An incredible email we recently received from a stroke survivor – We are thrilled to hear our game is helping in his recovery and has earned a place in his family’s Earthquake Kit!
Dear ThinkFun,
Thank you for inventing the “Fifteen Puzzle” game.
As a 5-yr stroke survivor I find this, aided by other physiotherapy, continues to help. It is a game that I enjoy because it is quiet and does not disturb or distract others; and does not require batteries.
I had a similar game when I was younger, about 60 years ago. I have been looking for a similar one to my childhood one – lost long ago. Your Fifteen Puzzle is the closest.
Planning for a recently completed, lengthy airliner trip and boat cruise prompted my efforts to again locate such a toy game that would keep me 1) amused, 2) my mind active.
I don’t where we ‘found’ and bought your puzzle game, but have had it for more than a few years now. I do enjoy playing it and when its not out being used I keep it as part of our family earthquake kit along with a deck of playing cards.
Keep up the good work with your other toy distribution!
An incredible letter recently made its way to my desk. A woman in Alaska wrote to share a remarkable story, one that reaffirms the brain building (and in some ways even life-saving!) power of play and reminds us that the games we create can do powerful things.
Her letter gave me chills!This isn’t the first we’ve heard about our games, particularly Rush Hour, being used to treat patients with brain injuries. Over the years we have heard from many therapists who use our games to help patients rebuild cognitive and fine motor skills, and Rush Hour was recently featured in an NBC Nightly News segment on treating returning veterans with brain injuries. We are eager to explore how we can continue to create games that support the incredible work these doctors are doing!
(Check out Rush Hour’s cameo at 00:38)
Are you a therapist or patient who has used games as part of your treatment? Please share your story!
Another gem from the ThinkFun mailbag! I loved this email and photo from Brian, a homeschooling father of 3. Brian writes:
“My wife and I have played several ThinkFun games at Mensa MindGames over the years, and we recently bought RushHour for our 3 kids. We’re homeschoolers, and your puzzles are part of our curriculum.
I have attached a shot of our 4 year old Autumn playing Rush Hour. (The 8+ age on the box is a standing joke in our house.) Autumn is up to card #14, and Laura (age 5) is into the low 20′s already. Santa brought them packs 3 and 4 in their stockings this year. Thanks for some amazing games. You guys do great work.”
We often hear from fans who report that the recommended ages on some of our games don’t apply to their kiddos. With Rush Hour in particular, parents tell us their children as young as 3 are already taking on early challenges. I’ve wondered what it is about this particular game that makes it such a natural for young minds to understand and take on.
In part, I think it’s because the goal is straightforward and the same for every challenge. If you get the red car out, you’ve won – no need to check a solution or try another possible path. The movement rules are also very intuitive – cars move like regular cars, forward and backward in a lane, with no fancy jumps, turns, exceptions, or “flying cars” allowed. Finally, the entry point to play (setting up the board) is something very young children love to do and can become comfortable with at a young age. I’ve seen 2 year olds take huge pleasure in accurately setting up the vehicles to match the challenge card, a great spatial puzzle in itself!
With more and more young kiddos playing Rush Hour on the iPhone and iPad, this game is reaching more young minds than ever! With the quick flick of a finger, kids can test new paths, get comfortable with the movement rules and patterns – very satisfying, and very easy to reset again and again without loads of tiny plastic trucks strewn on the rug!
Have you found games for which the “recommended age” is too old/young for your children? Please share!
Last year I shared the story of William Kamkwamba, also known as the Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, a young innovator from Malawi who taught himself to generate electricity by building a windmill from found materials and scrap parts. I was inspired to read William’s story and thrilled to have had the opportunity to meet him in person on several occasions – most recently over his winter break from Dartmouth when he stayed with his “American family,” ThinkFun co-founders Andrea Barthello and Bill Ritchie!
I wanted to share the following update on William by the leaders of the “Moving Windmills” documentary project – and an opportunity to help him continue his incredible journey to change the world!
Many of you have inquired, “What is William Kamkwamba, the subject of our documentary, up to now?”
William is enrolled as a sophomore at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. He is majoring in environmental studies with a minor in engineering. He’s doing very well, with first quarter grades to be proud of. He has two amazing roommates, one from the U.S. and one from Haiti. He is well-known and liked by the campus community and has many friends. His English has come so far since leaving the village 4 1/2 years ago. He receives scholarships to pay for the $60,000/year bill.
One of the reasons he selected Dartmouth is for the Thayer School of Engineering, America’s oldest engineering school. They have an amazing building filled with every kind of high-tech tools available 24/7 to any student, including laser cutters, computer aides drill presses, and computer aided milling machines to name just three. Naturally, WK especially enjoys the hands-on classes where students working in teams have to build things from scratch.
