A couple of years ago, I won a Rainbow Pencils FlipStir Puzzle. I'd never seen anything like it before, and thought it was brilliant to have a puzzle that we couldn't loose the pieces to. Theoretically, of course. Not that my little angels ever lose anything. Ahem.
We've had this one for 2 years, and it's still in great shape. That says something in this house. We're pretty hard on toys. And furniture. And appliances. And...
Recently, the opportunity came up for us to review another great FlipStir Puzzle from Enlivenze LLC. This time, we received the Statue of Liberty puzzle, which is a level 2 puzzle, with a more challenging picture, than our level 1 Rainbow Pencils. The level 2 puzzles also have wavy pieces, whereas the level 1 puzzles have straight edged pieces.
What is a FlipStir Puzzle? It's a cylinder filled with pieces, with an attached wand to manipulate them. The end of the wand has a little foot on it to help you turn and place the enclosed pieces in the correct order and position to complete the picture.
When we first got the Statue of Liberty puzzle, I let Eli open it.
"Hey, we have one of these!" was his reaction.
He fiddled with it during nap time and got it assembled for me.
I'm glad I got a picture when I did, because the next thing I knew, someone had stirred it up. I played with it for a while and gave up after getting about 4 pieces in correctly. Pretty soon, someone had stirred it up again. It's one of those things that you can't help but play with. I noticed several of the children picked it up and messed with it. I'm not sure who all has assembled it. Having the Statue of Liberty puzzle out and accessible has renewed the kids' interest in the Rainbow Pencils puzzle, too.
We've taken the Rainbow Pencils puzzle with us on road trips before because there are no small parts to get lost in the van. The FlipStir Puzzles are all self-contained, sealed and not designed to be opened. This makes them perfect for taking to things like doctor's appointments where you have to wait, but might have to jump up at any minute. FlipStir Puzzles are mess free, words that, as a mom, I particularly love to hear.
These fun puzzles would make a great stocking stuffer or Easter basket filler. They're also a great item to have in your gift closet for a sudden birthday party your child forgot to tell you about. (Maybe that just happens at my house?)
The Statue of Liberty FlipStir Puzzle was sitting on my desk in it's "unfinished" state when Paul and I were talking in the school room one day. Pretty soon, he picked it up and started working on it. His OCD tendencies couldn't let it sit there like that.
Looking at this picture, I suddenly realize... My whole school room must just make him twitch.
There are currently 5 different FlipStir Puzzles for sale:
Rainbow Pencils
Tyrannosaurus Rex
Solar System
Statue of Liberty
Periodic Table of Elements
One hundred Crew members received one of the first four puzzles for review purposes. You can read what other families have to say about their FlipStir Puzzle by clicking the box below.
You can connect with FlipStir Puzzles on Facebook or Twitter, and with parent company Enlivenze, LLC also on Facebook or Twitter.
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It's good to hear how long your Rainbow puzzle has lasted, and that older kids like it too!
ReplyDeleteIt's such a great idea. I hope they come out with other pictures. :)
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