IQ Circle (A Timberdoodle Review)

 

It's a new school year! Instead of loading your teen with piles of bookwork or online classes, consider adding hands-on problem-solving activities to help sharpen her mind this year. In the younger years, it is easy to remember to add breaks and games into the school day—but what about with our teens?

The IQ Circle from Timberdoodle is a perfect way to keep your teen learning while breaking up the monotony of the school day. 

With so much amount of time and energy dedicated to ACT/SAT and career prep throughout these pivotal years, we cannot forget about the importance of including opportunities to develop critical thinking skills. Having these skills developed will prove useful in real-life situations, even while still in high school:

• Driving Tests
• Job Interviews
• Volunteering
• Ministry 
• Household Chores
• Study Habits

All of these situations require our teens to think on their feet and to use problem-solving skills in a practical way. Have you ever found yourself, as an adult, unsure of how to respond or react in a certain situation because you were treading on new territory? It happens to all of us, but when we are presented with opportunities to overcome unknown obstacles, even small ones, we can gain confidence that we can overcome larger ones later in life. 

With 120 challenges provided with the IQ Circle, you could assign three or four challenges a week to keep her mind sharp. These quick and easy (progressing to not-so-easy) challenges help your teen to gain the confidence needed to overcome difficult situations. Can a pocket-sized 1-player logic game really do that for your teen? 

Absolutely!

Children, teens, and adults often give up when something is hard because they do not believe that they can do it. Or, they do not know how to mentally work through the steps needed to solve the problem.

Practice makes perfect. Cramming or dealing with a situation last-minute does not. Adding simple activities such as the IQ Circle prepares teens for challenges ahead by strengthening the pathways in their brains. 

STARTER

The hardcover instruction book with high-quality color pictures of each challenge is just as stunning as the product itself! The cover is sturdy. So are the pages inside, which are perfect for daily use. 

How Do You Play?

The first thirty-two challenges are considered the Starter Level. The image for the challenge will show you which pieces to have on the board when you begin. Then, the challenge is to figure out how to place the remaining pieces on the circle so they all fit perfectly. Sounds easy, right? The Starter Level challenges help your teen to stop, pause, and think. The first few challenges are not too difficult, but as she moves through the book, the challenges take a bit longer to complete. 

JUNIOR

Challenges thirty-three through sixty-four are considered Junior Level. These challenges begin with fewer pieces on the circle, and each challenge begins with different pieces in different places on the board. Once your teen has built up her problem-solving skills with the Junior Level challenges, she will be ready to proceed to the more challenging ones. 

EXPERT

Challenges sixty-five through eighty-eight are considered Expert; then it goes up to Master and Wizard. My teen was excited to receive this in the mail and was ready to work through the challenges immediately. She is looking forward to including this in her homeschooling routine, without even fully understanding the long-lasting benefits that the IQ Circle will provide!

Disclaimer: Many thanks to Timberdoodle for providing the product above in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.