Ravensburger Spongebob Squarepants XXL 100 Puzzle

When Freddy was offered the chance to try out the one hundred piece Spongebob Squarepants Puzzle from Ravensburger, he was very pleased. He loves Spongebob and the design on this puzzle features hundreds of characters from Bikini Bottom, making it really appealing and just the right level of challenging. 

The 100 XXL format makes this puzzle perfect for his age as the pieces are a good size, making it less fiddly to put together. He isn't the best at doing complicated puzzles, as he has inherited my lack of spatial awareness! It doesn't come naturally to him. So if a puzzle is too hard he quickly loses interest or gets frustrated. This was the perfect level for him, keeping him occupied and allowing him to successfully complete the challenge.

The quality of the pieces is really good, they are sturdy and they fit together well. The puzzle is 49cm x 36cm and the finished picture is very detailed with lots of Spongebob fun to explore. There is lots of visual humour to discover and lots of familiar characters to spot. Children's observation skills will be developed as they try to spot their Bikini Bottom favourites including the Frying Dutchman, Barnacle Boy, Mermaid Man, Mrs Puff and Pearl as well as Spongebob, Patrick, Sandy, Mr Crabbs and Squidward. 

Freddy was very pleased with himself for completing the puzzle. The 100 extra large pieces make this a good transition from baby puzzles to grown-up ones. Freddy was able to match the pictures and the shapes without getting frustrated and he enjoyed the challenge of completing it.

Ravensburger have a great range of puzzles in the XXL 100 format, featuring lots of kids' favourite film and TV characters. You can find them at www.ravensburger.com/uk/products/children-s-puzzles/age-6.

Ravensburger 3D Puzzle

Puzzling has just taken on a new dimension!  The new 3D Puzzles from Ravensburger fit together to create impressive three dimensional structures.  We were sent the Big Ben puzzle to try out for ourselves.

The 216 plastic puzzle pieces are numbered and slot together in order to construct a 40cm tall replica of  the famous clock tower of Big Ben, London's most popular landmark. The finished structure makes a great piece to display...or pull it apart for another puzzling session.

The pieces are durable and fit together with relative ease.  Hinged pieces click together on the edge to make the model very robust.  The image on the pieces is very clear and of a great quality.  

Numbered pieces

We started by sorting out all the pieces into order.  The numbering on the pieces is however sometimes difficult to read, but we got there in the end.  The first two sections were quite easy to put together, but the final section was really fiddly.  Lots of adult help was required for 9 year old Kizzy to complete this puzzle.  The top section was definitely far too tricky for her to do on her own and caused a bit of frustration.

Fitting the pieces together.

With a lot of help from her 20 year old sister, they completed the puzzle in approximately 1 1/2 hours.  

Big Ben

Excellent Detail

The Ravensburger 3D Puzzles retail for about £20.  They are suitable for ages 10 and up.  Other designs available, include the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower.

The Dioctipoid Puzzle Ball

I remember the first wave of the Rubik's Cubes when they hit the shops back in the seventies!  It would make the teatime news when someone broke the record for completing it in the quickest time.  There was gasps of disbelief when someone did it blindfolded!  I even completed it once (with help from a 'how to' guide and a lot of luck).  Since then, there has been a constant stream of successors in search of that crown that the Rubik's Cube has worn for many a year.  The Dioctipoid is the newest contender in the genre!

Dioctipoid 2.0 on its stand.

The Dioctipoid makes the Rubik's Cube look positively square!!  The iconically designed spherical puzzle ball consists of segments that rotate in groups around any of the four axes.  The idea is to rediscover the starting pattern and solve the puzzle!  The Dioctipoids come in two difficulties 1.0 and 2.0. 1.0 has six coloured star patterns with white diamond segments, the 2.0 has stars with coloured diamond segments to make it harder to solve.

