Learning Puzzle Reviews

We first learned about this puzzle when our son's speech therapist brought it over one day. He loved it so much we had to rush out to buy it! He started playing with it at 18 months and is now almost three and still loves it. During this time, he has played with it in so many different ways. First, he enjoyed playing peekaboo with it. Then, he progressed to knocking on the door and asking if anyone was home. He also finds it hysterical when you put the pieces in the wrong places. It's been a great tool for us to encourage his language development, not to mention that it's lots of fun too.

My 16-month old received this toy as a gift and he loves it! It keeps his attention, and he comes back to it every day. A few of the pieces are small, so we must watch him closely while he plays with it.

My son is 18 months old and he loves this toy. He puts the pieces on the fridge. He spents a lot of time with this toy.

First of all, we love Harold and the Purple Crayon book. So we are pre-disposed to liking this game...

But I think most kids (and parents) will like this game for several reasons: It is a very simple game: one picks a card, then draws the picture shown on the card; one re-tells whatever that has been said by others in the right order, then one makes up a one-sentence story that includes the picture drawn. It is an ever-changing game: depending on which card is drawn and how one makes up the story, each game is different. If a parent (or a quick thinking kid) can inject an unexpected twist now and then, the story can get hilarious. The game encourages imaginative thinking and helps kids learn story-telling (sequence, logic, interest etc). Age does not seem to matter in this game: 4 year olds can play along with teenagers and grown-ups (though some 4 year olds may need a little help drawing).

Highly recommend it.

We got this for Christmas and have played it many times already. From an educational perspective, it develops the kids'imagination, drawing skills and memory. From a fun perspective, it is an awesome game for the whole family! It's one of the few games my husband and I truly enjoy playing with the kids. I don't know why they have an upper age of 6/7 - I would say more like 99!

We like this game. It gets the younger kids creating and feeling good about their creations. Cute!

We played Phoney Baloney five or six times last week. Once for a party and the other times as a family. Once we didn't even finish the game because we started talking about one of the subjects in the game. We also use the cards as topics for our home schooling. We received our game as a gift, then later gave two as gifts to our friends. The only thing that could be improved is the card holder. It's no big deal and doesn't change the game, but it should be made of plastic instead of card board. The rest is great.

Outwit and outsmart your opponents, but not with the right answer. This time, you have to choose the wrong answers. The more answers that you get that are wrong, the more points you get. Confusing, right? Not at all. You get on a roll going as fast as you can to beat your opponents for an intriguing and fun game. Plus, this helps you understand the rule of elimination. So even if you don't know the right answer, you can choose the ones that you know are obviopusly wrong. Or you can just geuss.

Just like you did on your tests at school, right?

Phoney Baloney gives interesting facts before asking the question. These facts, as well as that all players participate on every turn, has led to fun family times and good discussions. It's also the only game I know where there can be more than one winner. Phoney Baloney is a winner.

I got these blocks for my son at 20 mos.He plays with them 5 times a day at minimum. He stacks them up and sideways. He is now 2yrs old and counts them 1-10 as he stacks them. They have the numbers in spanish too and he can count to 10 in Spanish as well. They are a great way to interact with your child and teach him how to count. Of course he likes to point to Dora and Boots too. I have a 6 month old, and when I need to focus on her I say "go get your Dora blocks" and it occupies him long enough for me to feed the baby. These blocks are a must have! Since they stack inside he likes to clean them up too. They are very sturdy but made of cardboard that you can clean with a paper towel. I recommend these blocks for every toddler. They are on my gift giving list.

I got these blocks as a gift when my daughter was born, it was her first toy!
she loves to stack the blocks, and loves to knock them down, and tries to nest them with decent results. I found these blocks to be somewhat durable, I dont have this exact toy, but a similar one. however, I recently purchased a full set of wooden blocks because my daughter got frustrated when she tried to build, and the blocks "nested".
Im glad I have both toys though!

I have 3 girls ages 3 1/2 and my twins are 2 1/2. They all love these blocks. I almost didn't order them because I wondered if my girls were too old for them, but they love building the tower then knocking it down or naming the characters on each block and counting them.

They are made of cardboard and in everyday use someone fell on one of them and that block is broken. I taped it back together, but I wish they were a little more sturdy. If nobody fell on it they would be fine.