William’s teachers have called him one of the hardest working, most determined students they’ve ever met. He has to be, as he needs to overcome poor schooling as a child, cultural differences, and English as a Second Language. But he has proven since freshman year that he is more than up to the challenge.
Besides his amazing family back home in Malawi, William also enjoys the support of several American families, with whom he stays when he doesn’t go home for the holidays. He just passed a relaxing winter break in Alexandria, VA and San Diego, CA.
The production of “Moving Windmills,” a feature-length documentary that tells William’s story, follows William from this early invention to present day and illustrates how imagination and ingenuity can inspire a family, a village, and a nation.
At this stage in the project, we (Ben Nabors and Tom Rielly) have been working with and following William for almost 4 years. We are finished with principal photography and the footage looks beautiful. We are now editing a rough cut of the film. We’re confident that getting to a strong rough cut will attract broadcasters and distributors to provide finishing funds necessary to complete post-production.
Please join with us to reach the rough cut of this important story! With just 4 days to go on this campaign, there’s still an incredible opportunity for you to help us. Would you consider making a pledge?
Resource: If you’re a resourceful person like William, you might be interested in connecting with other creative and innovative individuals through online engineering degree programs.
I recently connected with Hilary, one of ThinkFun’s fantastic Facebook fans, who shared a fun new approach she and her family were taking for the Hanukkah holiday! This year, she and her husband decided to keep Hanukkah simple with a focus on family togetherness, and they gave a new ThinkFun game to their sons each night for 8 nights! Here Hilary describes the fun they had celebrating with good-for-you brain play!
This time of year is very present-heavy for our family, with Hanukkah at home, Christmas with extended family, and then the boys’ birthdays following in January and February. I like to keep Hanukkah simple with a focus on family togetherness time. I love how the many days of the holiday allows for time to actually focus on the present received before moving on to the next.
I thought that a few games would be great for the occasion. I started looking for some games for my soon-to-be 5 year old son. He’s already a huge fan of Zingo and Hoppers Jr., so I thought I’d see if there were any other games of the same quality. I came across the Hebrew version of Zingo and couldn’t resist – how appropriate. Then I saw so many other fun-looking games that I couldn’t stop there. It turned into an 8 Nights of ThinkFun holiday! The whole family managed to get in on the fun!
Night 1:
We played with the ThinkFun Sliding Puzzle on the way to downtown DC for the lighting of the National Menorah on the Ellipse. Grandma had some skills that Spencer was most impressed with!
Grandma shows off her Slide Puzzle skills!
Later at home, that first night, we played Ducks in a Row. You can see that Sam (our ten month old) is still working on good sportsmanship : )
4 Ducks in a Row - high five!
Night 2:
Trango came next. Sorry to say it was a bit of a bust, but we still had fun making patterns out of the pieces.
Night 3:
Next night was Swish. What an awesome game! We adapted the rules slightly – taking turns looking for “swishes” until my older son caught on. Then it was a free for all. This game has come out every day since it was given.
Swish in action
Sometimes to play by the actual game and sometimes to just study the cards and see what kinds of patterns we can make. Spencer likes trying to make “letter swishes”, like – I,T, L, and O as well as shapes – squares, triangles, and diamonds. We worked together to design a full 12 card swish. I am overjoyed to see how much thinking and exploring he’s doing while playing.
Getting silly with Swish!
Night 4:
We moved on to a double game night on the fourth night – my husband got River Crossing, and my son got River Crossing Jr.
Learning to play River Crossing Jr.
After playing together for a bit to get the hang of the game, we moved on to Head-to-Head challenges. Gelt comes in handy for more than just Dreidel! With the stakes high, the boys were focused, but in the end Spencer was victorious!
A River Crossing face-off!
His triumphant joy is pure beauty! Better luck next time, Dad!
VICTORY!
Night 5:
Rush Hour took the stage the next night. A bit too challenging for the boys – but those cars sure were fun anyway. We’re waiting on a Rush Hour Jr. to arrive so that the Head-to-Head challenges can continue. Spencer is determined to successfully solve one of the challenges.
The faily explores Rush Hour
Night 6:
What’s Gnu? came next. Fantastic game for my emergent reader of a son. He was so proud of himself for actually making his own words.
Night 7:
The seventh night was a Zingo extravaganza. The Hebrew version was a huge hit. We eventually moved into combining the original, number, and Hebrew versions for a very fun, if mindboggling, game. This mama’s brain was getting tired! Thankfully, Sam brought the craziness to a close by crawling across the mayhem.
