Magnetic Mosaic KIDS

Magnetic Mosaic Kids

Another winner from The Orb Factory, Magnetic Mosaic Kids is the next step up from the beginners Magnetic Mosaics - My First Picture Maker. With 20 patterns, it will keep you busy for a long time.

The white pattern sheets are large, about 11" X 16" and the squares on the pictures use numbers only, no symbols or alphabet like My First Picture Maker. The easel is 11.5" X 16.5" and comes with a stand. The stand is cardboard and you have to be careful not to bump it as it is easy to upset. A stabilizing hand may be useful here, depending on how steady your placement hand is. The cubes are colored foam with a thin magnet on one side, and don't have any stickers on them to fall off.  There are exactly enough pieces of certain colors to complete some of the pictures, so don't lose any. 

Since the 20 pattern sheets are only black and white, it will require you to look at the color key (see bottom left of the box above). The color key is also printed on a sheet that is included in the box. Pictures on the sheets include a person kicking a soccer ball, a giraffe, a birthday cake, a seahorse, and a truck. There is a sheet that shows all the pictures completed, so it is easy to pick out from that sheet which one you want to work on.

The kids and I have both liked this activity. Prepare to spend a whole session on one picture, or bring it out over several sessions to finish one picture. Once the pieces are placed on the board, you can easily re-box it and bring it out later without any pieces slipping off as they stick well.

Try this:

• Place the magnetic pieces upside down or in a jumbled pile.  Require the individual to pick up one piece at a time and use in-hand manipulation to get it into the correct position for placement.
• Pick a number and ask the individual to cover all of some of that number. Then pick another number.
• Ask the individual to support the board with the non-dominant hand and pick up and manipulate in-hand each piece with the dominant hand.
• Ask the individual to pick a color and cover all of those color before moving to another color.
• Practice reading the color key by just pointing to numbers on a design sheet and having the individual consult the key and tell you what color would be used for each one.
• Cup the non-dominant hand and drop the pieces in one at a time when picking them up to put the activity away. How many can you hold? Go again and try for one more. Or grab the pieces up by the handfuls when putting them away.
• Ask the individual to make one element of a picture at a time. For instance, in the image above, ask them to make the tree first. Can they separate it out from the rest of the picture?
• Work on fine motor precision, in-hand manipulation, using a stabilizing hand, manual dexterity, palmar arch development, web space development, grasp, separating the two sides of the hand, visual discrimination, visual closure, figure ground, process skills, executive functioning skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: 20 black and white design sheets, easel with magnetic board, over 600 magnetic foam cubes

If you are interested in purchasing this item or just want more information, click the image below.

Creative Animal Geo Blocks

Creative Animal Geo Blocks - Animal patterns offer the chance to layer

Have you ever used those foam type craft kits, where you end up layering pieces on top of each other as you build the craft? Creative Animal Geo Blocks reminds me of those because the animals are built flat on the table, the pieces are thin and for many of the animals you will end up layering pieces on top of each other.

The 29 pieces are brightly painted, all the same thickness, 1/8" and all made of wood. Many of the pieces are half circles, the only whole circles are the white and black you see on the eyes of the image above.

The 20 design cards measure 3 15/16" square and are printed on one side only, the back is white. Some of the images will have no layering, like the crab in the image above. Others will have multiple layered pieces and the individual will have to be able to determine what the lower pieces are without being able to see parts of them. They have used heavy drop shadows on the pictures, so that helps show that a new piece has been added.

The cards have three different border colors that correspond to a star rating that is at the bottom of each card (1,2 or 3 stars for easy, moderate, or most difficult). As I flipped through the cards I had to wonder why they rated some of them like they did, but no biggie, just make them in the order you want. Here is an example from each level:

The blue and green colors on the pattern cards are not really true to the colors on the real pieces. As you can see on the cards above, the half circle is a gold color. In reality, it is a yellow. The dark forest green color on the pattern cards is really a light blue (see pic below). I have not had any kids that have been thrown by it though. The storage bag has a draw string but nothing to hold it securely shut once you tighten it, so you will have to knot it each time.

For more of this type of activity, see my post on What's in Your Therapy Box? Pattern Blocks Edition.

Try this:

• Start the individual off with the first piece. It can be hard to tell where to start on a completed model or when faced with an empty space.
• Give the individual each piece as he goes, for beginners.
• Cue the individual how to build by calling out a body part or color, such as "Add the beak now" or "Add the blue part next".
• Build the animal first while the individual watches, then take it apart and ask him to build it.
• Cue the individual to look at the color under a piece to help determine what it is, since there are only so many pieces of each color.
• Separate out the pieces needed for the pattern card if digging through a pile of unnecessary pieces is distracting, or too difficult, or if you're concentrating on a different skill. Introduce unnecessary pieces back in one or two at a time to increase the skill of finding something in a busy background.
• Pick up the pieces where they are. They are rather flat and some may need to pull them to the side of the table to get a hold of them.
• Work on visual discrimination, visual closure, spatial relations, visual form constancy, manual dexterity, executive functioning skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: 29 wooden pieces, 20 design cards, storage bag
 
If you are interested in purchasing this item or just want more information, click on the image below.