Review on 🏗️ Exciting Guidecraft Digital Building Educational Construction Kit for Interactive Learning by Tom Tucker

#guidecraft and #tryazon gave me a free box of these #ioblocks to try with a group of kids. My kids and their cousins are between 2 and 12 so it was a good mix to see what kind of kid and age they fit. As soon as I opened the box at home, my children were interested (girls, 2.5 and 4.5 years old). My oldest daughter is very inquisitive and very detail oriented so she was interested in building certain things while my youngest is different so she just wanted to see how we build things so she can play with what we built. My eldest daughter and I have attempted to build several of the models shown on (many!) maps, but my biggest gripe is that there should be detailed instructions on how to build each design step by step. On the other hand, this leaves room for creativity as you don't know for sure how the inside of a structure should be just looking at a 2D image. This is where the app comes into play. You can download the app, scan the I/O block map, choose your design and it will show you how the structure/design fits together in full color 3D on your smartphone or iPad! So it was pretty cool even though my 4 year old couldn't do it. It's difficult to hold the phone over the map while we're both looking at it and trying to piece it together. Maybe an iPad with a stand was the answer! So when I took him to my cousins house with older kids, the experience was a little different. Girls aged 9 and 10 were the most interested out of all 7 children. Like my 4 year old they are more detail oriented and like problem solving so this worked out perfectly for them. The app was again difficult to use (you really need an iPad or smartphone for each child so they can use the full potential of this toy which we didn't have). I modeled it for them to show them how it works. But really, the kids just wanted to use flashcards to figure out how to build each design. The younger kids were more inclined to just assemble the blocks themselves and create their own designs. One of the four year olds made a bracelet and was very impressed with herself! These bricks make a great addition to a playroom (they're ours too!). Ideal for older children, although younger ones might find them useful too. Our kids had a lot of fun with it and will continue to do so. I can imagine that over time I/O blocks will become something else for them once they understand how the application is being used and see how the designs fit together.