Q-Bitz Review – An Educative MindWare Game for Children

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012 at 15:17

The Benefits of Educational Games

Education has been subject to many changes and improvements over the past century, and it is only somewhat recently that high profile scientific studies were conducted in order to find out how a human being learns best.

After countless studies, researches and experiments, it was finally found that humans, and children especially, learn much better when the knowledge is passed on to them in the form of a game, or at least if it is entertaining.

As the news propagated around the world many people tried to make up their own educational games, but in the end only a select few, trustworthy companies remained, one of which is MindWare. To this very day, MindWare specializes in making educational toys for children of all ages; their aim is to blend fun with education to help children develop and understand a number of basic skills and concepts.

An Overview of Q-Bitz

Among the games released by MindWare is Q-Bitz, a basic puzzle game for children of ages 8 and up. The Q-Bitz packages includes 120 challenge cards, four sets of 16 cubes, and four wooden trays. Each of the challenge cards contains a drawing that can be replicated using the 16 cubes, each side of which is painted with a certain design.

The goal is for the players to draw a card, and then compete as to who can replicate the shape on the challenge card the fastest. When a player wins, he or she collects the card, and then the next one is drawn, until none are left. Naturally, the winner is the player with the most challenge cards in the end.

What Q-Bitz Teaches

So what exactly makes Q-Bitz an educational game? Well, when a child is required to look at a representation of a structure and then figure out a way to replicate it with his or her own materials, a number of things happen. First of all, their visual dexterity is being trained as they need to spot the necessary pieces and put them together fast enough to outcompete the other player.

It also contributes to developing their perceptual skills, and they learn to keep calm, cool and concentrated while working under pressure. While it won’t necessarily teach your child how to calculate fractions or how to read novels, it will help them develop in other, equally-important ways.

Q-Bitz Pros

The wooden trays and wooden cubes are extremely sturdy and are unlikely to ever break.
The set is quite small and compact, allowing you to use it practically anywhere you can find a flat surface.
While the game is fast to learn, it takes a long time to master and has a tremendous replay value.
A game can last a really long time as there are more than 120 challenge cards to play with.

Q-Bitz Cons

The paint tends to chip off a little from the cubes.
The challenge cards are quite thin and need be handled with care.

What the People Say

Out of all the people who tried the product, 31 gave a review on Amazon. Out of all of them, 20 gave 5 stars, and 11 gave 4 stars, with nobody giving less than that.

Generally, who had complaints mentioned that they were very small and mostly had to do with the paint chipping off the cubes. Apart from that though, everyone had nothing but praises for Q-Bitz, describing it as a fun and enthralling game which actually contributes to a child’s development, contrary to the trash seen on television.

The Final Verdict

All in all, if you are looking for a game that will pass the time for you and your children while keeping their brains active without dumbing them down, then Q-Bitz definitely fits the bill. The game is simple, it sucks you in, and it contributes to the development of the child’s visual and motor skills.

We have looked around for some time, compared prices, and came to the conclusion that the best place to purchase the puzzle set is from the MindWare Q-Bitz Amazon product page, where it is being sold at a 35% discount for only $16.16.

Click here to visit MindWare Q-Bitz Amazon webpage