There are two things I’m always looking for as a teacher:  great, independent, critical thinking activities that are engaging AND activities that are differentiated.  This little game has both of those things.

The set includes enough pieces for 4 players (um…three boys 5, 7 and 9 plus a 46 year old mom was perfect) and has 25 double sided playing cards in three different levels of difficulty.  The object of the game is to independently reproduce the path on the card that connects one square cube to the next faster than the other players.  The person that creates their path to match the card first, wins!

Beyond the fact that this is an excellent critical thinking and problem solving activity, the three levels of difficulty in playing cards is really what appealed to me with this activity.  It meant that not only could my 5 and 7 year olds play together and be equally challenged and engaged, but my 5 and 9 year old could also play together.  It was a blast for them to have a game that they each had a fair chance of winning.  Way to go Learning Resources!

I do suggest that for your little guys, you start them out actually building the path on the mat to get the feel for the activity and for familiarizing themselves with the different sizes of rods and pieces.  But it doesn’t take long and they will quickly move away from that to making the paths independently away from the mat.

If you’d like to get more information on this game, go ahead and click on the picture below.

I also suggest you follow Learning Resources on twitter . . .

. . . and on Facebook. . .

so you can get updates on all their latest and great products.

Now, who wants to win one of these for their own?  I know I’m going to have a hard time prying mine away from my own boys.  But when I do, it’s going in my math ‘learning center.’  I can’t wait.

To win your own, all you have to do is enter below.  It’s super easy.