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Hanoi Tower and its benefits

There’s a famous legend in Vietnam. In one of villages, there’s a temple where some monks stayed. The monks wanted to move 64 different size of chips from one tower to another tower. Because the chips were fragile, they must be extra careful to move them.

They were only able to move one by one and the bigger chip were not allowed to be put above smaller chip. Therefore, they needed another tower for temporary keeping. By that time the monk finished moving all the chips, that’s the end of the world.

If the legend is true and the monks could move the chips effectively, they need at least 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 movements. How long do you think they need to move those chips? They need at least 585,000,000,000 years.

On the other story, those chips were made from gold and if the monks were required to move them within one day, how long does it take?

Inspired by those story, Edouard Lucas, Mathematic expert from France introduced Hanoi Tower Games. Hanoi Tower is a logic games

Let see how it plays

On the first tower, they have three chips, white, black and red chip, The biggest chips is white and thesmalles chip is red on top. Now move those three chips from first tower to the last tower with this rules :

1. The chip on the bottom must be bigger than the one on top

2. The chip must be moved one by one
3. The second tower is only used temporary

This picture shows how the chips are moved. Total movement is 7.

The best way to try this Hanoi Tower games is having this Hanoi Tower and try those steps. You can purchase here at DIY Flashcard online store, Now it’s available.

Hanoi Tower is suitable for age 4 years and above, even for adults. Those who are able to solve the games, who knows in the future they will become mathematic expert.

The benefit of Hanoi tower for kids :

-          Stimulate concentration and hand – eye coordination
-          Understanding about big and small, long and short concept and color recognition
-          Kids will be entertained by this Hanoi tower and keep them busy solving the games.

Reference :

1. Wikipedia
2. Superkids, http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/logic/towers/math.shtml
3. Various information from internet

5 layer body puzzle

Learn about body parts and body organs through puzzle. It can be used until primary school

AVAILABLE  S$ 35

Shape puzzle on rainy days

Nowadays, raining is part of our daily life and how to keep your kids busy while learning something too.
Playing Puzzle is the answer

One Puzzle Many Benefits

Puzzle has many benefits for kids eventhough it's old fashioned toys

Tangram Puzzle - Available 3rd week of November

This puzzle can be played not only for kids but adults too.
It's fun for family bonding time
Click here to find out more about Tangram

Tangram AVAILABLE S$ 10

Shape and Stacking Vehicles - Available 3rd Week of November

Stimulate fine motor skills, creativity and imagination as well as problem solving
Suitable for age 2 years and above (under supervision)

Hanoi Tower AVAILABLE  S$ 15

Shape train AVAILABLE  S$ 15

Shape plane AVAILABLE  S$ 15

Numbers and Alphabet Puzzles - AVAILABLE 3rd Week of November

Introducing number and alphabet to your toddlers as well as help them to stimulate their fine motor skills and hand - eye coordination

Number 1 - 20 puzzle AVAILABLE  S$ 10

Numbers and symbols AVAILABLE  S$ 10

Lower Case Alphabet and numbers puzzle AVAILABLE  S$ 10

Maze - Available 3rd Week of November

Maze is classic play that has been around since ages. And maze is still one of favorite tools for researchers and educators until now. Do you want to know WHY ? Click here for more information about maze
Suitable for age 3 years old and above

Aquarium Maze AVAILABLE  S$15

Farm Maze  AVAILABLE  S$ 15

Butterfly Maze  AVAILABLE  S$ 17

Pre-writing maze AVAILABLE S$ 15

Lacing Board - AVAILABLE 3rd Week of November

Stimulate fine motor skills especially for pre-writing .
Suitable for age 2 years and above

Rabbit lacing board for beginner AVAILABLE  S$ 8

Penguin lacing board AVAILABLE  S$ 8

Butterfly Lacing Board  AVAILABLE  S$ 8

Shirt lacing board for boys AVAILABLE  S$ 8

Gown lacing board for girl AVAILABLE S$ 8

Colorful Building Blocks - AVAILABLE 3rd Week of November

It's a MUST Toys for young kids, do you want to know why ? Click here for the answer

