Qwirkle – An Educational Game to Boost your child’s Cognitive Abilities

Recent Findings About the Learning Process

For many years it was considered that learning was mostly a matter of repetition and that anyone could learn anything if they really put their mind to it. However, recent studies have come along to disprove that line of thinking. It was demonstrated that when information is conveyed through a humorous, clever, or distinct manner it is much more likely to be absorbed by the subject.

There was even a study* conducted at Princeton and Indiana University where two groups of students were tasked with reading textbooks. One group was to read it in a 16-point Arial font while the others were to read it in a 12-point Bodini MT, a font which is harder for the brain to process. After a short break, both groups were asked to perform exams and the group which had to read the 12-point Bodini MT font outperformed the other one 85.5% to 72.8%.
(* Study Source: http://web.princeton.edu/sites/opplab/papers/Diemand-Yauman_Oppenheimer_2010.pdf)

As most parents will confirm, kids often tend to perceive learning somewhat negatively as it just tends to bore them most of the time. However, according to the multitude of findings which researchers in the field of early education have made, if knowledge was to be passed to these children in the form of a game they would be much more likely to learn from it. As such, a few companies have tried to start their brand of educational toys, but unfortunately many of them proved to be ineffective for one reason or another. There are however a few companies which over time have proven their worth, with one of the most famous ones being MindWare.

A Bit About MindWare

Founded by Jeanne Voigt in 1990, MindWare started out as nothing but a little store with children’s toys in Minneapolis. Slowly but surely, the profits kept coming in and the company eventually grew into a cataloguer, a web retailer, and has even managed to become a distributor.

The main goal of the company is to provide high-quality learning toys for kids of all ages; they aim to teach as well as entertain. Their products are even distributed to various schools and teachers everywhere around the planet.

Apart from being very renowned, MindWare also has a 100% satisfaction guarantee plan which claims that if you are not 100% satisfied with your purchase you can return the item for a full refund.

A Look at Qwirkle

One of the most popular games released by MindWare is Qwirkle which can be best summed up as a different take on dominoes. Intended for children of ages 6 and up, the game comes with 108 wooden blocks in six different shapes and colors. The goal of the game is to connect the blocks either by color or by shape. When a player manages to build a line they earn points.

The game is designed to appeal both to children and parents alike; while kids will enjoy it as a very simple and rewarding game, adults can have their share of fun by looking at it as a strategy game, especially considering an average game lasts more than 45 minutes.

The wooden blocks themselves are quite sturdy, although it is more than possible you will lose one or two of them. In that case however, you can simply ask the company for a replacement which they will send you at no charge. The set is portable and even comes with a drawstring bag allowing your kids to take it with them for sleepovers or whenever the family goes on vacation.

Qwirkle’s Educational Benefits

To start things off, Qwirkle heavily contributes to developing a child’s matching and sorting skills, not to mention that it will develop their understanding of colors, shapes and numbers by associating them with language.

Second of all, it should be noted the Qwirkle is a competitive game in which each player tries to out-think their competition, at times for a duration of 45 minutes; it is a perfect way to keep the mind hard at work for kids.

More precisely, it will help them develop their logical thinking and strategy development skills because unlike other games such as Snakes and Ladders for example, the player does not rely on luck but on trying to think ahead of everyone else.

A Glance at Public Opinion

It seems that Qwirkle is by far the most popular MindWare educational toy on Amazon having garnered a total of 394 reviews. Out of the 394 reviews, 323 give it 5 stars, 59 give 4 stars, 8 give 3 stars, 3 give 2 stars, and only one person gave it 1 star. All in all, it is in very good standing with the community as the vast majority of people who bought Qwirkle have nothing but praise for it.

Our Verdict

All in all, Qwirkle is an excellent game for many reasons, the first one being that it can actually appeal to people of all ages. Adults and children alike find the game to be very fun and challenging for different reasons. Considering that MindWare’s goal is to create entertaining toys which educate children, it can be said that Qwirkle is one of their best achievements; most people find it to be fun and it actually helps children develop their matching, logical thinking, strategizing skills, and more. It is everything an educational toy should strive to be.

We have looked around a bit and found that Amazon is the best place to get Qwirkle seeing as how it comes at a 50% discount for $17.46. If you would like to purchase it, simply check out the Qwirkle product page.