Building Problem Solving Skills: A Review of Bugzzle

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Working on problem-solving skills is very important to include in one's homeschooling day—especially for younger children. And don't forget the desire to introduce fractions, symmetry, patterns, and sorting skills. How can parents and homeschoolers do this in a fun way?

Fat Brain Toys ® has a fantastic educational puzzle bug, Bugzzle, that is included as part of the 2019 Timberdoodle Kindergarten Curriculum Kit. It is also available separately for purchase. Our family was given the opportunity from Timberdoodle to review Bugzzle with our four-year-old and six-year-old. Both kids have had a fantastic time working through the different pattern puzzles (there are 40 of them!) using the 18 semi-circular plastic puzzle pieces.

What is Bugzzle? 

Bugzzle is a problem-solving educational toy that is perfect for a single child. It is recommended for ages 3-8. (Or you can adapt it like we did for both our children to play with it at the same time.) There are 18 BPA-free plastic pieces that are dual color that your child will use to recreate the patterns pictured on the 40 challenge cards. The puzzle pieces fit into the a cute, green bug puzzle tray.

Everything fits very neatly in the box which makes storing it a breeze. The fact that everything fits so nicely makes it very easy to find out if you are missing a piece. We had a few hours where one of the pieces went missing in our house and it was great to know exactly which piece was missing because of how all the parts fit in the box.

Everything fits away so neatly!

Bugzzle is part of Timberdoodle's 2019 Kindergarten Curriculum Kit and Non-Religious 2019 Kindergarten Curriculum Kit. But you can also purchase it individually if you are looking for a fun, educational toy for your child. 

How Did We Use Bugzzle in Our Homeschooling Day? 

Our four-year-old daughter was very eager to start using Bugzzle when it arrived at our house. As soon as we took out the pieces, puzzle tray, and cards, we knew exactly how to use it. Along with the 40 challenge cards is a 'how to play' card with brief instructions. "Can you recreate the pattern on each card? Use the double-sided pieces to complete each puzzle." (I love an educational toy that is very easy to understand from the moment the box is opened.) 

We also found that Bugzzle was perfect for our daughter to use while I was busy elsewhere in the house during the day. She could take out a challenge card and work on recreating the pattern. If she was having trouble, sometimes her six-year-old brother was able to help her.  

I also found that Bugzzle was perfect for our six-year-old son to work independently. It was very easy for him to set up everything at the table and choose a challenge card to complete. Yes, there were some he had more trouble with but the solutions are on the back of the card so he could use them to help guide the recreation of the patterns. 

How Did We Adapt Bugzzle? 

I would have both our younger children sit together at the table and we would take turns completing the challenge cards. I split the cards into separate piles based upon the difficulty level. I started our daughter with the easier cards (which are marked with one bug on them) and she would take a turn to recreate the pattern. Then our son would choose a more difficult card (of at least level two but mostly level three) to complete. They then took turns until they had each completed about four or five bugzzles. 

Our children took turns using the different challenge cards.

What Did We Think? 

I really like the high quality of the plastic pieces. Having the pieces be dual-colored is a great idea. And I love the fact that everything fits nicely and neatly in the box. I would recommend Bugzzle to parents looking for help their children work on fine motor skills, problem-solving, visual-spatial thinking, and logic. Even if a family does not homeschool, Bugzzle would be a good fit to help their young children.

I think Bugzzle is an educational toy that will also be useful for a number of years. I can see us having timed contests in the future to recreate the patterns on the challenge cards. We can also use the pieces to discuss fractions more in depth as our two children get older. 

Our daughter loves Bugzzle. She likes trying to make her own puzzles without the cards. Her favorite pieces are the pink ones (pink is her favorite color). She said, "I also like the orange." 

Our son likes everything about Bugzzle. He enjoys being able to complete the puzzles (and use the pieces for other games that he invents). 

The solutions are shown on the back of the card so we can check our answers to make corrections.

Do You Want to Learn More? 

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