I bought this puzzle when my firstborn was one year old and he has loved playing with it as has his little brother. There is something very appealing (and wholesome) about kids loving farm animals...even those living in the suburbs with no farm in sight.

As with all the wooden peg puzzles from this manufacturer, the quality is high and they are very durable. The key to this brand, unlike others in same price range, is that the photo is idential underneath as on the piece itself. This is key for one year olds and even two year olds to master using the puzzle. I have seen both my kids struggle when 1 or 2 with different puzzles that are blank underneath or worse, show a different scene under the piece than on the piece.

I think it is wise to start off right at age one with the wooden peg puzzles as a plaything. My kids also play with the pieces separately from just making the puzzle. After they've mastered matching the piece and fitting it in, usually when they are around 2 they can do the different puzzles that don't have the image underneath.

Doing matching exercises and fitting these pieces into their proper places aids with hand eye coordination and thinking skills. Every child should have several of these puzzles of their own to play with.

The puzzle holder by this manufacturer is very useful to store the puzzles when they are not being played with and I highly recommend that as well.

This is a great gift for any holiday!

The smallest piece is about 1 1/2"x2 1/2". The pegs are not removable even by hands of adults. The company guaranteed non-toxic and child-safe(age 2-4) on the back of this toy.
The board and puzzle pieces are thick and very durable.
The pictures are colorful and cute. Children show an interest in the farm animals in their early age. I think you can teach these animals to babies and show them how to fit the piece in the spot even they can't do it themselves. My son is 24 month old, and it's too easy for him. He still play but just to show me he can do it. I recommend to children, age 12 month and maybe younger with parent's supervision to prevent from choking just in case. The younger children will need your help to play with this toy anyway.... You might be able to find a bargain.

I got this puzzle for my girl's first birthday. She loves it. It is a very high quality toy that should last forever. The animals pictures are very colorful and well painted. She still chews on everything, but has not been able to damage this puzzle in any way. The pegs really help her pick up the peices and set them down (not in the right place yet), and the pegs are not removeable like I was worried about, but are buried deep in the wood and are very safe. I highly recommend this puzzle for all children over a year old.

I bought this puzzle for Christmas for my two-year old niece. Not only did she learn how to put it together, but she loved it so much she would sleep with it at night! It has counting, colors, left, right, and a puzzle to boot.

The only negative was it arrived with a broken peg. A little super glue and it was as good as new. I would keep a close eye out for those pieces to break off as they would be choking hazards for little ones.

Toddlers are facinated by the peg puzzle, which allow for them to easily manipulate pieces. This puzzle has been a great gift providing a quiet and educational opportunity. This very durable puzzle with bright colors easily encourages play that leads to understanding left and right.

I have two years old bright twins that are into puzzles. They are a little too young for most floor puzzles and too bored with the common stand-along pieces puzzles. This puzzle is an excellent transition to a higher level puzzle solving. The pieces interact together to form a bigger image. There is a built in logic to their interaction my kids love to explore. The add-on values such as colors and numbers in the pictures under the pieces are very useful. I wish I could find more puzzles like this one.

This is quite inexpensive for all you get. I love that this is a combination of upper and lower case letters.

This puzzle can be made the traditional way or it can be used as a moveable alphabet. A moveable alphabet is a name for little letters that kids can manipulate on their own. Moveable alphabets are used in Montessori schools and other schools. After buying an expensive moveable alphabet of only lowercase letters (that is all that is available from that other manufacturer) I realized I could have bought multiple sets of this puzzle and use them in the same way. A moveable alphabet is used in freeform activities with your child to teach letter recognition. It is a tactile exercise as the child is holding the letter and moving it, rather than it being a little mark of ink on a page. You or the child can also form words with the letters and sound them out and read them as a way to supplement teaching reading. (Multiple puzzles would be needed so that there are more than one letter each.) My children hold up the letters and ask me which it is and we play games like that, that either they or I invent.

This puzzle is very durable as are all the other wood puzzles from this company.

The only downside is that organization is key if you want to not lose any of the pieces. This is too large for the puzzle holder that this company sells. Also beware the L's and I's are quite small and definately are choking hazard sized..so if you have little ones, take care to keep this out of their reach.

