My daughter (aged 4) is extremely good at puzzles and logic games, it seems she takes one look at it and can speedily complete it. Especially the games like Rush Hour and Castle Logix, with Rush hour she is completing the expert ones totally alone with no help and very quickly, the levels below expert she can complete most of in less than a few minutes (and the basic ones within 1 minute). Rush Hour has been great for us but we haven't had it for very long and she has already mastered it. Are there any other similar type of games that could challenge her a little more or even some on the internet? I was hoping that these games could keep her happy for a while but obviously I was wrong.
Downloadable mosaic puzzle. Son had great fun colouring it in, then glued to weetbix box and cut. Small enough to play in a cafe and difficult enough for anyone! If you want to an easier version for DD#2 get her to colour the robots different colours - v. easy then!
Google 'tangram'. Easy to make, millions of problems to solve.
She's sorted Sudoku I'm sure but what about the old Soma cube and Rubik's cube.
Mirror images: draw a picture for her to replicate on paper so that what appears in the mirror is the same as what you gave. Maybe DD2 could do some. (Don't use any letters or numbers obviously).
Some of the standard MS games like 'minesweeper' etc might be OK for her.
Card games like 'Freecell' need a fair bit of logic - but then you could be on a slippery slope to the casino hehehe
Thanks Linda for those ideas, the robot puzzle is great..I need to get some more ink for my printer so I can print out some things I think.
Thanks Sue about the additional packs for Rush Hour, she is extremely good and very fast at this game so I might look into getting the additional pack for her, I think that she is just very good at this type of puzzle and even though they get harder it probably wouldnt take her long to work them out (she could do some that took me some time to figure out!).
She really loves sudoku aswell but is a bit of a reluctant writer so we have one where you have to place wee animal markers in the same way (same size as a standard sudoku grid and comes with a pack of cards with the start pieces on it in varying difficulty) she plays this often and when she is ready to move on from the animals I will make up some wee shape, or number cards that she can use.
I also might get her a rubiks cube, it would probably scare me if she could do it though as it confuses me and I am a good 20 years older than her! What is a soma cube?
Is chess any good for kids that like these sort of things? I can't play and have never had an interest in it but I thought of getting her a chess set and we could learn together?
I think that the problem is that alot of the games like this that I see all have a much higher age rating than her actual age so it is hard to tell until I open it up and have a look or give it to her to have a quick go at whether it will be suitable for her. The castle logix that we have (I think it is called camelot) says for 4-8 and she can solve all the ones in the book and we only just got it last week, the ones in the beginning of the book meant for her actual age were far to simple she could solve them in a matter of seconds and DD2 could do the same, sometimes I think they must have the age ratings on these things a little wrong!
Have you joined a toy library to 'try before you buy' for the games you're considering?
There is a low quality, 12 game set for about $10 at The Warehouse with chess, backgammon, and other common games in. DS likes it and makes up different games with the pieces. Chess would be great for her. There are some computer chess tutors available, again consult my good friend Google!
My son has a real interest in logic puzzles and I went to Big Fish games and downloaded several - I end up downloading the adult games (he's 6 and his capacity for a bit of suspense is a bit bigger) but the challenges were really interesting. I would look at their range - they classify them so you can search for games that are predominantly puzzle oriented.
I must admit I end up spending a bit of time on them too...
Have you thought of the Dr Wood game range. My son is extremely good at rush hour - although older than your daughter. Dr Wood has solo puzzles (just like brain teasers but 3D) and also strategy/puzzle like games for 2 or even more players.
Have you tried the Puzzle/strategy game called Kaleidoscope from the DR WOOD range of games? It has over 7000 puzzles That should keep her busy for a while.
KogWorks just won the Australian Game of the year you could try that
My son, who is three years of age can do Lenticular puzzles of 100 pieces with ease. He sits for hours together and can finish 2-3 puzzles a day.
I know that he is gifted, but want to know if I could do anything to help him in any way to feed his puzzle solving skills.
Rush Hour is made by Thinkfun. They produce a number of other puzzles such as Shape by Shape, Hot Spot, River Crossing, Chocolate Fix, Hoppers... Other manufacturers include Smart Games. Tantrix (invented in Nelson) is a good one too. An extension for your child could be to get her to create her own challenges and write the algebraic solution for them.
To play many of these games online you can visit my puzzling blog at www.puzzlingnelson.blogspot.com
