Stem toys – The Review Studio

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

We’re on the last few weeks of the summer term and on the countdown to summer holidays. Travelling with children can be incredibly stressful so if you can keep then entertained it makes the journey a lot more pleasant for everyone! In the run up to the summer holidays I am always on the lookout for compact games that I can pop in my bag to keep the children entertained, whether they are on a plane, car, hotel room or caravan.

We were recently sent The Genius Star from The Happy Puzzle Company which can be played solo or as a 2 player game. The game is great fun and will not only keep them occupied whilst travelling it is also fun to team up to play together as a family in the evenings.

Inside the box are two plastic star shaped grids, two sets of 11 multi-coloured wooden shapes, two sets of seven blocker pieces (triangles) and seven dice (a mixture of six and eight sided). The game is very easy to play, simply roll all the dice and place a blocker piece into the triangle matching the seven numbers that appear on the dice, then race your opponent to fill every other space on the grid using the 11 shapes. There is also an added twist with the ‘Golden Star’ which allows you to score a double win by solving the puzzle with the ‘Golden Star’ Apparently only 57.4% of the puzzles have a solution that includes the ‘Golden Star’ so this adds to the challenge!

The game is good for STEM learning using skills including problem solving, critical thinking and logic skills to complete the puzzle.

Each game is reasonably quick but with 165,888 possible combinations you do sometimes play a round that takes a little longer to complete, especially if you try to use the ‘Golden Star’ but that just adds to the fun. With so many different combinations this is a game that will keep children (and adults) entertained these holidays.

The Genius Star is suitable for ages 8 to adult and has an RRP of £19.99

Disclaimer: We received this toy free for the purpose of this review but all words and opinions are our own

My sons have always loved construction toys and we have quite a collection of Geomag. We’ve just added the Geomag Glow set to our collection and it’s not just the boys who have been playing with it!

For those who haven’t come across GeoMag before, it’s a fantastic construction toy consisting of magnetic rods, metal spheres and plastic panels which you can use to construct almost anything, the only limitation is your imagination! Simply attach the rods and spheres in whatever configuration you decide and you can build some pretty impressive structures.

The GeoMag Glow set consists of 12 spheres, 12 magnetic rods and 1 plastic base and there is also a handy storage box (made of recycled plastic) to keep everything together. The magnetic rods are made with 100% natural glowing substances and when exposed to light they accumulate energy which they release in the dark giving the glow effect.

With only 25 pieces you can only build basic structures, but it is a great starter set and can easily be added to other GeoMag sets to create bigger construction projects.

The magnets contained in the pieces are really strong and are easy to build with. It encourages hand-eye co-ordination and fine motor skills and is also a great way to encourage creativity and spark their imagination, helping to create a love for science, puzzles and construction.

I also love that everything is made from 100% recycled plastic. It’s great to see a big toy company being environmentally friendly.

Geomag is suitable for children aged 3 to 99, although younger children will need supervision due to the size of the spheres. This would make a fantastic gift for both young and old this Christmas.

RRP £20

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