Dioctipoid 1.0

I was sent one of each to try out.  The puzzle balls are really tactile with the segments sliding easily across the sphere.  It is quite stress relieving to slide the pieces, rotating them and re-orientating the ball.  However the puzzle itself is very difficult.  So much so that there is a cash prize offered to anyone who solves it in the shortest time!  To date, no-one has claimed to have solved either puzzle.

The Dioctipoid is well made out of hard plastic, is nicely weighted and is sized to fit nicely in the palm of your hand.  The colours are nice and the ball looks quite intriguing sat on its stand.

I am probably never going to solve the Dioctipoid in a million years, however it is an enjoyable way to while away some time.  Trying to reform the stars is very trying, but as there is no time limit or annoying electronic beeps creating undue pressure, it is not stressful!  You can set mini targets of solving a certain amount of stars which is more achievable and gets you used to how the pieces move.  The pieces move nicely without getting locked up as long as you keep the shape by re-orientating the sphere between moves.  You can pick it up and put it down at your leisure.  It comes with its own stand so you can keep it on display ready for family and friends to try.  It will definitely become a talking point with everyone wanting a go.

The Dioctipoid is recommended for children aged 8 and over.  The boxed puzzle comes complete with a token for the competition run by Dioctipoid.com where full details can be found.

For hardcore puzzle enthusiasts, this will be the ultimate challenge in spherical geometry, offering hours of twisty-turny puzzling.

In a world full of electronic toys it is refreshing to see a toy that does not rely on batteries.  As a toy for an older child or as an executive toy for an adult, it'll give the grey matter the ultimate work out!

You can buy your own Dioctipoid for the special price of £18.49!

Octonauts Puzzle from Ravensburger

Here is another Ravensburger Puzzle that will delight the older pre-school fans of the CBeebies show The Octonauts.  Featuring three scenes, the graded puzzles have 25, 36 and 49 pieces respectively.  Your child can progress, tackling more difficult puzzles as their skills develop.

Doing puzzles aids children's concentration and patience, developing observational skills.  Communication skills can grow as children discuss the pictures.  Having scenes from The Octonauts will really help fire up their imagination.  

Made to the high quality standards of Ravensburger, the steel cut pieces are printed onto sturdy recycled  card.  The pictures are colourful and bright starring all the characters from the show that children love.  The linen finish stops glare and the pieces interlock with a perfect fit.

This Octonauts three puzzle set is £6.75 on Amazon.

Check out Ravensburger.com for other fabulous puzzles for all ages and abilities.

Anti-Virus...the Biological Game

Anti-Virus is another title in the range of Smart Games from Jumbo Toys.  The idea of the game is to get rid of the red virus from the cell it has invaded, bypassing all the molecules blocking the way.

The playing pieces fit into the game board as indicated in the challenge instructions.  There are sixty challenges and five different levels from starter through to wizard.  The puzzle pieces can only be moved diagonally, singularly or as a group.  When the red virus is forced out through the exit you have found the solution. 

Like the other games such as Camouflage, this is addictive and challenging.  Sadly again, my inability to solve puzzles is a big hindrance...but as the levels start off easy, even I could solve a few challenges!  But that is as far as I can get...puzzling just isn't for me.  However I can see how these games of logic become addictive.

The game is for ages 7 and up and is for one player at a time.  Once you "catch the bug" there is no stopping you!  No-one is immune to to the infectious fun (except for the spatially challenged like me who just don't get what they are doing!!)

What I love about this game is the fact that it all fits neatly into a zip up bag.  This means the pieces stay safe and can be easily transported for playing on holiday or away from home.  The pieces are really well made and they slide in the game board very satisfyingly.

It's great to see games such as this that develop logical reasoning, cognitive thinking and visual perception.   The Smart Games range are really well conceived, fun and educational.  At £14.99 they are great value and will provide literally hours of fun. 

North Pole Camouflage...the Transparent Game!

North Pole Camouflage the Transparent Game by Jumbo Games is a one player game of logic which challenges you to help North Pole creatures "hide in plain sight"!

You have to arrange the six transparent puzzle pieces so the animals are camouflaged in their correct environments and do not overlap with the hunters.