I think this is an inexpensive learning tool that every child should own. Please buy this for your child or give it as a gift to other children.

The puzzle doesn't have fancy graphics or bells and whistles to entertain. Games could be made up by the parent working alongside the child to make this interesting.

In this puzzle and in reality, there are strong similarities in
a, p, q, b, and d. This puzzle gives great opportunities for fine tuning similarities differences skills. Since you only have one of each letter, trace or print the following. p p q p then b d b b and so forth. Let children practice noticing the differences and similarities. Learning Abilities Books is a cool website with free information about similarities and differences training. That's where I got this idea. You might want to buy more than one of this cool puzzle.

My son was around 21 months when he knew his capital letters really well. At about two, I bought this puzzle, so he could learn the lowercase as well. Much to my surprise, he not only learned the lowercase letters quickly after playing the puzzle, but he quickly learned how to say all the pictures below the pieces, and says those words when he is doing another alphabet puzzle I have which has no pictures on it. He'll go to put the A in the non-picture puzzle, and say airplane or apple, which comes from the 'picture beneath' puzzle, like the one shown here. Obviously, he is learning language and letters all in one with this puzzle, or he wouldnt be associating the letters with words that start with that letter without seeing those pictures on the puzzle. I guess its a great memory aide, as well, for him to remember the pictures from the other puzzle that were associated with the letter. Great puzzle, and it IS his favorite, no doubt. The others he has enjoyed are the Alphabet Train and Number Train as well, made by the same company, and have the pictures below and on the puzzle piece. Well worth the price I paid for the hours we have played with them over the last month.

Add us to the host of folks who love this puzzle toy. I generally consult Amazon ratings before purchasing new items and any item that has this many positive ratings always catches my attention. And it lives up to the promise. My almost 7 year-old son is ADHD and I was AMAZED at the way this toy captured his attention. I expected him to become quickly frustrated and give up. But after a few successes, he was hooked. I coached him a little bit at first (and then I was hooked too!) and before I knew it, he was solving puzzles by himself and doing a better job than me! He did the first 20 in one sitting. I was amazed as I watched him begin understanding which cars had to be where in order for him to get the red car out, then he started working out his plan to get there. You have to think ahead to be successful and he was doing it!

His persistence and concentration surprised me, so if your child is having any problems sitting and concentrating on a task, don't be afraid of this toy! But, alas, as with many ADHD kids, he's also been tested as gifted, so he's already run through the first 3 levels and is now nearly done with the expert level - solving puzzles that I can't do! I have to wait until he goes to bed to even get a chance to play! There's 40 cards in the first pack. The beginning levels are pretty easy to remember the solutions, but as you go higher in difficulty, you could probably do the puzzles more than once and still be challenged. But do be prepared to buy the 2, 3, and 4 Gift Pack (a great deal for $12 on Amazon)

I LOVE the fact that you store the cards right in the bottom of the tray. However,I wish that they would put a more permanent kind of cover on the tray. Also, you cannot replace the cover when you are in the middle of a puzzle, the cars have to be in the tray in a certain way in order for the cover to fit properly. But those are extremely minor drawbacks considering the hours of entertainment my son and I have gotten.

Ever stuck in gridlock? Think you know the easiest way out? Then you are ready to take the challenge of Binary Arts' Rush Hour Game. Beware escaping gridlock is not as easy at it seems.

The directions are simple; setup the game board using the forty game cards, arranged from beginners' skill level to the expert. Move the cars and trucks out of the way and get you red car off the board.

The game is made to have you thinking, and planning strategy is a key to winning. I found myself playing for hours and the more I played the more fun I had. Also since storage is easy this game travels well.

For those rainy days, those family night outings or when friends drop over, you can't go wrong with this game. About the only thing Binary Arts needs now is a thinking game involving aircraft.

Many of the reviews posted so far say, in one way or another, "I bought this for a kid, but I love it, too." I'm not ashamed to say that I'm neither a parent nor a teacher and that I bought this for myself. (I did buy another set for my sister's kids when I saw how great it was.) I've always liked Binary Arts products, and this did not disappoint. What I especially like, and why I think it's valuable educationally, is that it forces you to identify the root causes of the problem and to map out intermediate goals on your way to a solution. If you like this kind of thinking, you'll enjoy this game.

