Marvelous Marble race

When I was a kid we had this awesome set called "Marble Works", Mom bought it through Tupperware.  We played with this all the time watching the marbles race through the mazes we had set up watching to see what section our marble would come through next, always wondering where it would end up.

So this fall, while skimming through a ToysRus flyer, when I noticed a Deluxe Marble Race advertised I knew I had to get it....for the girls of course ;)
So I rushed to the store and bought one for Christmas and because they were such a great price I bought one as a gift for a birthday party as well.
My cousins all LOVED the one we gave as a gift (in October) and it took every ounce of strength in me not to pull ours out of hiding.
Christmas morning Ainsley was super excited that "Santa just knew she HAD to have one".

The only issue with this set is that it requires focus on instructions...or lots of trial and error if you're a stubborn boy   man....and it comes with a handful of marbles (not ideal for small hands/mouths).  So my girls have been waiting for Mom or Dad to have time to sit and play for awhile & help out.  BUT Mom refuses to play in a messy playroom (so mean I know) and usually they get distracted while "cleaning".

Anyway yesterday was too brutally cold to play outside and I was tired of looking at the messy playroom so we ventured upstairs to clean.  When all was put away I still had lots of time before supper prep so we all sat down to play with the marble race.

While pulling each piece out we matched them to the instruction sheet comparing sizes, shapes & differences.
Then we each took turns building a section from the ground up making sure that our sections intertwined accordingly. Counted sections as we set them up. While I asked tons of questions ...why? why not? what will happen if? etc.
We got one race all set up and we split the coloured marbles amongst us to race. 
I asked why each kid picked the starting spot they did?  Why did they think theirs would be fast?  Where did they think their marble would speed up or slow down? What made them think this?
The kids had great answers and it was fun watching the lil hamsters running in their heads.
I am happy to be able to relive something from my childhood vicariously through my children (and others too...I was watching Noa after school).

I think the Marble Race was a fun way to experience Math & Physics as well as team work.