IO Blocks Building construction STEM Toy 1000 Piece Educational Set

My daughter, age 6, and I really enjoy these blocks. I received this set free from Tryazon and Guidecraft in exchange for hosting a party and offering an honest review. All opinions and experiences are honest and my own. We had a party and children ages 3-11 used the IO Blocks to build. We used the included Build Cards - which are sturdy, colorful, and two-sided. We also built using our imaginations. This was the kids' favorite part! Some of the provided projects were simply too complicated for this age group. As a parent/homeschool mom, this is actually an awesome feature - these blocks will be great for hands-on thinking and learning until at least age 15. I can see my daughter building structures and using them for STEM projects for many years. They are sturdy, durable and the color is great. They connect well, but provide the opportunity for movement [great if you decide to use them for stop-motion animation projects!]. They could easily be mixed and mingled with other textiles [like playdough] for even more imaginative play and projects. The only current drawback to these building blocks are that they come with a free app that just isn't quite up to par yet. The augmented reality app allows the builder to look up about 20 different build projects and see how they're put together. It is great to be able to see how the pieces of more complicated projects come together, especially if you find yourself stuck. However, right now, not every Build Card is included in the app and that left some of the children upset and frustrated. I think there is a lot of room for the app to grow, but the app is an add-on that is not vital to the enjoyment of these blocks! There are an endless variety of ways to use these blocks for teaching and learning. They are recommended for ages 4 and up and I would agree. I think they're a great investment for any classroom. The children I partied with would agree. They said they would choose these blocks over any others if given the choice! They loved the colors, shapes, and puzzleyness of the blocks.

Just perfect for a 5 year old to be creative and spend hours playing with. Good quality. Sturdy box to keep them all in.

The game is amazing! My child is absolutely thrilled and so happy to have received it.

Exact what my husband was looking for - great STEM activity

Fewer blocks than I expected, but my class of 3-5 year olds LOVE them and my 6 year old son asked for a second set for his birthday.

#guidecraft and #tryazon provided me with a free box of these #ioblocks to try out with a group of kids. My kids and their cousins range from ages 2-12, so it was a good mix to see what kind of kid and what age of kids these would fit. As soon as I opened the box at home, my kids were interested (girls, ages 2.5 and 4.5). My older daughter is pretty inquisitive and detail-oriented, so she was interested in building specific things, whereas my younger is different, so she just wanted to watch us build things so she could play with whatever we built. My older daughter and I tried building several of the models that are provided on the (many!) cards, but my chief complaint there is that there should be detailed directions on how to step-by-step build each design. On the other hand, it leaves room for creativity, because you don't know for sure how the inside of the structure should be built just by looking at a 2-D picture. That's where the app comes in. You can download an app, scan the IO block card, choose your design, and it'll show you how the structure/design fits together in 3-D model color on your smart phone or ipad! So that was pretty cool, although my 4 year-old wasn't able to do that. It's hard to hold the phone over the card while we're both looking at it and trying to build it. Maybe an Ipad with a stand was the answer! So when I took it to my cousins' house with the older kids, the experience was a little different. The 9 and 10 year old girls were the most into it out of all 7 kids there. Like my 4 year-old, they're more detail-oriented and they enjoy problem-solving activities, so it worked perfectly for them. The app was again hard to use (you'd really need an Ipad or smart phone per kid handy in order to allow them full potential of this toy, which we did not have). I modeled it for them to show them how it worked. But the kids really just wanted to use the cards to figure out how to build each design. The younger kids were more inclined to just put the blocks together on their own and create their own designs. One of the four year-olds made a bracelet and was really impressed with herself! These blocks would we a great addition to a playroom (they are to ours!) and would make a great structured activity for problem solving or older kids. Ideally, they are for older kids, although younger ones could get use out of them. Our kids had fun with them and will continue to. I can imagine that over time, the IO blocks will become something different to them, once they figure out how to use the app and see how the designs come together.

The app it's awesome!

Box was broken open- lots of missing pieces, must have slipped through the hole. I’m very disappointed. Was really hoping on giving this to my kiddos for Christmas