As others have noted, the packaging is not great because it makes it a little too easy to lose pieces. That accounts for my 4 stars for "durability."

My three year old loves this puzzle and it has helped her learn her letters. We even play games with it - kind of like "I spy" for the next letter. The peices are large and easy for her to assemble. Well worth the investment.

This has got to be one of the best puzzles or tools to teach the alphabet. My little one just received this for his birthday and has put it together all by himself already (he's 3)! It teaches great motor dexterity as well as the alphabet and 26 animals. He loves to make all their sounds as he goes along. It stretches clear across the kitchen floor and it's a bunch of fun for the cat too! My son is getting a big jump on the alphabet with this puzzle and it's just a great investment. Here's a little hint though. Don't wait until the last minute to get it for Christmas. I tried last year and it was sold out for 2 months! Get it now and don't be disappointed!

I bought this puzzle for my 2 yr old daughter for Christmas and she loves it. She doesn't know her letters yet, but she can find all 'passengers' on the train and we say the letter for the piece that she is looking for. Now, she is starting to know what letters we are looking for. This is a step up from the alphabet song and leading into letter recognition. The pieces are thick and durable. She stands on them and there is no wear and tear. This is a great toy for any preschooler! Wonderful 'hands-on' toy!

This toy is fantastic! I've seen both my kids play with it for hours. It is a great game for independent play, however my own 3 year-old greatly benefits from the help of his 5 year-old sister! I don't think many 3 year-olds are mature enough to enjoy playing it without help from a sibling/adult. After several sessions to help them train their brain how to think, a 3 year-old could happily play alone.

If done in order, the 30 puzzles in Mighty Mind progress in difficulty from using two semi-circles to make a circle, to using all 32 pieces to make a shape similar to a train with cow-catcher! The first 20 puzzles provide color clues in the picture to assist a child in selecting the needed shapes, but the last 10 are without clues and are the most challenging.

I'm at amazon checking the price vs. the manufacturer's website (1smartkid). The price here is a few cents more and is very likely for the PLASTIC shape pieces. The toy was originally made from very nice, colored WOODEN pieces and still is, but for about three dollars more. I'd recommend splurging for it - I don't know how well the plastic pieces would take being stepped on. The pieces do tend to fall to the floor - either by accident or in frustration! We are missing three shape pieces and I found the manufacturer's website while searching for replacement pieces, which can be had for about half the price of a new game. Instead of buying replacement pieces, I decided to upgrade to the wooden Super Mind set instead (exact same 32 shapes).

I just bought two dozen of these games at a fifteen percent case-discount from the manufacturer! I went to their site looking for replacement pieces for the wooden Mr. Mighty Mind (old name)and decided to buy birthday gifts for my two kids' friends in advance since my own children really enjoy this game. I bought a dozen of the Mighty Minds for the 3 year-olds for when they turn 4, and a dozen Super Minds for the 5 year-olds for when they turn 6. My daughter just turned 5 and is getting bored with Mr. Mighty Mind and I'm sure her age group will enjoy the more challenging Super Minds more. Mighty Mind is great for a 5 year old if they haven't done it before - but after hours and hours with it the more challenging Super Mind will be more fun.

TIP: I like to find an age-appropriate, gender-neutral gift for my kids to give as gifts, buy it in bulk (often at a discount!)and spend an hour wrapping them all in advance. I also had a roll of personalized stickers made for each of my kids that say "Happy Birthday from (Name)" and I put the stickers on after wrapping. SO MUCH CHEAPER than buying individual cards! Then, the day of a bday party, we grab a wrapped gift from the hall closet and go!

Mighty Mind and/or Super Mind are both great gifts for this purpose, because even if the child already has one, another set makes if more fun to play with a friend instead of all alone!

Unfortunately it's very difficult to get this game here in germany, but I played it with the kids in the "kindergarten" und if i ever saw it i'd buy it.

My daughter just got this for Christmas. She is 4 1/2 and loves it. It gives instant confidence and is good for an active child who doesn't like to wait a long time. She got oodles of toys for Christmas and she keeps coming back to this one, so I ordered the Supermind upgrade. For those of you who are missing pieces, maybe you can order them from the manufacturer. They were very courteous and helpful AND they answered the phone immediately! I'm going to buy more to give as gifts too.