Guidecraft Wooden Educational Puzzles

Each month, the Guidecraft Educators will share our honest feelings about a Guidecraft product(s) and how these products would fare in an early childhood classroom. This month's selection is a variety of puzzles from Guidecraft's eco-friendly product line (made with eco-friendly rubberwood and stained with low VOC aniline dyes), all of which are safe and non-toxic for children!

The puzzles, as you will see from the photographs below, focus on a variety of concepts, from the very basic (great for toddlers & preschoolers) to more complex (appropriate for middle elementary schoolers, age 8-11). In any event, chances are, you know someone who would love this product line! All of these puzzles also promote fine motor development and eye-hand coordination.

Unfortunately, I have not yet had the opportunity use these wonderful products with preschoolers, as my Head Start/UPK children do not return to class until the 7th... I do have many plans for their use this year, though (in addition to free exploration by the children during "Work Time!"

One to Four Sorter - $25.00
My Anticipated Use: Counting and Visual Discrimination

While many of the children (ages 3, 4, & 5) enter my room counting, there are still some that struggle with that concept. This simple activity will reinforce counting objects (in this case, the holes on the puzzle pieces) and then matching them to place them correctly on the puzzle board. This puzzle also features 4 basic shapes (circle, diamond, triangle, square) and four basic colors (green, red, yellow, blue) which will prove useful in children who need some practice and reinforcements in both of those cognitive areas. Children could verbally name each shape, color and number of holes on each piece as they correctly place it on the "puzzle board."

Gradient Sorter - $30.00
My Anticipated Use: Sorting Objects in a Graduated Series

I can see this product being used in a variety of different ways in my classroom. 1st and foremost, I see the children taking the pieces apart and stacking them in a variety of ways to see who can created the "tallest" castle. I also see the children sorting the pieces into group (all the small, all the medium and all the big pieces). When dumped into a pile, they'll also likely sort them according to color AND as their sorting skills develop, I'm sure I'll find them sorting them into a graduated series (most likely lining them up horizontally across the table from biggest to smallest or smallest to biggest prior to stacking them vertically from biggest to smallest or smallest to biggest. Needless to say, it will be very interesting to see how the children choose to manipulate the pieces of this puzzle!

Shape and Color Sorter - $25.00
My Anticipated Use: Teaching/Assessing Shapes and Colors

I can definitely see this puzzle being a hit with the children who enjoy doing puzzles but who struggle with putting together the traditional puzzle. The "single" pieces are ideal for little ones just beginning to "match" but also make for a more than ideal assessment of childrens' knowledge of both colors and shapes. We hope that our Head Start/UPK children enter kindergarten knowing 8 basic shapes (square, circle, triangle, rectangle, heart, diamond, oval and star) and 9 basic colors (red, blue, green, orange, brown, black, white, pink, purple). This particular eco-friendly puzzle is near perfect to use as a fun, meaningful assessment of their familiarity with shapes and colors. I only wish more of the basic colors we assess on were incorporated into this puzzle (although, I'm not eliminating the possibility of picking up some low VOC paint in the colors not represented and changing a few of the colors to make is ABSOLUTELY perfect for this use)!

Top Row - Fraction Cups - $25.00
Bottom Left - Fraction Pairs - $25.00
Bottom Right - Fraction Action Board - $25.00
My Anticipated Use - Identifying Parts of a Whole, Sorting/Classifying

These three puzzles in particular will likely be the most difficult for the group of children I work with. Some will likely take on the challenge, while I can see others dumping and becoming frustrated with. I envision children trying to put the puzzles together by sorting the pieces according to their color and since many of them will probably not quite have a handle on the parts of a whole concept, I can really see them struggling. However, there will be those few who surprise me and who really need a challenge and I will keep these in mind for those children! If nothing else, children can take the puzzles (especially the Fraction Action Board) apart and using the pieces to be "creative" and see what they can make!

Sun Sorter - $25.00
My Anticipated Use: Using One Basic Shape to be Creative

Children in my Head Start classroom were fortunate enough to be able to explore and spend some time using the Sun Sorter at the end of last school year. This was a HUGE hit and they had so much fun, challenging themselves to recreate the sun, as well as other "things" with the one basic piece in a variety of colors. As you can sort of see from the picture, they took the activity guide away from me and referred to the pictures to create different things. They had a blast and this is definitely a great way to introduce abstract thinking into creative representation activities! You can see more thoughts on the Sun Sorter here.

What do other 'Guidecraft Educators' have to say about these puzzles?
Maureen at Simply Stacie
Andrea at MommyPR
Deborah at Teach Preschool
Carrie from Huppie Mama
Jody from Mommy Moment
Candace at Mamanista!

For a chance to win ALL 7 of these wonderful Guidecraft puzzles, visit:
Deborah at Teach Preschool,
the host of the September Guidecraft Educators giveaway!

Or... if you just can't wait or really want to get your hands on this wonderful line of products, they can be purchased online at either Amazon.com or on Guidecraft's Website!

