GraviTrax JUNIOR Starter-Set: Jungle

GraviTrax has been a very popular toy in my household for the last few years. In fact, when I compare this toy to others that we have purchased and reviewed over the past few years, this is one that continues to get taken out of the closet, even a few years down the road.

My youngest son Lincoln always had issues making all the pieces in standard GraviTrax work, and always felt a bit left out when the rest of us were building massive structures and long tracks. Now, with his own GraviTrax Junior set, he can have bite-sized fun just for him.

Let me stress before I go any further that this is not a toy for older children, nor does this replace any of the GraviTrax you own – standard GraviTrax, from an adult perspective, is still the superior product and what i suggest buying if your kids are 8 years of age or older. For those younger fans, however, this is the PERFECT product.

GraviTrax junior is a bit chunkier than standard GraviTrax, allowing young kids with small hands lots of surface area to grab and place colourful parts to build their own marble adventures. THe marbles themselves are also slightly larger too, and are made of hard, matte plastic as opposed to solid metal ball bearings. Everything in this box is designed with younger kids in mind, and the production value here is phenomenal.

The box also includes a few animal standees, plants, and more that don’t add to the functionality of the track, but do allow for kids to get creative with the tracks they are creating. It was fun watching and listening to my youngest explain how his marble track was built specifically to pass by jungle animals, plants and more.

When he first opened the set, I assumed those additional, non-track pieces would be tossed aside and rarely used. I was pleasantly surprised to see him incorporate those pieces into each and every track he built. While not all kids will take this approach, I think it’s great to get these additional, “fluff” pieces in the box to enhance their childlike curiosity and imagination.

There weren’t a ton of options for my kid in this box, but it was cool to see a variation of the lift here where kids can press a button to lift a ball onto the track to get it started. There was also a variation of the hammer accessory that knocks a ball further along the track. This is very faithful to the hammer released in the regular set, which my youngest was VERY excited about!

Overall, I’m looking forward to more of these GraviTrax Junior sets to be released. This is a great way for younger kids to get excited about marble tracks, use their imagination, and even learn some introductory STEM concepts. It’s a great toy, and one your younger kids are really going to enjoy!