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Block Play – Tetris

We love blocks – whether it’s our mega blocks or wooden blocks they see to get brought out almost daily and various things made with them. We recently brought some Kubix Geometric Cubes and J and I have been having lots of fun playing Tetris with the blocks.

Block Play - Tetris for kids, fantastic for problem solvingLike the shapes in the old school computer game Tetris the Kubix Geometric shapes come in various colours and shapes which can be fitted together. I explained to J that we had to form a complete pattern with no gaps in and then we set about putting together the tetris grid picking up individual pieces and working out where about’s they would fit.

Problem solving with kids, figuring out where the block will go in a real life tetris to complete the patternEach game we started with a cross in the centre and then worked together to place the shapes around in a 2 player version of the game. J turned and manipulated the shapes to get them to slot together to complete each section.

Real Life Tetris for kids and you to play together, problem solving and spatial awarenessWith the placement of the shapes J was working on spatial awareness and also processing where a 3D shape in his hand would fit into the picture on the floor that we were creating. I really enjoyed sitting with him for a while talking about the colours and shades of colour on the blocks especially with the different blues we had light, dark and vibrant blue – probably his favourite word.

Completed Tetris - a problem solving block play for kids

 

Working together we fitted the blocks together and then moved them away and started again – J was able to work randomly like the end product above and then we extended it by first sorting the blocks into colour groups and putting one colour together at a time. Next time we play I’m going to try and introduce the fact that no colour can touch the same colour and see if we can add an extra dimension to the block play.

Block Play - Tetris a great problem solving game for you and your child to play together

Wooden blocks are slowly replacing our large mega blocks and we are moving to small lego pieces with J as he heads towards school age which open up all sorts of problem solving and fun for us at home.

Author
Cerys Parker

Cerys is a marine biologist, environmental educator, teacher, mum, and home educator from the UK. She loves getting creative, whether it is with simple and easy crafts and ideas, activities to make learning fun, or delicious recipes that you and your kids can cook together you'll find them all shared here on Rainy Day Mum.

4 Comments

  1. Hi Lovely review. We have shared this on our Facebook page, hope you don’t mind.
    Let me know if you have any queries!

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