If your kids love magnetic tiles but you can’t face one more tower crashing to the floor while you’re mid-cup-of-tea, this post is for you.

These are some of the ways we use magnetic tiles at our place that don’t involve building anything at all (OK... one of them involves stacking, but it’s on a window and it looks really lovely so we’re letting that one slide).

Each activity is simple to set up, often totally child-led, and still packed with opportunities for language, creativity and problem-solving.

You’ll notice I’ve included a little “what to say” section for each idea. And just to say – these aren’t meant to be quizzes. We often feel like we need to ask kids questions all the time while they play – What colour is that? How many? What shape? – but constant questions can feel a bit like a test. What really helps language grow is when we just comment on what our child’s doing. That’s what teaches them how language works – and makes play feel more like play.

So here we go – 8 magnetic tile ideas that don’t require building (mostly).

1. Nature press

Collect a few leaves, petals or interesting bits of nature and press them between two tiles. The clear ones work best, but any will do. Stick them up on the fridge and admire your mini gallery.

Make it trickier: Try sorting them by size or colour. You could even challenge your child to find something “soft and green” or “rough and brown”.

What to say: 
Lots of describing words work great here.  
“This leaf feels really bumpy”  
“Those petals are very delicate”

2. Giant board game

Lay tiles out in a path and turn it into a board game. Roll a dice and jump along the tiles until you reach the finish. Add challenges to some tiles if you like – hop like a frog, do a twirl, whisper a silly word...

Make it trickier: Use two dice and practise adding. Or make tiles lead to different paths with a yes/no question or a choice – “Go this way if you like cats!”

What to say:  

Heaps of opportunities to model counting here.

“You landed on the green tile – big jump!”  
“Rolling the dice... it’s a six”  

3. Window stained glass (yes, technically building)

Stack tiles on the window to create colourful patterns. The light streaming through makes it feel a bit magical – kids often get completely absorbed in this.

Make it trickier: Try creating a rainbow. You could also explore symmetry – whatever you do on one side, do on the other.

What to say: 
“Red and blue on top of each other... that’s made purple”  
“The sunlight’s turning the carpet all spotty”  
“You’ve made a whole line of yellow – that looks like sunshine”

4. Colour mixing

Layer tiles together and look through them to see what colours you can create. It’s so simple, but little ones often find it completely fascinating.

Make it trickier: Ask your child to predict what will happen before they combine two tiles. You could also challenge them to make specific colours, like orange or brown.

What to say: 
“You’ve put yellow and blue together – I can see green”  
“The tiles look darker when you stack them”  
“Your face looks blue!”

5. Matching game with whiteboard markers

Write big letters on one set of tiles and small letters on another, and let your child match them up. You can also try shapes, numbers, or little pictures and their starting sound.

Make it trickier: Try spelling short words or putting letters in alphabetical order. You could even draw simple pictures and match them to the word – like a picture of a sun and the word ‘sun’.

What to say: 
“That’s the capital A and that’s the little one – they look a bit different”  
“You’re lining up all the letters in order”  
“You matched cat with the picture – nice one”

6. Hide and seek tiles

Hide a few magnetic tiles around the room and send your child off to find them. You can keep it simple, or give clues like “It’s near something soft” or “It’s hiding under something we sit on”.

Make it trickier: Give positional clues using words like behind, next to, under. Or make it a timed challenge – can you find all the red tiles in under a minute?

What to say: 
“You found that one under the cushion”  
“That one was peeking out behind the curtains”  
“There’s still one hiding... somewhere low down...”

7. Line 'em up races

Lie the tiles in  2 long lines on a flat surface, leaving empty space between them as the 'track'.  Race cars, marbles or balls down the track - the tiles act a little like the barriers do at a bowling alley. 

Make it trickier: Add in curves, turns or tunnels. You could even time each race and see which design is fastest.

What to say:
“Your car zoomed right to the end”  
“This side is a bit wonky – let’s see if the ball still rolls”  
“You added a corner – that’ll make it trickier”

8. Colour sort scavenger hunt

Lay out a few magnetic tiles of different colours and challenge your child to find something around the house that matches each one.

Make it trickier: Try finding things that match two colours, or things that are a certain texture and colour – like “something red and soft”.

What to say:
“You found a sock that matches the purple tile perfectly”  
“That’s a tricky colour – it’s kind of blue, kind of green”  
“You’ve lined them up by colour – looks great”

Want more play ideas like this?

Follow me on Instagram @zaziplays where I share quick, practical ideas to help support your child’s development through play.