26 pcs blocks AVAILABLE  S$ 18

Car blocks AVAILABLE  S$ 18

3D Animals Puzzle - AVAILABLE 3rd Week of November

There are selection of 3D Animals puzzle from 3 pcs to 8 pcs.
Stimulate fine motor skills, problem solving, as well as learning color
Suitable for age 1 yr old and above

3 pcs puzzle AVAILABLE  S$ 10

3 pcs puzzle AVAILABLE  S$ 6

4 pcs puzzle AVAILABLE  S$ 10

6 pcs puzzle AVAILABLE  S$ 10

7 pcs puzzle AVAILABLE  S$ 10

8 pcs puzzle AVAILABLE  S$ 10

All about MAZE

Nikko is one of tourist city in Japan. In that city, there’s a local attraction with maze facility where the visitors enter from one door and exit to other door. The objective of the adventure is to find the exit door. In Japanese, Maze is called “Meiro” and the place is named Kyodai Meiro Palladium. Please see the picture 1

This is another sample of Maze in Melbourne, Ausralia (picture 2)

We may often see maze in the kids magazine. The picture 3 shows us maze quiz for kids. They need to hold a pencil and follow the line to solve the puzzle.

In the first and second picture, when we enter the maze puzzle and attempt to find the exit door, we may be lost and end up in the same route. Our memory skill is trained in this games. Christopher Berg found out that children are the best maze solver because they move very fast.

Maze was used for entertainment, coin, troops form, research and more. And in the education world, maze has been used for ages to stimulate hand – eye coordination, fine motor skills and concentration.

Source

[1]. http://www.kinugawa.ne.jp/facilities/palladium/palladium.html
[2]. http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/print/2008/6/stihl_maze.jpg
[3]. http://tomandjerrythemovie.warnerbros.com/img/maze.gif
[4]. Other information from internet

Building Blocks and its benefits

It’s a MUST Toys for young kids.

They might not be as flashy as the battery-powered robots and electronic games.

But toy blocks-—and other construction toys-—are among the best developmental toys that money can buy.

A set of blocks can help your child develop

• motor skills and hand-eye coordination
• spatial skills
• creative problem-solving skills
• social skills, and
• language skills.

Toy blocks and math skills

Those kids who like to play with blocks in more complex ways are more likely to achieve high math scores in high school. Because they use their logic more and it has impact for long term.

Toy blocks and creative, divergent problem-solving

Psychologists recognize two major types of problem. Convergent problems have only one correct solution. Divergent problems can be solved in multiple ways.

Because kids can put together blocks in a variety of ways, block play is divergent play. And divergent play with blocks may prepare kids to think creatively and better solve divergent problems.

In one experiment, researchers presented preschoolers with two types of play materials

• Some kids got materials for convergent play (puzzle pieces).
• Other kids were given materials for divergent play (chunky, block-like foam shapes).
• Kids were given time to play and then were tested on their ability to solve problems.

The results? The kids who played with blocks performed better on divergent problems. They also showed more creativity in their attempts to solve the problems.

Toy blocks and cooperative play

Research suggests that kids become friendlier and more socially-savvy when they work on cooperative construction projects. For example, autistic kids who attended play group sessions with toy blocks made greater social improvements than did kids who were coached in the social use of language. Other research on normally-developing kids suggests that kids who work on cooperative projects form higher-quality friendships.

Toy blocks: Do they promote language development?

Maybe so.

By providing the kids with blocks, the kids and parents have opportunities to talk to each other compare with those kids who like to watch TV or playing Ipad.
Block play itself might help kids develop skills important for language development--like the ability to plan and recognize cause-and-effect sequences.