One to Four Sorter - Amazon.com or Guidecraft Website
Gradient Sorter - Amazon.com or Guidecraft Website
Shape and Color Sorter - Amazon.com or Guidecraft Website
Fraction Cups - Amazon.com or Guidecraft Website
Fraction Pairs - Amazon.com or Guidecraft Website
Fraction Action Board - Amazon.com or Guidecraft Website
Sun Sorter - Amazon.com or Guidecraft Website

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If you're interested in finding out more information about any of the books reviewed or if you'd like to purchase the books, click the cover image for a link to Amazon.com. I am an Amazon Affiliate, so any purchases you make after clicking these images will result in my receiving a small percentage of the sale price!

Sun Sorter from Guidecraft (Review)

As the last two weeks of school drew upon us, the Head Start children in my classroom were getting fidgety to say the least! They were sick of school, their teachers and most of all, each other! Bickering set in... complaints set in... and whining began in full force. Around that same time, Guidecraft's Sun Sorter arrived. Talk about a "work time" saver! Work time offers the children a chance to explore the materials in the classroom freely and to engage in exploratory play/learning with children of their choosing. Teachers "play" alongside the children, so it's fun for us to get new "toys" too!

How did the Head Start children enjoy this product?

The toy was added to our "table toy" area when one little girl told me she was "bored." I had been waiting to introduce it during a small group time, but decided that introducing a new toy during this particular work time was the right thing to do! Three children eagerly gathered around as I opened the package. Together, we talked about what it looked like (shapes and colors, specifically). The children quickly named the color of each piece and then decided that the individual pieces looked like triangles and formed a sun.

After our discussion, they quickly took the Sun Sorter apart, laying the pieces in front of them on the table and approached it as a puzzle, setting right to work putting it back to its original shape of a sun. Initially, they struggled with discovering how to put the pieces back together to remake the sun, but one little boy caught on and quickly showed his friends how to do the same! It was amazing to see them getting along so well together with the amount of bickering and tattling that had been going on! They loved using the Sun Sorter as a puzzle and took it apart, putting it back together several times.

Another child joined us at the table and saw me browsing through the included activity booklet. Being the "reader" that she was, she asked what the book was and wanted to look at it. Together, we read the booklet and then she wanted to try to make some of the different shapes shown. She took the activity booklet and pulled it closer towards herself and the Sun Sorter and worked with a little boy to create one of the shapes shown. They decided to try and make the snake and then the bird. It took them a while, but their four-year old persistence paid off and they were able to do so, with just a few reminders that they could try to turn the pieces to make them fit.

After recreating all of the shapes shown in the activity booklet, I prompted the three children that remained at the table to see what else they could make with the shapes from the Sun Sorter. I sat and watched as the three worked as a team, moving shapes and choosing just the right colors. Within a few minutes time, they called my attention to their finished piece. "Tell me about it!," I urged them, as two of the three are receive speech therapy and simply talking about vocabulary works wonders for their IEP goals! One little girl told me, "I use lellow and gween." The little boy responded, "It a'most a circle." The third little girl spoke up, "Miss Katie, know what we made?" "Hmmm... let me think... " I spent just long enough thinking to the point that they couldn't hold the suspense any longer. "It a 'nail." The little boy blurted out. They were so proud of their creation that they went and called some of their other friends over to view their "snail"!

The educator thinks that this product...

• encourages children to use their imagination to represent something creatively. In this case, children took what they knew about snails (the bushes outside our building seem to be the ideal habitat for several hundred little ones), and used that to create a shape that resembled (in their minds) the body of a snail... I'd say they did a pretty good job!
• promotes knowledge of the mathematical concept of shapes. Many different objects can be represented by the placement of one repeated shape. This will help children to understand that virtually everything can be created/designed if you break it down into shapes.
• will reinforce learning colors. The brightly colored wooden shapes appeal to children. I paid attention as the children played together with the shapes - one would ask for a specifically colored piece for their project and another would respond, passing the color or asking another child to help them find that color.
• fosters teamwork, as children will want to help each other create unique pieces and see what they can work together to design.
• is very durable for use in a busy classroom environment! The wooden pieces are incredibly sturdy and will last for years to come and can be used for a variety of purposes.
• space-friendly. In my classroom, storage space is somewhat lacking. The product is packed very compactly, fitting into a box that is slim. It will easily slide onto a shelf or fit into a cupboard and stack neatly!
• made a wonderful addition to my four-year old classroom and will be enjoyed many times in the future!
  

Find Out More...

Guidecraft's Sun Sorter is one of many toys and manipulatives found within the eco-friendly product line. This product line features objects made from eco-friendly rubberwood and stained with low VOC aniline dyes. You can see the full line of Eco-Friendly products from Guidecraft on their website. The Sun Sorter set is available for purchase through Amazon and also through the Guidecraft website.



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If you're interested in finding out more information about any of the books reviewed or if you'd like to purchase the books, click the cover image for a link to Amazon.com. I am an Amazon Affiliate, so any purchases you make after clicking these images will result in my receiving a small percentage of the sale price!