Little Homeschool on the Prairie: FlipStir Puzzles a TOS Crew Review

Puzzles are so much fun and I love the ones that are challenging and unique. The last few weeks we have been using a unique puzzle from Enlivenze LLC. I received a physical product of the FlipStir Puzzle Solar System. This is their Level 2 puzzle.

The FlipStir Puzzle is for ages 7 and up.

http://enlivenze.com/flipstir-puzzles/14-flipstir-puzzle-level-2-solar-system.html

What is a FlipStir Puzzle?

Think of it as a puzzle that is contained in a container. You don’t ever have to worry about losing the pieces or picking up scattered puzzle pieces. The pieces of the puzzle are in a sealed clear cylinder. Inside the cylinder there is a metal stirrer that has a plastic edge that sticks out. This stirrer is not able to come out of the cylinder but, you have full access to move it around the cylinder. The stirrer is what you use to manipulate the puzzle around.

My particular puzzle displays the solar system. The colors are vibrant and the planets are in order and are marked clearly to read. This coming school year we will be doing astronomy and I thought this would make a fun addition to our study.

To begin you just shake. After that take a deep breathe because, you are in for a challenge with your puzzle. You will develop a strategy as you start moving the pieces around. With the stirrer you can lift up the plastic pieces inside to move them into the correct order. The plastic pieces are wavy and have a lip on them to help handle them. You have to pay attention to your picture to put them in the correct order. You can see the order of the puzzle on the bottom of your cylinder.

The instructions… Shake. Stir. Solve. It’s that simple! Well, maybe not that simple. They are a lot of fun.

I knew Little Man who is 10 would love this. He likes to take on challenges. Bug on the other hand tried it once and wouldn’t try it again. She has a lot of special needs and was adamant about it. I think she will warm to it eventually.

At first Little Man was frustrated with it and he kept putting it down. I knew that it would drive him crazy and want to solve it.

The first time he put it together he spent 45 minutes on it. After the first time he got better with it and developed a strategy to get his time way down.

His strategy was to use the metal stirrer to hold down the pieces while he would shake the other pieces lose. He would try to keep the other pieces on the top of the cylinder by holding the puzzle vertical. He was able to solve the puzzle easily.

FlipStir has two levels:

Level 1:

Rainbow Pencils

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Level 2:

Solar System

Statue of Liberty

Periodic Table.

This is a fun way to work on those hand eye coordination skills. Not to mention some patience. The puzzle is light weight and not very large. It would be great for a car trip, appointments, and many other situations.

My son and I had a lot of fun with FlipStir Puzzles.