Learning Resources Wacky Wheels STEM Challenge, 15 Pieces

Crap- I returned, after realizing what poor quality it is.

This has been so fun to watch my two children (6) and (3) work together, cheer each other on, and find ways to get the balls to shoot through the hoop. It's a great way to get their gears working!

This has been so fun to watch my two children (6) and (3) work together, cheer each other on, and find ways to get the balls to shoot through the hoop. It's a great way to get their gears working!

STEM challenge wacky wheels let you build, launch and crash things. It's a great engineering game for kids 5 and up. The kit comes with 15 pieces which includes 2 balls, a wheel launcher, a ramp, 3 piece hoop target, 5 X targets, a goal cup, sticker sheets and a booklet. The booklet has 9 suggested challenges. Our five year old son loves doing the challenges and trying to create his own obstacle course. He puts the balls in the launcher and spins the wheel to launch the ball through hoop or via a ramp to knock down X targets. He loves rearranging the pieces and is learning about speed and thrust and other science concepts. Only tricky part was putting on the stickers as the instruction was not very clear as to where they should go.

I picked this up for my 5 and 8 year old boys. Right out of the box I noticed that all the pieces are well built and durable - this is not going to fall apart on you (or the kids). The set comes with 9 different challenges to complete that show off what the different pieces can do. The challenges are illustrated well with no reading required. My 8 year old had a blast following the 9 different challenges, while my 5 year old preferred to build his own sets and use some PVC piping to create paths and obstacles. I like that the set introduces very rudimentary physics such as force and angles. You could also use the scientific method with this (which way will the ball go? Make a hypothesis and test it...) and get creative as well! My only concern with the set is that there is only so much you can do with the pieces themselves, so my boys were tired of it after an hour and haven't touched it since. The set would probably be more interesting with additional challenges or by pairing it with additional STEM kits. I received this for free in return for my honest review.

I picked this up for my 5 and 8 year old boys. Right out of the box I noticed that all the pieces are well built and durable - this is not going to fall apart on you (or the kids). The set comes with 9 different challenges to complete that show off what the different pieces can do. The challenges are illustrated well with no reading required. My 8 year old had a blast following the 9 different challenges, while my 5 year old preferred to build his own sets and use some PVC piping to create paths and obstacles. I like that the set introduces very rudimentary physics such as force and angles. You could also use the scientific method with this (which way will the ball go? Make a hypothesis and test it...) and get creative as well! My only concern with the set is that there is only so much you can do with the pieces themselves, so my boys were tired of it after an hour and haven't touched it since. The set would probably be more interesting with additional challenges or by pairing it with additional STEM kits. I received this for free in return for my honest review.

Not nearly as exciting as pictures. Boring.

Not only is this educational...it has also kept my kids entertained for hours!

Not only is this educational...it has also kept my kids entertained for hours!

Not only is this educational...it has also kept my kids entertained for hours!

Not only is this educational...it has also kept my kids entertained for hours!

Educational

Educational

My students loved to play with this as one of their centers. It kept them busy for quite a while.

My students loved to play with this as one of their centers. It kept them busy for quite a while.

I recieved this product as part of an incentivized review program. My kids (ages 4 and 7) have a blast with this STEM challenge. They love taking turns and seeing who can get the ball through the ring on the first try. They complete the challenges included in the booklet and then come up with their own to try to challenge each other. It definitely takes a lot of skill and precise adjustments to complete the challenges. It's so fun to watch their brains working! We love interactive, educational toys. They really don't even know they are learning!

I recieved this product as part of an incentivized review program. My kids (ages 4 and 7) have a blast with this STEM challenge. They love taking turns and seeing who can get the ball through the ring on the first try. They complete the challenges included in the booklet and then come up with their own to try to challenge each other. It definitely takes a lot of skill and precise adjustments to complete the challenges. It's so fun to watch their brains working! We love interactive, educational toys. They really don't even know they are learning!

The Wacky Wheels Stem Challenge set is great fun for a variety of ages. It's a fun twist on the Pendulonium set; in this case, you use a spinning wheel to propel the objects in each challenge. I would say this set is more challenging because finding the right speed to spin the wheel proved challenging for my 10 year old. The Pendulonium set seems more suited to beginners; this one feels like a step up. As an added bonus, I LOVE that the sets coordinate and that children are encouraged to combine sets for added challenges. That is something that my 10 year old has loved--combining sets. Also, I have included a photo here of one of the pages of the directions for Wacky Wheels because I wanted to show another great feature. I love how the instructions encourage your child to create their own challenges with objects from home--like the books featured in the photo. I received this toy as a part of an incentivized review program.

The Wacky Wheels Stem Challenge set is great fun for a variety of ages. It's a fun twist on the Pendulonium set; in this case, you use a spinning wheel to propel the objects in each challenge. I would say this set is more challenging because finding the right speed to spin the wheel proved challenging for my 10 year old. The Pendulonium set seems more suited to beginners; this one feels like a step up. As an added bonus, I LOVE that the sets coordinate and that children are encouraged to combine sets for added challenges. That is something that my 10 year old has loved--combining sets. Also, I have included a photo here of one of the pages of the directions for Wacky Wheels because I wanted to show another great feature. I love how the instructions encourage your child to create their own challenges with objects from home--like the books featured in the photo. I received this toy as a part of an incentivized review program.

This was such a great way to introduce more STEM related products to my 4 year old. It was great to see how he was excited to build the ramp and keep trying when it was not working. It is challenging for him to think outside of the box. I would not think he would play this on a daily basis but bringing it out from the mom's hiding spot from time to time will keep him entertained.