Tips: Getting the most from your toy blocks

• Get down on the floor and play with your child. Kids get more from block play when someone demonstrates how to build with them.
• Challenge kids with specific building tasks. To get things started, suggest a type of structure to build.
• Stimulate pretend play with character toys and other accessories. For eg if your kids like car or train, those toys give kids ideas for construction projects (e.g., a shed for a toy train) and encourage pretend play.
• Combine block play with story-time. While you tell story to your kids, illustrate parts of the stories to kids. After each story, the kids were given access to the props. This tactic seemed to increase pretend play. It also gave kids ideas for things to build.
• Encourage cooperative building projects. Cooperative building can help kids forge better social skills

We provide various building blocks and stackings. Check it out in our Wooden Toys PO !

Source : Various information from internet

Tangram

What do you think about this silhouette ? Walking person ?

How about this one ? cat?

Do you know that those pictures are derived from tangram ?

You also can try different puzzles from this tangram.

It’s very interesting, isn’t it ?

For those who likes to know more about the history of tangram.

The tangram (Chinese: 七巧板; pinyin: qī qiǎo bǎn; literally "seven boards of skill") is a dissection puzzle consisting of seven flat shapes, called tans, which are put together to form shapes. The objective of the puzzle is to form a specific shape (given only an outline or silhouette) using all seven pieces, which may not overlap. It was originally invented in China at some unknown point in history, and then carried over to Europe by trading ships in the early 19th century.

Arranged correctly, the shapes can be fitted together as a large square, rectangle, or triangle. They can also be arranged in a variety of complex shapes, including fanciful ones (like the rabbit illustrated here).

There are many ways to play with tangrams. The simplest way is to let kids create their own complex shapes. But traditionally, tangrams are treated as puzzles. The player is shown a target shape (in outline, or silhouette only) and then asked to recreate that shape using the seven pieces.

The educational benefits of playing with shapes

Playing with tangrams may help kids

• develop positive feelings about geometry

• classify shapes

• develop an intuitive feeling for shapes and geometric relationships

• develop spatial rotation skills

• develop precise vocabulary for manipulating shapes (e.g., “flip,” “rotate”)

• learn the meaning of “congruent”

In addition, tangrams can help kids calculate areas without formulas.

You and your kids can have bonding time together with this tangram. By creating different puzzles from these 7 pieces

Source : Various information from internet

Benefits Puzzle for Kids

A puzzle is a problem that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution. Puzzles are often contrived as a form of entertainment, but they can also stem from serious mathematical or logistical problems.
Puzzles have long been a favorite learning toy of kids, moms and educators. Giving children a variety of puzzles enhances their early childhood educational experience both at home and in school.

Here are some of the skills that are enhanced by playing with puzzles:

1.       Cognitive skills: Puzzles improve a child's problem solving and reasoning skills. It helps them to see whole-part relationships, increases their visual spacial awareness and depending on the subject matter can teach them a variety of topics like the Alphabet, Numbers, Color recognition, shape recognition, categories like pets or transportation vehicles, and more.

2.       Fine motor skills: Puzzles are fun way to improve fine motor skills. From the time a baby can start eating solid food parents give their children cereals to help a child with their pincher grasp. Fine motor manipulation is key for writing but children start learning this skill long before they can hold a crayon or a pencil. Various types of puzzles like peg puzzles and chunky can help teach little ones to pick up and grasp pieces and they aid in the development of the pincher grasp.

3.       Hand-eye coordination: As a child places each piece in the puzzle they are manipulating it so see if it fits. Their hand eye coordination is enhanced through this trial and error process.

4.       Social skills: Puzzles can be done alone but are also a great tool for fostering cooperative play. As kids ask for a piece to be passed to them, or discuss where a piece should go they are sharing the task and learning to cooperate. It can also help a child learn how to handle frustration when a piece does not fit.

