Home School Product Reviews

Great, like everything Timberdoodle sells!

Surprise, another great find by Timberdoodle!  I got this (Trucky 3) for my 3 yo to give us something fun and new to do during Christmas break.  He likes it a lot, but it’s a bit hard for him.  I think 4 and up will probably be better.  It’s very nicely made.  The only thing I can say is the games from this company (Smart Games) don’t come with good storage.  With all these little parts, I’m going to need to make a bag or something.  They come in a cardboard tray, but you’ll never get them back in the trucks like they were, at least I won’t, lol.  If you have a child who has done vision therapy and needs more work on visual perception, they’ll find this very challenging and beneficial, even if they’re older.

Logic fun for everyone

Anti-virus is fun as well as attractive and interesting.  It wraps up concepts from science in a logic challenge.  Our 4 year old is able to complete the starter challenges, and our older ones are challenged by the upper levels (our 3 year old just likes to play with the colorful pieces).  The way the pieces move diagonally as well as in groups adds to the challenge and makes it different from other logic puzzles.  The game provides an opportunity to discuss disease at the cellular level.  We added this to our “logic before lunch” sessions when we all take a logic game and complete as many levels as we can in a certain amount of time.  I wish we had 2 of every game because they especially enjoy competing against each other.

I bought Imaginets for my newly 3 year old son. He calls it his ‘shapes game’. He mostly uses it in free play, but has completed the first couple of pictures from the cards. Looking at the complexity of the harder cards, this is definetly a game that will grow with him! I like that it closes into it’s own carrying case, a feature that really cuts down on ‘missing magnets’. This game is solidly built and has a good size work surface. I would recommend it to others.

A good toy for all ages

Camelot Junior is very popular in our house. I bought it for my 4 year old so that he’d have something fun to do during school time, but my older boys (ages 7 and like to play it, too. I like it, too, and will frequently turn to the more difficult puzzles in the back as I’m setting it out or cleaning it up to see if I can do them. Younger children (5 and younger) will need some help to do more than the first few puzzles, but it’s a high quality toy that can be enjoyed in many ways. My 4 year old will often start just playing with the blocks as he desires, and I can let him because the wooden blocks aren’t going to get worn our or lost like the small, plastic pieces in some other games. I also think it’s silly that the princess sometimes rescues the knight. My boys just always send the knight to rescue the princess.

I discovered Thinking Putty just a few weeks ago & ALL three of my kids (ages 10-18) LOVE it. My oldest son is 18 & uses it to keep his hands busy as he studies for College CLEP exams! My youngest son, 10, loves to play with it while I’m reading allowed. Who am I , kidding he JUST loves to play with it anytime! I just bought one to check it out, but he wants to spend his OWN money & buy his own! He has renamed it his “Study Putty.” I’m also planning to order a few more to use in our church Children’s Ministry. I think it will be great for those kids who just can’t sit still through a lesson! I’m SO glad I stumbled on Thinking Putty while browsing the Timberdoodle site & would definitely recommend purchasing it!

This (miniLUK Starter Pack) came with our first grade package for my 7yr old, but my autistic 5yr has claimed it as his. He absolutely loves these MiniLuk games. Once he figured out how the game worked he proceeded to sit down and work thru an entire book, which is a rarity for us. For those of us with special needs kids finding something they really enjoy is such a special moment. Had it not come with the curriculum package we would of never known about it. Thanks much!

Creative way to learn critical thinking skills

We purchased Anaconda for our 9-yr-old son as a way to help him focus on learning critical thinking skills, as he loves critters. While he may complain about completing a math assignment on paper, he will sit quietly for a long time and work on these puzzles, figuring out which pieces must go where to complete the snake. I have been adding these types of puzzles to our homeschool curriculum so that we can all have a puzzle to work on during “game time”. My son and I race to complete our puzzles, and my other children are occupied with other puzzles. My younger children enjoy just playing with the Anaconda pieces – putting a snake together without following the diagram. These games are a refreshing change from book work and I am looking forward to continuing this aspect of our schooling.

Simple, creative learning opportunity

The 3-D Feel & Find is a helpful component of our homeschool.  It has multiple uses for multiple ages.  It is a very simple toy/game, which I like, but it still provides challenge to several age levels.  My younger children use the puzzles outside of the bag to match the shapes, which include basic shapes as well as people, trees and animals, to their wooden opening.  My older children are able to match the pieces while they are still in the bag and thus unseen, developing their sense of touch better.  Additionally, the game is good for teaching shapes and colors. The pieces can be further used for role-playing with the people and the animals.   All the pieces store in a durable drawstring canvas bag.  The puzzle pieces can be used also without the wooden bases to role play.  Note that the box depicts pieces that may not be identical to the inside contents in terms of the specific shapes, but they are basically like what is shown.

Challenging but not frustrating

I got this(miniLUK Starter Pack) for my 5 1/2 year old who will be starting kindergarten at home this year, and she LOVES it. We haven’t even officially started school yet and she’s done half the puzzles. I was concerned they would be too frustrating for her, but she enjoys them very much and is always excited to see the pattern match up. The one thing I think is a bit misleading is that they count each tile moved as one exercise–I didn’t read it carefully and so thought there were 168 total puzzles that came with it. There are 168 tile moves, but only 14 puzzles. That aside, it just means I need to buy more books because she is going through it so quickly!

Andrea

Get ready for fun!

This (Hide and Seek Safari) is our family’s first foray into these types of puzzles and I LOVE this one! Question is, who is going to love it more, kids or parents?! My husband and I put the kids to bed and then sat and played with this game for an hour or more! Deceptively easy. The colors are bright and engaging, tiles easy to put in place, my littles (2 & 3) enjoy trying to hide different animals. The older two kids (7 & 5) are just in love with it. A family winner! A bonus is how portable it is – the top piece slides back to reveal a hidden compartment that the booklet and pieces fit in…Amazing! Another great Timber product.