Learning Resources Mental Blox Critical Thinking Game, 20 Blocks, 20 Activity Cards, Ages 5+

Bought this for our 3/12 year old Grandson. We started him off just touching the blocks which he really enjoyed making / balancing different configurations. Now we use the cards. He loves them. Nice change from playing with trains and cars.

Its great to initiate critical thinking in children. Please add new shapes like cylinders and cones. Specifically yellow and pink. -Zo,age 5

Excellent game. Love it! Can you upload a file with the answers on the one with more blocks? I bought both and the first one has answers at the back. The second one is much more difficult but we don't know if in the end we do it right.

I loved this one and my daughter too. She loves puzzles and this is the first 3D puzzle she has.

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.

My child loved to play with these. Perfect for their little hands and fun to play! It's also became progressively challenging to keep him interested. Highly recommend!

This mental blox games helped my 4 year old granddaughter to visualize blocks and stack them according to the way the picture showed in the brochure. Her mother showed her the picture and she stacked them from memory. She has a sensory problem and is a little slow on things but this helped with her memory and coordination. Will order from this website for all of my grandchildren.

I use this with kindergartners to teach them spacial awareness and teach them how to use a diagram. This will not be a toy that gives hours of fun but it is a useful tool. I do recommend it.

Hey, we received Mental Blox for review-all thoughts are our own. Adults who have taken any machine drawing classes can relate to the premise of this puzzle and game. Take an object and envision how it looks from the top, front, side left, side right or the bottom. Mental Blox adds a building dimension to this where the many blocks in the box all fit together in some configuration. It's not an interlocking puzzle, rather the blocks need to look like they do on a corresponding card. Start with the first cards and it's pretty simple. Our 7 year old could do the front facing and top cards pretty easily. Once things shifted to a side right or side left view it got more challenging for him. There are 40 different card puzzles and he got to the 11th card without any help, but then had to tag up for a little assistance. Some of the puzzle pieces are rounded, triangular, square, arrow shaped and beyond. The cards are coded by their ease, green, yellow and red. Adults will have to take a moment to look at all of the pieces and figure out how the red cards are accomplished. For example, card 40 has 9 blocks that need to fit together. Our five year old had trouble with the first cards and is a bit too young for them now. He just turned five, we'll try again in a month or so. For the price point this is a very nice, critical thinking puzzle/game that will assist kids in looking at things from a different angle. It's a good puzzle comparable to chess. Granted chess has thousands of moves and possibilities, but that too helps kids know that there is more than one way to approach something.

"Do not be fooled by its appearance" could not have been a better description of this awesome toy! I gave these to my 4 yr old for her birthday and a month later it's still her favorite toy to play with. To watch her progression in just one week was amazing to me. I initially purchased them to work on her focus and listening skills. I was so impressed to watch her critical thinking at work - she would chose a card, build it , then double check her own work and to watch that process was amazing to me.. Her attention span was extremely short but now she sits here for long periods of time (for her.. 15 min to half hour) wanting to try the harder cards. A little frustration sometimes but after words of encouragement she gets it and I love to see her confidence and sense of accomplishment grow! What has amazed me is how these look so simple until you watch them at play and all the important benefits they receive from them. My one wish is that they make more cards available to add to the set!

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

My son (age 4) was already a bit too old for the toy :(

Once your child gets the hang of the game, like any other game, they are going to want to play it more often. However, this game, unlike a lot of other games, makes them think unlike other games. Which in my opinion is a win - win situation. You can play this game as individuals or as teams. Some kids are going to catch on a little quicker, while it will be a challenge for others. That's the great thing about the Mental Blox Game though, the game is great for all different skill levels.

The Mental Blox Game is a fun, educational game that also focuses on motor skills. You can play by creating the patterns on the cards, your own, or turn it into races to create the patterns first. It is great family fun. Read my full review here: http://mommomonthego.com/mental-blox-game/

I received this product from Learning Resources for a review. All opinions expressed are my own. This product was a perfect fit for our shelves. My daughter just turned 4 and loves to play games that encourage thinking. She used this game as directed at first and was able to do almost half of the activity cards with a little guidance. She also loves using the cards to build what is shown or just use the blocks to build how she would like to. There are many ways to use this game!

Mental Blox is a brain boosting hands-on strategy game that was released this year by Learning Resources. It's geared toward children ages 5-13 and there's a wide variety of ways to use the game! I will vouch that there's more than meets the eye on the surface of Mental Blox. It can either be a look & build stacking game, a listen and build game, and you can use it to teach a child about pattern sequencing as well as take an approach to educate a child on geometric shapes and the correct names. Included in the Mental Blox set is are 20 double sided Activity/Question Cards, A Guide, and 20 Blocks (2 sets of 10). The blocks are made out of plastic. The patterns on the blocks range from stripes, polka dots, and solids. Colors include are very appealing to children! There's bright orange, blue, purple, and green. The shapes are pyramids, spheres, squares, and x blocks. The blocks seem very durable and can be cleaned easily if need be. The box allows for easy storage as you can just put every pack away in the inner cardboard cooperated compartments. The game literally takes up no space at all. I'm pleased to say that I was able to make Mental Blox work for than one of my children, especially because each of my children have different learning styles. This set appealed greatly to them both! The cards whether doing Look & Build or Listen and Build start at the easiest with card #1 and then get harder all the way up #40. My daughter age 5 years old did well with both of the suggested games in the guide. And I was very happy in how well she was able to follow heard instructions which isn't normally one of her strongest areas of focus. I also liked using the set to help her work on her observation skills. For example showing her the card for 10 seconds and not letting her build it till I took the card away. She was able to completely the easy cards very quickly but totally was challenged when the harder cards came out. My nearly 3 year old son did well looking at the cards and re-creating exactly what he saw. I also let him free play with the pieces as well as instruct him with what each shapes name is. So we'll be going through those throughout our school year often since it's so great for the brain and helps improve fine motor skills! And the fact both my kids love the game makes it a win-win situation. I highly recommend Mental Blox for any home or classroom use! Five out of five stars!

I was sent this product for review purposes. All opinions expressed are my own. This game is so fun and our entire family enjoys playing. What I love most about this is that the skill level is great for all of us. It's not too hard or too easy for any of us, especially when we team up (which almost always happens because if one of us plays, everyone wants to play)! On those occasions when we don't play together, my kids still enjoy the challenge of building without the need to challenge another person or team; it's just fun to play with the blocks! With 20 double-sided cards, the fun never ends. It's been a great tool to help encourage listening as well.

I am always looking for a challenging activity for my son who is always conquering activities and getting bored. One thing he has always liked to do since he was very young is build with blocks and follow a pattern to build something (architect someday, maybe....). So when I saw the Mental Blox from Learning Resources, I knew they were going to be the perfect game for my son to play! And I was SO RIGHT! My son instantly LOVED the Mental Blox that we received for review! This game is aimed for Ages 5-13 but my son is 3 and can follow the patterns perfectly so ages may differ! I loved that this game is so versatile. It can be played with multiple players when my son has friends over or it can be played alone for days he is by himself. It also can be played with younger and older children. For younger children like my son, they can simply just build the picture they see on the card. For older children, they can have an extra challenge by doing it in a time limit or answering the questions on the cards. I love that this game will be used for MANY years to come and with all my children no matter what age! My son loves building and is so proud when he gets the blocks built exactly like the card! I love watching him learn and have fun at the same time! I highly recommend!