Learning Resources Mental Blox Critical Thinking Game

I was amazed that my 3 year old knew how to play with this toy. Toys like this had helped him be above his age development.

I use Mental Blox several times a year in my classroom. It's great for reinforcing/working on spatial skills.

my daughter and grandson love it but, some of the cards have different color blocks then what comes with the puzzle.

What you see is literally what you get. Guess I had high Expectations, was a little disappointed. But the Concept is Clever!

Both my kids (2 and 5) love this set, and I love that it doubles as a concentration/memory/strategy game and colorful building blocks! I use this set with my 2-year-old by asking him to: • Hand me a blue circle or purple square (color & shape differentiation) • Stack certain shapes on top of others (learning to follow instructions) • Hand me the shape identical to the one I am holding (there are two of each block) Two ways to play: 1. Players are allowed to look at one of the challenge cards for 10 seconds, then they try to re-build the pattern from memory! They look at the card in 10-second increments. 2. Someone not on either team (a "caller") describes verbally what is in the picture and the teams try to re-build the pattern by description and memory. The cards come in varying levels of challenge from easy to hard, and there are optional bonus questions at the bottom of each card. The blocks themselves are made of a light but tough plastic, are hollow, and feel well-made. They stack sturdily (obviously or I wouldn't be able to stack the spheres so high!) and aren't too easy to topple over. My 5-year-old really enjoys playing independently, pulling out random cards and copying the pattern exactly. It sounds easier than it is - I've challenged her to get everything just right and it has taught her to be more observant of small details like whether or not the lines on a block are vertically or horizontally oriented. I can't think of anything we don't like about this set - isn't that awesome? :) It's recommended for kids age 5-13 but I would say younger children will enjoy it as well since there are ways to simplify the gameplay.