Omagles are quite possibly, the greatest toy for helping children develop their imagination and creativity because they foster a type of play known in the psychological development community as “Free Play”.
What is Free Play?
Free Play is the type of play that does not have overarching rules like soccer or baseball has. Children have to make up their own rules and become more creative. Studies have shown that if you take two groups of children, where one group is playing a game with some pre-existing rules, and the other is “free playing”, the free playing group will score MUCH higher on creativity assessments.
One great article you should read about this topic was put out by Scientific American Mind called, The Serious Need For Play. It’s definitely worth reading.
How Can Omagles Help Foster Free Play?
Omagles are a building tool that allow children to build almost anything, as you can see from a few examples taken from their instruction manual.
During my own childhood I sold my first glass of lemonade from a lemonade cart I made out of Omagles. My brother built his first stage which he performed on (he’s now a professonal magician for the Ringling Brothers). And we even built a replica of the old Gladiator shooter challenge and obstacle course.
Basically the opportunities are endless.
Whether you’ve got a little “princess” who wants to build a castle, with a draw bridge, and then have her little brother err… Knight In Shining armor ward off the evil Dragon… or build race cars to race down a hill, or a thousand other ideas, Omagles give your child the foundation for creating it all.
Omagles are the truly perfect toy for Free Play.
They aren’t the cheapest toy out there, but they’ll outlast any battery operated fad for generations. In fact I still have my set of Omagles I had as a kid and just pulled them out of my Mother’s garage to expose to my son yesterday. And even at 2 1/2 it completely captivated him for nearly 2 hours as his little brain went to work building all sorts of stuff.
The only draw back from Omagles is that they are a bit hard to find. You can find some on Ebay every now and then, but I’d also recommend checking out http://omagles.net/Maininfo.htm as they seem to have a little better prices.
Whether you’re looking for the next hit Christmas gift, or your child has an upcoming birthday, I promise you they’ll love a set or two of Omagles. You’ll never get more for your money then these toys will give you… and I think almost every other child who had Omagles growing up would tell you the same thing.
Go get some…. no seriously, why haven’t you gone and got them yet 
Other Resources For Developing Creativity
If your serious about doing everything you can to develop your child’s creativity I recommend you do two things…
- Watch Sir Ken Robinson’s Ted video on how we’re ruining creativity in our youth.
- Download my free report, Unlocking Your Child’s Full Potential for 6 mental imprinting strategies for childhood development
The Serious Need for Play
We cannot find these anywhere to purchase, any other suggestions?
I put a link to a store in the post, did it not work for you? If not, let me know as there are some people on eBay selling them that I might be able to connect you with.
Hi.
the website http://www.omagles.net is not being maintained at the present time, however, we still have available a few of the super duper sets, you can contact me at kidscareusa@gmail.com for further information.
Thanks
Hello my name is Brian, I am looking for a set of Omagles for my son. I had a set when I was a kid and had a blast with them. Regretfully my mother got rid of them a long time ago. If you could help me out with this I would greatly appreciate it. If you are selling them or know who is? My e-mail is **edited out
Thank you
Brian,
Unfortunately we have been unable to find a source for them. We’ll let you know if we do though.
Hi All,
I am taking orders for a few sets that I have, please contact me at kidscareusa@gmail.com, I am putting together a big order that will be drop-shipped from the company to each individual to reach on time before the holidays, so please feel free to contact me with any questions
I have a set of Omagles by Developmental Playcraft, distributed by Century Products 1988. 118 pieces, including two panels, four wheels, etc. Great condition. In original box with instruction booklet. Happy to take pictures if you’re interested. Contact me.
-Jackie jaxin@att.net
I cant find these anywhere and the site wont come up for me. Any ideas beside Ebay?
Hi All,
I got a special shipping rate for the next four weeks, please contact me to get a new set of omagles at kidscareusa@gmail.com, while supplies last.
FYI–I sold my set of Omagles. Nice to know I purchased such a creativity-fostering toy for my son when I was a young parent. Because of the demand, you can bet I’ll keep my eyes peeled for them at every yard sale I visit. There are some great articles concerning creativity on this site. At my place of employ, I emphasized this tenet: “WE MUST CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE MISTAKES ARE ALLOWED.”
Hello Omagles Fans!
I think I have a good solution, I agree with all of the comments and am delighted to come across this site. I have the last, from what I gather of this old time toy.
I have bought 500 sets and I have spent the last few weeks promoting free play and providing a platform to purchase this toy again at http://www.omaglestoys.com.
Omagles are magic as they allow children to get lost in creativity as someone once said – “Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.”
Today I created this page on the Art of Play if you would like to have a look
http://pinterest.com/omagles/omagles-toys-the-art-of-play/
Either way it is great to read ideas from similiar minded people
nurturing ‘Our greatest natural resource” our children! : )
Have a look at this site Diana, and you will see that you can purchase them … http://omaglestoys.com/ click ADD TO CART — Go Luck!