Magnaef Magnetic Drawing Toy

Naef is a Swiss toy company. Founded in 1954 by Kurt Naef (who died in 2006) the company is still a family business.

Kurt Naef trained as a carpenter and many of his early toys were made of wood, and the company still makes many wooden toys.

Made by Naef since the early 1990s, and still available from them, this magnetic toy is playfully called Magnaef. The circular plastic board contains a number of hidden ball bearings, each concealed in a slots that slightly tapers. As you move the magnetic scribe across the surface, ball bearings are pulled upwards, and then stay in place because of the taper - effectively they get stuck! Once you have finished with your design, you slide your finger over the surface and the ball bearings fall down out of sight again.