Moms Wear Your Tees Blog: wooden marble run

Oh! Toys is the home of really special toys. Oh! Toys carries toys that are not widely carried so they are great for getting unique, hard to find gifts. All of the toys I have gotten from Oh! Toys have been really great for encouraging creativity and full engagement of my children's interest in activities such as constructing, playing, and pretending.

The owner of Oh! Toys, discovered the Swiss toy Cuboro in a gift store about 13 years ago and it actually changed his life! He says, "Originally bought as a buliding block and marble run toy gift for my young daughters, Cuboro wound up fascinating me as much as it did them -- for its wonderful design and it's developmental and educational qualities -- and its ability to totally absorb one's attention for extended periods of time! -- and I wound up starting Oh! Toys to help promote Cuboro in the U.S." He is still on his mission to spread the joy of Cuboro!

My family has been fortunate enough to try out ourselves. It is really a great toy because it is fun for the whole family. You and the kids use individual wooden blocks to build a marble track. They have all kinds of shaped blocks where the marble can drop in and spin or run over or through the different blocks. Cuboro provides endless possibilities to build so every time you can create something completely new. I think it is really an educational toy because they have to think about and plan how the pieces can fit together. It is just as engaging for me and my husband and we often find ourselves competing for certain blocks and getting to place the next one we had in mind when we build together! It is also great in that as the kid grows older they can build more and more complex arrangements for all the pretty shiny marbles to run through. My daughter's first creation was quite simple and now they can get pretty big and sprawling!

Want to see Cuboro in action? Check these out:

GIVEAWAY DETAILS: One winner will receive one Oh! Toys $150 electronic Gift Card code.

Giveaway Dates: October 25- November 25, 2010 Midnight CST

To Enter This Giveaway:
Do one or more of the following and post a comment below about each action you took. Each comment will count as a separate entry so your chances of winning increase.

1. Share this giveaway on Facebook and leave a comment with the URL
2. Share this giveaway on Twitter and comment with the URL
Enter to #win a $150 Gift Card to Oh! Toys #Giveaway- Wooden Toys, Cuboro Marble Run and More http://t.co/6XjCnsF @ohtoys @MWYT
3. Share this giveaway in a linky and comment with the URL
4. Grab this giveaway button for your blog or website and comment with the URL

5. Blog about this giveaway with a link to Oh! Toys http://www.oh-toys.com
a link to this giveaway, and a jpg or video of Cuboro (this is worth three entries so leave three comments with the URL)

Giveaway Rules:
GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!Winner selected through random.org- #169, mamawj.

Oh! Toys did provide me with a Cuboro in the hopes that I would share my honest opinions and the opinions expressed are my own.

I like marble runs but I love the Cugolino Wooden Marble Run. It is awesome because it is more than just watching the marbles roll. It is building. It is a great collection of wooden blocks in different shapes and colors that can be arranged in endless possibilities. As you can tell, it is fun for the parent as well as the kids! And to me, that not only shows that the toy is engaging the brain and developing it but also provides a fun way to interact with your kids and let them see you building and creating too! My kids and I have tons of fun with the Cugolino wooden marble run.

Cugolino wooden marble run is specifically aimed at children 3 and over. Cugolino is free form, allowing for not only different shapes and colors, but a range of new concepts that come out in the supplemental sets like Cugolino Pop (with little trampoline blocks), Cugolino Magic (with hidden magnets), and Cugolino Hit (last year’s new set, which uses physics to create a Rube Goldberg-esque catapult for the marbles). And coming soon, musical blocks with built-in, but interchangeable chimes that ring as the marble passes over them. How cool is that?!

Check it out in action!

Why buy it: Experience the thrill of marbles rolling through your construction, the effects of gravity and unforseen effects. Cugolino places no boundaries and needs no rulebook. Just unpack and start playing!

Features of Cugolino Wooden Marble Run:
* Holds child's attention, even those with ADHD or autistic issues.
* Engages the child’s brain on solving the kinetic challenge of making a track, however simple or complex, that will successfully allow the marble to run the distance.
* Beautifully made and extremely durable
* Super fun for children and parents to play together.
* They grow with the child – that is, a 3 year old will play with it in a certain way, then in a more sophisticated way at 4, etc. – up to 12 or beyond).
* You can add on some of the cool sets like Cugolino Pop to keep challenging your child. (Or drop hints like crazy for grandparents, aunts and uncles as the holidays approach for those add-on sets!)

Cugolino wooden marble run is unique and really encourages creativity, planning, and learning all at the same time. I love how the natural wooden blocks fit together in all kinds of configurations to create sliding, bouncing, and twisting runs for the shiny marbles. Looking for a fun, educational toy for a Christmas present? You know what I suggest- The Cugolino Wooden Marble Run from Oh! Toys.