Night 8:
We ended our celebration quietly with Amaze. Again – huge hit. As you can see, my son had to bring it to bed with him. And as an added bonus it kept my 10 month old completely entertained on a half-hour car ride . I wish he could have told me what he was thinking! Truly fun for the whole family.
Snuggled up with Amaze!
I can’t thank ThinkFun enough for providing such wonderfully fun and challenging games. They helped to make our holiday so joyous. It was so nice to spend such quality time together – learning and enjoying each other’s company. And it seems we’ve barely scratched the surface of your catalog of games. Good thing Spencer’s birthday is just a week away! : )
Last month, we received a donation request from Tracy, a wonderful ThinkFun supporter in Charleston, SC. Tracy has used our games for years, both as a classroom teacher and a homeschooling mom to help stretch her children’s thinking in new ways.
Tracy reached out to ThinkFun for help with an amazing event for children in her county’s emergency shelters. These kids are often taken in the middle of the night by DSS with just the clothes on their backs – no toys, stuffed animals, personal items, clothing, etc., and they stay in an orphanage-style home anywhere from a day to 6 months until a foster family takes them in.
When Tracy found out that these kids have very few toys and games to play with and receive only a $25 gift card to Wal-Mart from the state for Christmas, she decided to take action. ThinkFun was thrilled to donate games for all of the children in these homes, and Tracy wrote to describe the wonderful holiday event in which these games were distributed:
Santa and his helper pass out wrapped games
Tracy describes the event:
I wanted to share with you about the evening we had down at the Carolina Youth Development Center. We took down all of the gently used toy donations to the center. They went immediately to the living room/play areas of the “homes” down at the emergency shelters.
We took some fantastic new toys and games donated to the Emergency Shelter from ThinkFun. They were all wrapped and tagged in festive holiday paper.
Santa and his elf were there to hand out the toys.
When the children started to come down the hall, they could see Santa through the glass windows. The youngest children ran into the room and flung themselves around Santa’s waist. They stood and talked with him for at least 20 minutes before we could begin.
The children looked over Santa’s table covered in wrapped gifts. One little 2 yr old boy grabbed a gift and hugged it tight. Santa’s elf explained there was one there for him, but he needed to wait until Santa called him up. He hugged it even tighter. He then put it down and waited for his gift.
Another boy, about middle school age, came up and told Santa he wasn’t real. He even grabbed his beard and tugged. The beard didn’t move. The boy looked at Santa and said, “You are real!”
They were all so thrilled waiting their turn for Santa to call them.
Another young boy went up to the elf and asked what was on her clip board. She told the little boy that it was the “nice list”. He asked her if he was on it. She said, “Yes, I think you are.” He asked her to check it again to make sure.
Even the older teens hammed it up with Santa for their photo.
Afterwards, the children had dinner and then ate brownies, cookies, and lemonade that Santa left for them.
Santa smiles after a successful evening!
It was an awesome night. I would have to say that one of the best Christmas gifts I have ever gotten was watching the true excitement and joy of the children running up and swarming around Santa asking question after question. The true happiness on their faces was a blessing to see.
My own family has spent the last few weeks working on helping to prepare for this event. As homeschoolers, we made December all about community service for our Kindergarten Social Studies lessons. They have helped brain storm ideas, collect up items, go through their own toys and games to share, and even help wrap and tag the gifts for the Children at the Emergency Shelter.
It has been a wonderful family lesson this year to really focus on others, rather than ourselves, for the Christmas season. It has been exciting and rewarding for all of us.
I want to thank ThinkFun again for contributing to the Carolina Youth Development Center and helping to make so many children so happy.
Heading up social media for ThinkFun is most fun around the holidays, when the world has toys on the brain and our fans are eagerly waiting to give or unwrap our latest games! This holiday tweet from a mom in Florida made me laugh out loud – and shows that even our youngest fans have game-fever this season!
@kristawillim tweets:
My 4yo sings a verse of “Rudolph” like this:
“They never let poor Rudolph, join in any reindeer games… Like Zingo!!!”
“Up for a quick game of Zingo?!”
Catchy huh?!
Wishing you and your family a holiday season filled with peace, happiness, and most importantly – FUN!
The following post is by Jenn Choi, whose incredible Toys are Tools blog sorts toys and games by the skills they support, providing invaluable insight and tips on ways to use fun products to draw out meaningful learning! Jenn recently shared a fantastic evaluation of ThinkFun’s Cartoon It!, focusing on ways game play supports working memory (view original post).
