Toys in Motion: Puzzles & Skill

Erick Carle books are a "very" important part of the preschooler's library. Now kids can arrange and rearrange 9 blocks to form the eponymous characters from five different Eric Carle "Very" books: "The Very Quiet Cricket," "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," "The Very Lonely Firely," "The Very Clumspy Click Beetle," and "The Very Busy Spider" ... plus a friendly sun. There are 9 2-inch cubes to use as buildingblocks or to form 6 different puzzle pictures, all packaged in a sturdy box with a sliding drawer. (Read Review)

This unique construction toy comes in six different colors, all of different difficulty levels. The cube is sold as a two-dimensional flat foam rectangle. It's easy to pack because pieces fit together jigsaw-style. The challenge is to remove the six pieces and then reconnect them to form a seamless cube. In addition, each Happy Cube comes with instructions on how to make larger cube formations by interlinking various pieces of the different colored cubes. Although each cube has only a few small pieces, it can be quite a brainteaser. This European product is available through U.S. distributor, Kyp Henn.
— "The Happy Cube has been around since '92 and still is going strong!" Kyp Henn told TDmonthly. "Math teachers love it and so do 99 year olds. I get calls daily from people who are trying to find them."

Need a more challenging puzzle? Galaxy by Puzzle Master is a Level 9 – Gruelling, wooden puzzle. Take apart the colorful wooden pieces and try to put it back together! So complicated it may take hours to master this puzzle! And after many frustrating attempts, you will want to do it again! ($11.95)

Tangoes Jr. makes the tangram puzzle concept appealing and accessible to preschoolers with developing fine motor and spatial skills. The new game features a unique "playing case" and large, double-sided puzzle cards that offer two levels of play and enable children to solve each puzzle directly on the card. The puzzle pieces are thicker and larger than the original game's and each piece has an easy-grip lip, making it simple for kids age four and up to move pieces around. Tangoes Jr. puzzle cards feature recognizable images in three categories: animals, people and objects, for plenty of variety and widespread appeal. Guaranteeing years of fun and fresh challenges, each double-sided card incorporates two levels of play. On one side, individual geometric shapes are clearly pictured. The player is challenged to match the shapes to create the tangram image shown. On the other, more advanced side, the same image appears, but only in silhouette, offering a greater challenge for more advanced players and adding a memory game element.
— “Tangoes Jr. is the first toy to make the ancient tangram puzzle accessible to preschoolers. (It) builds fine motor skills, visual discrimination, cognitive abilities and pre-math and artistic skills,” president Ellen Roth of Rex Games told TDmonthly.

This brain teaser is available in six of the world’s most popular sports themes, including golf, soccer, baseball, football, basketball and tennis. Challenge yourself alone or play as a team for a fun educational activity. The Smarts Pyramid® makes a great sports trophy, gift idea or corporate premium.

The latest in the Caterpillar series, this book contains big puzzle pieces in the pages that pop out to assemble into a picture of a big dump truck. Kids can flip the pieces over to assemble a play mat that's perfect for children to use with their own toy trucks and machines. It's two puzzles in one for twice the fun.

The object of this brainteaser challenge is to turn the seven disks sideways in order to remove the puzzle slide from its case. There´s only one place for the disks to turn. Kids will need a clever strategy to unlock the secret code.

It´s the 3-D building game with a colorful twist! Chameleon is an exciting and challenging memory game that requires concentration, strategy and a double dose of luck. Players compete to construct colorful towers using special blocks with hidden color strips revealed only when one block is stacked on the next. Surprise! The block instantly transforms into a new color. If you make a color match, you take another turn and keep building. If the colors are different, you must dismantle the tower and take all the stacked blocks as yours, except the top. Get rid of all your blocks first, and you´re the Chameleon champ! So sharpen your memory as you track the blocks to match how they interact with each color. And look for that special extra lucky block, the WILD BAR! You´ll need skill, luck and "stacktactics" to stay on top! - Aire Norell

These adorable "Bunnies" will captivate boys and girls and men and women of all ages from “4 to 104,” for hours of stimulating family fun. At less than $10.00 retail, Scramble Squares puzzles make inexpensive, but highly entertaining and valued gifts for Halloween, Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, birthdays, get well, graduation and for travel.

Players remove the brass-colored ring from this metal “E” to achieve a sense of satisfaction and superiority … or else they don’t, and hope to try again. This metal puzzle is rated “8” on a scale of 1 to 10 for difficulty. Small and compact, it can easily be stowed in a pocket, and then whipped out to test the mental and spatial acuity of random passersby. This toy was launched in March 2006.