Magnetic Crane & Wooden Railway Set

Load, lift, unload: how the game goes

The train rolls round the track and stops under the crane. Your child winds the magnet down, picks up the cargo, lowers it onto the wagon, then pushes the train on to the next stop. The moment the magnet catches the load is a small triumph at 2.

Older children invent their own routes: load at the crane, carry it round the circuit, come back for more. The level crossing barrier adds a rule to follow, since the train has to wait while it is down.

What a toy crane teaches small hands

Winding the handle with one hand while watching the magnet drop takes real coordination. Lining the magnet up with the load is a lesson in aiming, and a missed pick-up simply means trying again, a little more slowly. The crane also shows plainly how a machine works: turn this, and that moves.

No batteries and no sound effects: everything happens because the child makes it happen, which is why it sits among our Montessori educational toys.

How to build the toy crane layout

There is nothing to glue or screw: join the wooden track pieces to close the circuit, stand the crane over the rails and set the train on the track. Assembled, the layout is 43 x 43 cm and 15 cm high, so it fits on a playmat or a low table.

A tip for a 2-year-old: park the train right under the crane before winding the magnet down. A moving wagon is much harder to load, and stopping first soon becomes part of the game.

Characteristics

• Age: from 2 years
• Assembled track: 43 x 43 x 15 cm
• Locomotive: 6 x 3 x 4.5 cm
• Weight: 0.98 kg
• Wood and magnets
• 2-year guarantee