Brain Sharpening Games: Part 1
WHAT: ThinkFun’s Cartoon It! DOES: allows you to work on your “working memory” the memory that you use to complete tasks and more, exercise your drawing abilities INVEST: $19.99 ($17.50 on Amazon today) TOOLS: Remember to Learn (if your memory is so-so); Social Scene Helper (if you’re shy but can draw a little and you have an awesome memory)
Being a kid growing up in New York City, I was exposed to children from many different places. So many of these kids would often talk about school experiences in their former countries and even show how they learned things differently.
For example, I learned the times table in Queens, New York by folding some paper into columns and writing out each table like this:
2 X 3 = 6
2 X 4 =8
2 X 5 =10
over and over etc..
But once I met another kid from Korea who recited the times table to me this way:
2,3,6
2,4,8
2,5,10
2,6,12
He stood with his body tilting and swaying a little bit and he recited the times tables with almost no tone, almost like he was meditating. He also sounded like he could go on reciting all the tables forever. I was in awe.
Committing things to memory is challenging. We all have tricks here and there but at least we only need to memorize things for tests, right? For the rest of the day, we can just turn on our green light and go.
But what if we can’t? What if we can’t remember things not just for tests but just to function at home and at school? Here is an example of memory failure in daily living, ever say something like this? “I specifically told you to bring this here and then go start your bath but you went straight to the bath! Why?”
Psychologists will likely tell you that this is what is known as a working memory issue and some people are born with better working memory than others.
By the way, I don’t think that working memory has anything to do with intelligence because I’m pretty sure that Number 1 is an amazing thinker but his working memory is really in need of a makeover. I can easily relate to him on this as well. I go into rooms ten times a day wondering why I went there. I will even stop what I’m doing on a computer, open a new window in my browser, type in a web address, and by the time the home page appears, I do not know why I’m there.
This has got to stop! But can it be stopped? Can I help my son (and maybe me) with his working memory?
“Yes,” says Anil Chacko, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Queens College in New York City. Dr. Chacko is also working on a treatment development grant from the NIH*, known as RAMP (Refining Attention Memory and Parenting) Study which is examining whether a computerized working memory training program in combination with a parenting program will improve the social, emotional, and academic functioning of children with ADHD*.
“Working memory is not fixed.” Dr. Chacko added that studies have found that working memory can actually improve, even in a matter of one year, particularly for younger children.
Can you hear the birds singing? I can.
Even before talking with Dr. Chacko, I was hoping this could be true. You hear enough about it, know that there are tons of theories out there but how much about improving memory in children do we really know? In fact, after reading this story, I invite you to google “memory” and “training” or “games” and you will see a flood of choices asking you to try these games with prices ranging from free to the thousands of dollars. There is a penny to be made here. Maybe a whole lotta pennies. Why?
Well, take Number 1. He knows his memory is not great. It frustrates him a lot and I can understand that. Memory is very personal. So of course I go online and see what I can buy to fix this.
Okay, I know that I can not buy anything to “fix” it but maybe there are tools to help me try. It didn’t take me long to find Cartoon It!, a game made by ThinkFun.
This company has a special place in my heart because of their game Rush Hour Traffic Jam. When Number 1 was little, he mastered the Junior version of this game so quickly. I was so proud of him and this is really significant because I think he was around 5 years old and he was really driving me crazy. But that puzzle was so much fun, it just drew him in. It gave him a lot of confidence and I was so proud of him. So, of course, when I am looking for fun things for Number 1, I frequently go to this site to check out what is new.
And there it was. When I think memory games, I think about preschool matching cards. This game is not like that at all. But, are there pictures? Yes. Is there card flipping? Yes. But YOU must match it yourself by drawing it out. And if you do it the fastest, you get an extra point. How awesome is that?
I love this two-step process. You basically look at the card with a cartoon face and then when the timer is up, you flip the card back over and then draw. To me, writing it out or saying it out loud commits things to memory. And don’t worry if you are not an artist, they give hints on a board like a multiple choice question and the choices are not that similar so that it looks like a trick question. Lastly, there is a self-grading part. That is cool. I love that. The directions also give suggestions of what to do if there is a disagreement.
You can grade yourself! You can even practice by yourself!
But the game is still hard for my Number 1. After a couple of rounds, he flipped over the game board, barked some angry talk, and stomped away.
What’s a mother to think? For me, I thought, “Jackpot!” I know it is a little evil of me but hey, we hit a soft spot! If this taxed him, then the enemy has identified itself and I can use this game to help him not just with his memory skills but also teach him how to cope with feeling crappy when he has a memory mishap.
And of course, games are supposed to be pleasurable but the added dimension to why he’s upset is that he does like the game. He also gets to play with his family! It’s understandable that he wants to be successful around us. He also likes to draw and through this, I noticed something else. He draws really small! Wow! I don’t know why but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s kind of cute. I just have to encourage him to make a big enough face to fit the features. It’s a planning skill that also needs work here.