There are 48 challenges ranging from starter to master, each with its own challenge card that fits into the game board, but using the same six puzzle pieces.  Solving each challenge needs logical reasoning, cognitive thinking and spatial perception.  (This means I'm out...I am incredibly spatially challenged, but thankfully my Tiny Testers are not!!)

Kizzy enjoys games of logic and liked the idea of saving the animals!  Fish and whales need to be in the sea, polar bears need to be in the snow, neither can go on top of the hunter!

It is quite challenging, but Kizzy got up to Level 5 without too much difficulty...only 43 more levels to go!!  Daddy tried to go straight in at the hardest level...he regretted that decision!  It really is tricky and requires real logic to solve the challenges.  This game will keep the family puzzling for a long time.

The game board has a pull out section to store the challenge cards and puzzle pieces neatly.  This makes it good for taking on holiday or to the grandparents' house to keep the kids occupied.

The solutions to all the levels are included, so if you end up tearing your hair out you can take a peek.  This game is recommended for ages 6-99...so it is suitable for the older kids, mum, dad, granny and grandad!

It is a real brainteaser that will help develop problem solving skills in boys and girls.  

Definitely a good educational toy for children who enjoy puzzles and a game that all the family can play, taking it in turns to complete the challenges.  (Sadly, I couldn't do level 1 without help...I really am useless as solving shape puzzles!)

iball 3...Fascinating and Infuriating!

HTi have introduced the iball 3 - the unique can't-put-down interactive memory game.  It is a clear ball with an electronic display inside with six lights and sound features.  Designed for ages 8-80, it will fascinate and infuriate in equal measure.  Tipped by Hamley's to be one of this Christmas's top toys, it is fast, fun and interactive and an aid to brain training for all the family. The Gadget Show on Channel 5 named it their number 1 toy at the London Toy Fair for 2011.

The iball 3 is stylish looking, a real executive toy for the 21st century, designed by computer genius and inventor Andrew Reeves who has been seen on TV shows including The Dragon's Den.

The idea of the puzzle is to work out the light sequence and switch all six lights to the same colour within a time limit.  Each light has a choice of three colours initially, creating over a million permutations.  There are two levels of play, the second of which sees you working with four colours!  Once you have succeeded a unique icode is displayed  which allows you open up all the interactive aspects of the puzzle and track your progress against other players at iball3.com on their online leaderboard.

We were sent an iball3 to try out for ourselves.  I loved the look of this high tech gizmo!  It looks great sat on the black stand like something out of a Sci-Fi movie.  The ball is really tactile and the lights and sounds create a really addictive toy.

I would like to tell you at this point how we have mastered the iball3 and are now experts.  Sadly, it's not the case.  I've matched the 6 lights twice but nothing seems to have happened...maybe I'm too slow.  We are clueless!  It sounds simple enough, we just haven't worked out how to progress.  We are truly infuriated by how puzzling it is.  I've delayed publishing this review just in case we cracked it so I could write about how clever we are!  But I couldn't wait any longer.  I have had to come clean.  

I'm sure many people will love the challenge of the iball3...I just don't get it.  Whatever we do just doesn't seem to work.  Lights light up...numbers flash on the LED display but we're not sure why.  The instruction leaflet does not help at all. To say we're confused is an understatement.  Even the kids can't get their head around it and they are the ones who usually grasp concepts and leave their parents standing!  My teenager refused to be videoed for this review because she doesn't get what she is doing with the iball3!  Maybe we are just not techy enough...I'll be getting my computer geeky 22 year old to have a go next time he visits...I'm sure it'll be right up his street and he'll complete the level in no time and tell us where we're going wrong!

If anyone can offer me any advice or help I'd be very grateful, because this is a great product.  It is intelligent and challenging.  But too frustrating for me!  

Their strap line is CAN YOU DO IT???  (Me?  I'm not so sure that I can!)

The retail price is around £16.99. (Amazon currently have it on sale for £11.75 + p&p from Gameseek.) 

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