Duck: Think Outside the Flock
I originally found this on KB Konnected, and made the mistake of trying it out. I immediately knew it would make a good Fun Friday post, but I was so engrossed in playing the game that I never got around to writing about it. So, here it is, finally. What I love/hate about this game is that there are no instructions, and it gets increasingly more difficult. It’s great for encouraging logic and problem/solving. Duck: Think Outside the Flock is flash-based, so you probably can’t access it on an iOS mobile device unless you try using something like Rover.
Gridworks
In yesterday’s post, I stated that I would publish a post about the Vi Hart videos today. However, I forgot that it is Friday. Now, that my “Gifts for the Gifted” series is over until next holiday season, I would like to return to my Fun Friday posts. So, I will “post”pone my Vi Hart post until Monday.
Several years ago, I purchased a book called GridWorks by ThinkFun. It doesn’t look like ThinkFun still sells this book (although you can buy it for $21 on Amazon), but you can find GridWorks puzzles online, which is almost as good. If you are looking to purchase something similar to GridWorks, I highly recommend another ThinkFun product, Chocolate Fix.
Both GridWorks and Chocolate Fix have 3X3 grids in which you have to place symbols (or pieces of chocolate) in certain cells based on the visual clues you are given. In the easy levels, the clues are very explicit. As you work your way through the levels the game, of course, increases in difficulty.
This link just give you puzzles 1-4. But you can click here to get over 200 puzzles. (Scroll to the bottom to get to the beginning.)
Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
Craniatics
Here we are again; it’s Friday, and time for another holiday post on “Gifts for the Gifted”. You can see last week’s post here, and it will also give you links to my other recent Friday posts. You might also enjoy my Pinterest board of “Games and Toys for Gifted Students”.
I have not had personal experience with Craniatics – yet. I was skipping along on the web, looking for new ideas, and ran across the Parents’ Choice Toy Awards. As I hunted through the lists, I found an intriguing description of Craniatics, and decided to do a little more research. I then found this blog post that gives a very good in-depth review of the game.
Craniatics is packaged in a magnetic box, which makes it a good choice for long car or plane rides. As Gabriel Fernandes described, “The included brainteasers are a mix of solitaire logic puzzles and multiplayer games with difficulties ranging from fairly easy to demanding.”
The recommended minimum age for Craniatics is 8. My daughter is 10, and I have a feeling this might show up under the tree this year…
Camelot Jr.
For those of you new to this blog, I am devoting Fridays during the holiday season to recommending “Gifts for the Gifted”. You can see the three posts that I have done so far here, here, here and here. You can also visit my Pinterest board on Games for Gifted Students. A lot of these are not just for gifted students, but would be appreciated by many children – and adults.
I bought “Camelot Jr.” several years ago on sale at Barnes and Noble. Back then, it was called “Royal Rescue”, and I liked the idea that a little bit of building was integrated with the logic puzzles. This game can be played alone, or with a couple of people. The challenge is to find a way for the knight and the princess to meet. There is a book of puzzles, and they are in order of difficulty. You are given a picture showing the initial construction, with the knight and princess on opposite sides, and shown pictures of which blocks can be used to create a “road” that will join the two figures.
This is a great game for children five and up. Don’t let them skip to the middle because it seems too easy at first. Each challenge teaches you something, and you can use your experience from previous, easier challenges, to help solve the harder ones.
If you read the reviews on Amazon.com, you will see that many people felt that “Camelot Jr.” was a fun activity for kids and adults. As I’ve watched my daughter and many of my students work through it, they have reached puzzles that I definitely can’t solve mentally, and it’s exciting to observe the children problem solving, reaching the edge of frustration, and then crowing with triumph when they finally reach the solution.
Fido Puzzle
Well, it’s Friday. Time for our fun post of the week! Today, I confound you with the Fido Puzzle. It’s a cute interactive site which is seemingly able to read your mind. Follow the directions carefully, and Fido’s clairvoyant owner will be able to guess your mystery number. It’s fun to play, and you can challenge your class to figure out the secret behind the mathematical magic!
Move the Box
As promised last week, my Friday posts are all about “fun”. Although, I am not sure how “fun” this particular game will be for people like me – who are spatially challenged. Move the Box is a free iPhone app that requires logic and visual reasoning skills. I have been trying to work on the latter, but seem to be particularly weak in that area. In Move the Box, you are limited to a number of moves in which to pull boxes out of a pile, resulting in like boxes landing in vertical or horizontal rows and disappearing. Your goal is to get all of the boxes to disappear. You begin with a limit of 1 move, which might seem daunting, but it is easier to use process of elimination than when you get to the level that allows you two moves. That is when it gets really challenging. Good luck, and try not to get frustrated!
Sugar, Sugar
I’ve made the unilateral decision to declare Fridays a day for fun and games on the Engage Their Minds blog. This week, I present to you the infuriatingly addictive web-based game, “Sugar, Sugar“. Brought to us by the Logic section of Math Playground, “Sugar, Sugar” is a deceptively simple puzzle that gets difficult quickly. Your object is to direct the cascading sugar granules into various receptacles – the instructions becoming more complicated with each level. To direct the sugar, you use your mouse to draw lines on the screen. That’s it. Oh, and don’t monopolize the computer – your kids should have a chance to play this, too!
Guess what – “Sugar, Sugar” will work on your iPad, too, if you use the Rover app as your browser!
Cargo-Bot
Cargo-Bot is a free iApp that I can’t decide if I love or hate. Currently, I am stuck on one of the levels – and it’s in the Easy Category. But, I can’t stop! I will keep working on it until I figure it out. This is why it would probably be a good app for gifted students. They need challenges that they cannot immediately solve, but that they really want to unravel.
While navigating Cargo-Bot, users are learning the basics of computer programming. This may not sound like fun, but this app is strangely alluring with its simplicity. The user is asked to direct the program to move colored crates into certain configurations. It gives tutorials, and then progresses to the challenges, which begin at Easy. After Medium and Hard are the Crazy and Impossible levels. I am halfway through Easy. I think this says more about my ability to do logic than it does about the difficulty of the app…
Record Tripping
Record Tripping is a challenging and enchanting (and FREE) web game that I discovered by looking at the logic portion of the Weebly site called “Mr. Arbizo’s Traveling Class“. Although the instructions for the game are fairly simple, requiring you to scroll your mouse or hold down the button, this winner of the 14th Annual Webby Awards demands both logic and hand-eye coordination. Record Tripping is not exactly academic, but it is fun and you must exercise your reasoning skills along with your wrist as you play!
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