell you how to put it together, and include a box for the marbles as well! It was actually quite easy to put the frame and trays together, and once I did, it was obvious how it all worked.  The game is quite tricky because the marbles get stuck in the holes. The object of the game is to get the marble from start to finish without getting stuck, and although it’s difficult at first, it becomes compulsive to try and get the knack. There’s also some different templates to use once the game is finished so that everyone can play and no one gets bored with the same route.

The whole game is really robust, so there’s no chance of breaking it unless you use real force. I think this is a great advent calendar for older children or for parents to sit down with younger children every night and assemble together. It’s great for dexterity too – I know my grandfather would have loved this as an advent calendar because it’s such a brain teaser, plus the game at the end is a challenge for children and adults alike, especially in winter. Great way of getting children off of screens too!

I absolutely loved doing this kit, and would happily give the advent calendar as a gift or try out some of the other kits on the Build Your Own Kits website: www.buildyourownkits.com The Marble Run Advent Calendar kit is available from late September for £24.99.