Anne Taylor
Was your refrigerator covered with randoms words and phrases when you were a kid? If so, odds are they were from a Magnetic Poetry Kit. If you miss creating sonnets on an appliance while waiting for your Hot Pocket to ding, you can get a new kit right now.
The original Magnetic Poetry Kit came out in 1993. It was just a small box full of hundreds of words that were also tiny magnets. Once you stuck them to a metal surface (usually the fridge), you could shuffle them around and create sentences, phrases, and yes, poetry. And they aren’t just for kids—plenty of adults find magnetic poetry a fun way to de-stress after a long day.
The Magnetic Poetry company has come a long way over the last 28 years. It now sells over 100 kits with a variety of themes. We’ve rounded up some of the quirkiest, weirdest, or just plain interesting Magnetic Poetry Kits out there. You’re sure to find one on our list that strikes your fancy.
Table of Contents
The Original Kit
If you’re not sure what we’re talking about, here’s the version that started it all. With over 300 magnetic word tiles included, you’ll find a variety of words perfect for any poem like gorgeous, dream, symphony, and many more.
While the refrigerator door is the most popular place to use this kit, it will work on any magnetic surface, including locker doors, car hoods, and more. This kit is a great tool for parents, teachers, and caregivers who are helping someone learn English.
The Geek Kit
With sample words like humanoid, Ethernet, and keystroke, this Geek Kit is a fun way for the geeky person in your life to express how they feel. It’s a great gift for tech support agents, physicists, and anyone who works with computers. It can also be used with kids who are struggling with science or tech and could use a different perspective to make it more fun.
This kit contains over 200 tiles and limitless creative possibilities. And don’t worry, no internet connection is required to play.
Happiness Kit
Need a little more happiness in your life? This Happiness Kit is full of optimistic words like possibility, surprise, rainbow, and more. This kit is the perfect addition to your home if you find yourself stressed or anxious most days and could use a fun, positive distraction.
You can also get it for young children with the confidence that they’ll be using an appropriate and uplifting tool as they learn to read and put words together. Keep the pieces on the fridge for a frequent reminder of the good things in life. Refrigerator magnets not quite cutting it? Try these 12 habits to find more joy in your life.
Mustache Poet Kit
Have a friend who loves their mustache more than anything? This Mustache Poet Kit will let them express that love with words. It’s beautifully dorky and will make the perfect accompaniment to any birthday or bachelor party.
With words like mustache, cologne, and confident, you have everything you need to create smooth prose and catchy pick-up lines. People without mustaches are allowed to play, too.
Dog Lover Kit
Tell your dog how much you love them with this kit full of words like chew, scratch, sniff, and squirrel. Your dog won’t understand what any of it means, but it’s the thought that counts.
Anyone who ever has or currently owns a dog will find this kit hilarious and you’ll have tons of fun putting the realities of owning a pet into words. Give it as a gift to dog owners, veterinarians, and people who work at pet stores.
Office
No, this isn’t related to the TV show. Still, this poetry kit is perfect for anyone who loves or hates their office job. Who needs water cooler conversation when you have this on hand? Use it to gripe about your job at home on the fridge or take it into work to playfully poke fun at standard office procedures.
It includes words like career, effectively, network, cubicle, and many more. Just make sure to clear the whiteboard before your boss comes in.
Shakespeare Kit
Fans of the Bard will enjoy this kit containing an assortment of Shakespeare-inspired words like bawdy, wicked, wherefore, and maiden. Write a sonnet to a loved one, create a short play, or devise fun insults to hurl at your roommates.
With over 200 words to choose from, there are endless ways to have Elizabethan fun. And, as with all kits, this one can be combined with other sets for even more possibilities. It would make a great gift for English teachers.
Music Lover Kit
This kit is great for a musician to express their love of music in a way other than, well, music. It includes words like orchestra, violin, allegro, sound, and many more.
Dave Kapell, the founder of Magnetic Poetry, actually came up with the idea for these kits while trying to write song lyrics. So, there must be some good luck around musically-themed ones, right? Try to write your own song lyrics and add some real music when you’re done.
Edgar Allan Poet Kit
Perfect for someone with a dark side, this Edgar Allen Poet kit contains words like dread, forebode, lonely, and shiver. You can create delightfully creepy poetry or have fun with the morbid themes of the kit.
It is also a great way to introduce Poe’s work to a child or student who is disinterested in other types of poetry—it might just what they need to unleash their inner creativity.
Mixed-Up Pick Up Lines Kit
Need a way to ask out your crush but can’t find the right words? Turn to this kit. You’ll come up with irresistible lines like, “Is there an airport nearby or is that my heart taking off?” How can they say no to that?
Use this for real-life purposes or have fun challenging your friends to create the best (or worse) pick up lines they can think of. It will bring tons of laughs either way. Just be sure to run your lines by a friend before trying them out in real life.
Mixed-Up Movie Lines Kit
Cinephiles and movie buffs alike will enjoy using this kit to piece together words to recreate movie lines that may or may not be completely accurate. You’ll find references to everything from Gone With the Wind to Star Wars.
If you want a real challenge, try to create a fun movie script (or at least a scene) and have your family act it out. This kit can quickly turn into a party game or family night full of laughs. You can also make it a goal to watch all the movies quoted in the kit for added fun.
Math Poet Kit
Mathematicians aren’t known for being wordsmiths, so they’ll enjoy this poetry kit that lets them express their love for numbers. It contains words like calculation, variable, angle, and many more.
It’s a great gift for the nerdy person in your life who isn’t afraid to tell you how much they enjoy working with fractions. It would also be perfect for a math or English classroom to give your students a different way of looking at math.
Freud
Sociologists, psychologists, and fans of Freud will have fun using words like ego, id, neurosis, and fixate in this poetry kit. You’ll be able to capture the famous psychiatrist’s eccentricity and probably make yourself laugh out loud in the process.
And hey, you might even have your own breakthrough in the process while fiddling with these on the fridge. This is definitely one of the most original kits on the market.