Lastly, did you see this video above? It is awesome. I still haven’t read the instructions and I’ve had this game for almost three months. I HATE READING INSTRUCTIONS! Who wants to read instructions in front of two impatient kids! This is what is good about today’s world. Video instructions make it easier for a parent to explain a game. For some kids, it even does an excellent job of getting them started.
Later, we played the game again with Number 1 and he did better. I also found it to be a natural time to have an open discussion talking about memory strategies like the fact there are such things as memory strategies and that people do in fact use them to succeed. And this is not limited to spelling tests! For example, Number 3 told Number 1 that every time she saw a face, she called it a name like “grumpy” or “excited” and that helped her remember the features. She won the game.
At another game night, my husband also told my son to look at the columns and remember the sequence of numbers as you go down the board. see photo above. (Face is in 1st column, eyes 3rd column, ears 5th column, nose 2nd column thus 1,3,5,2…) I have a feeling that this is more compensatory than Number 3′s idea but I like that Number 1 can start learning how to compensate. We are all different and once we know ourselves, we can work concurrently on strengthening a weakness but at the same time learn to cope so we can function right now and in this case, play a game and have fun with friends.
But even if I liked memory games and had a great one like Cartoon It!, how do I know how much I should play to make a difference in his life? Dr. Chacko said we just don’t know the answer to this question but he gave me a very good common sense analogy that we can apply to this equation.
Think of memory games like trying to lose weight, he said. Can you make an impact with doing just a few minutes of exercise per month? Obviously not. But maybe if we increase the “dose” we can increase the impact. So how are we supposed to figure out how much is good enough? And is working memory really a big deal beyond just getting in trouble by Mom? What about school? Is working memory helping you for spelling tests and memory games or is it more than that?
All I can say is that there is a lot more to say and you’ll see it here tomorrow when we discuss a remake of an immensely popular memory game that came to the market this year.
For now, know that as a parent, I adore this game. For the conversations that sparked from it alone, I am grateful. I also don’t think anyone should be upset when playing this game. In fact, I think we can modify it so that it can serve lots of families. We have even figured out a way to play it alone and with Number 2 who is still just four. Believe it or not, even though he is just four, when helped, he can be pretty damn good at this game. I wouldn’t be surprised if we keep playing and the kids beat the adults. This also tells me that if your child’s memory is good, use this as a social scene helper if he needs it or at home just as a confidence boost! Not everything has to be aimed at improving your skills. After all, it’s a game and it’s supposed to be fun and having fun with your family is an aim for any game.
Come back tomorrow when you’ll read more of Dr. Chacko’s very wise perspective on working memory.
Disclosure statement: Toys are Tools has not been compensated in any fashion by the manufacturer or retailer of any of the mentioned products for the publication of this post.
Guess who got a festive makeover?! Introducing… holiday Rush Hour!
ThinkFun's Rush Hour: Holiday Edition app puts a seasonal spin on the award-winning Rush Hour game
We are so excited to share the Rush Hour: Holiday Edition app, available for a limited time for both Apple and Android devices!
Rush Hour: Holiday Edition gives ThinkFun’s classic brain game Rush Hour a complete redesign with seasonal graphics, 400 never-released challenges, four levels of play from Easy to Expert, and a whimsical holiday theme. A perfect way to feed your brain – not your belly – this holiday season!
Your goal is simple, help Peppy the Penguin slide his red toboggan through the pile of presents. As you get better, the maze of presents gets more and more complex, and you’ll have to plan your moves carefully to break the little penguin free.
Rush Hour: Holiday Edition is available for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch as well as Android. It contains 400 all new challenges from Easy to Expert – and we’ve just lowered the price to $0.99!
Download from the Apple App Store, Android Marketplace, or Amazon’s App Store – your brain will thank you!
Recognize anyone on ThinkFun’s Knot So Fast packaging?
This photo just surfaced in an old email, and I had to share my 15 minutes of model stardom as it’s likely the closest I’ll ever get! While my coworker Josh is still trying to decide if ThinkFun really wants him to go blonde, I think we both got a kick out of seeing ourselves cartoon-ified.
If you’ve ever been curious how illustrations on game packaging begin, it may be as simple as two goofballs posing in the office for a quick photo shoot!
Another fun fact about Knot So Fast – did you know that all the knots in this game were vetted by none other than Des Pawson, a world-renowned knot-tying expert? I’ll follow that up with another question – did you know that there are indeed knot tying experts in the world?! Pretty cool stuff
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