Description
There are cubes 4 x 4 x 4cm with a different pattern on each side, and 26 different wooden templates ( 4 cubes) and 25 different wooden templates (9 cubes) to be matched by placing the cubes the right way.
What our therapists say?
The wooden blocks are lovely and durable and feel good to hold. The designs are clear and bright and the abstract nature of the designs means that the child really has to look carefully to recreate the image as it is not something familiar, i.e. not a picture of a dog or a teddy. Most importantly engaging in the activity can develop a range of skills:
- Planning and Task organisation – opening the box, choosing the card to copy, sorting the pieces, turning the blocks over to find the correct ones, knowing what to do first, what to do next.
- Matching – identifying the correct shapes on the blocks to match the card
- Visual figure ground – finding the correct shapes in amongst all the other shapes on the blocks
- Visual spatial organisation – turning the blocks around until the shapes are correctly orientated
- Fine motor control and in-hand manipulation – needed to turn the blocks over and place them carefully next to each other
- Concept development when discussing how the shapes are arranged to create the puzzle – left and right discrimination, position in space (at the top, at the bottom, top left corner etc..) colour naming etc..
All of the above mentioned skills are very important precursor skills that are required in the development of reading and writing later on.
