(Photo: Ravensburger)
Experience the power of gravity with GraviTrax, the epic marble run toy. This interactive track system provides endless activities and challenges for any STEM enthusiast. Design and build marble racetracks on your own, or by following the GraviTrax design guides. Experiment with gravity, magnetism, and kinetics to launch your marbles to the finish line. Kids can discover how the laws of physics affect the path their marble takes with curves, crosses, free-falls and even a cannon. Experimenting with different heights and angles will alter the speed of the marble. The open-ended building concept offers endless possibilities to design a different track every time you play. Bring the race to the next level with expansion packs and action accessories for more features and speed.
Enjoy the GraviTrax app as well. (App available for free via Google Play and the Apple store.) Use manual mode in the app to discover the tracks designed by GraviTrax and see how you can build them. The track design guides can be edited and changed in the app as well. You can also build and test your own track ideas before you create them in real life with the app’s detailed building instruction feature. Once your track is complete, you can test your system and use the blueprints to build the actual system with your GraviTrax set. Don’t forget to save your custom tracks as construction plans. Experience your track in action from the ball’s point of view using the Virtual Reality feature. A VR headset is recommended to use this feature.
The GraviTrax set that Ravensburger sent over for us to try out knocked our socks off. The marble run of my childhood pales in comparison to the STEAM powered GraviTrax. Although GraviTrax is recommended for kids 8 years and older, we found that kids of all ages love playing with GraviTrax. However, our younger marble run users were not able to, nor interested in, participating in the design process. We found that the physics and engineering aspects were not compromised by adding the virtual design and track interactivity. The digital aspects incorporated in the app are a great first introduction to design software. The app also allows young engineers to create and use digital blue prints. I was surprised how quickly my 5-year-old was able to become a master GraviTrax engineer.
Breakdown:
- Recommended for kids 8 and up.
- Excellent STEAM value! (Digital Technology, Physics, Engineering, & Design)
- Interactive design process using free app
- Fair price point (GraviTrax Starter Set current MSRP: $59.99, Expansion Sets MSRP: $24.99, and Accessories MSRP:$9.99)
- Starter set is extensive enough to use alone, but expansion products and accessories keeps the fun rolling longer
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