When choosing a puzzle for your child consider the following:

1.       Age: Make sure you are purchasing the appropriate type of puzzle for your child's age. For example, jumbo knob or chunky puzzles are great for toddlers but jigsaw puzzles would be frustrating. At the same time a preschooler would really like a peg puzzle or jumbo piece floor puzzle. Older children prefer jigsaw puzzles ranging from 50 - 200 pieces depending on their skill.

2.       Material: Do you prefer wood, cardboard, painted, foam, etc Do you want a puzzle with textures to improve sensory perception as well as a cognitive skills?

3.       Types of puzzles: peg puzzles, chunky puzzles, jumbo knob puzzles, heavy duty cardboard floor puzzles, peg puzzles, foam puzzles, textured puzzles, shape sorting puzzles, sound puzzles, layer puzzles, and jigsaw puzzles.

Keeping these things in mind we have reviewed a few puzzles as an example to help you decide what type of puzzle might be best for your child.

1.      Shapes Chunky Puzzle - this is a great example of a chunky puzzle. This type of kids puzzle is perfect for young kids ages toddler through pre-K. The puzzle has large chunky pieces which are easy for little hands to grasp and manipulate. It can be used to teach different shapes like heart, circle, square, triangle, star, oval, rectangle, and diamond. The name of the shape is printed on the board to aid in sight word recognition and there is a picture under each shape for added fun. We love the bright colors of this learning shapes puzzle and the solid wood construction is sure to please Moms and educators alike.

2.      See Inside Alphabet Peg Puzzle - Peg Puzzles are the perfect tool for teaching children to use a pincher grasp. This finger movement is a crucial precursor to writing but kids don't think about what they doing they just know they are having fun. This fun peek-a-boo style peg puzzle can be used to introduce phonics by emphasizing the initial sounds of the words pictured below the letters. Each of the 26 letters has a full-color illustration beneath it for added play value. This wooden puzzle is great for children ages three and up.

3.      Farm Friends Jumbo Knob Puzzle - Children love animals. They love to imitate their sounds and name the ones they know. This puzzle enables young children to use the large knobs so little fingers can grasp them without help. This fun puzzle has a classic farm theme with bright graphics that kids will love. The puzzle board is made of solid wood constructions and is shaped like a beautiful red barn. This farm puzzle displays a goat, chicken, cow, duck, horse, pig, sheep, and even a happy farmer. Each wooden puzzle piece has a large know so it is easy to handle and eahc piece has a picture underneath so your little one won't get frustrated.

4.      Your Body Layer Puzzle for Girl and boy - Layer puzzles are one of the newest puzzle types on the market. This innovation brings a new dimension to puzzles and early education. The Girl and boyBody Puzzle is a wonderful way to educate children on the human body. When preschoolers and early elementary school children have questions about their own bodies this puzzle is a great way to begin a discussion of anatomy in a way that kids can understand.

Source : Various information from internet

Wagon and Block

Stimulate fine motor skills, learn about counting and color

SOLD OUT

Building Blocks

Stimulate creativity and imagination, learn about shapes and color

SOLD OUT

Puzzle Body Parts

Stimulate fine motor skills, hand - eye coordination, learn about body parts

AVAILABLE S$8

AVAILABLE  S$8

Number Sorter

Stimulate fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, learn about numbers

AVAILABLE   S$10

Shape Puzzle

AVAILABLE  S$5

Stimulate Fine motor skills, hand-eye coordinations, learning about color and shapes

Hand puppet apples

Familiar with this song one little two little three little apples....
Why don't sing it with your kids using this hand puppets
Let your kids learn counting in fun way

Make apple from paper plate

Paint or paper collage is fun to make an apple from this paper plate
Let the kids' imagination going wild

Playdough mat apple tree

Let's make apples either red or green apple from playdough and put them into the trees

Betty's apple tree

Let's harvest Betty's apples in the tree
Pick "Apple A" and put into the box or pick "Apple 6" and put into the box
After the kids finish the task, why not reward them with slices of apple

Apple song and pattern

Let sing a song an apple a day keeps the doctor away with this big apple