Develops spatial intelligence and thinking | A great solo or collaborative group activity for school classrooms, Makerspaces, Montessori, daycares, libraries, or home! | Countless design possibilities and hours of skill building play | Engineers Start Here! I knew right away that Michael would love these little brainflakes.I had no idea how much his siblings would also love them. (At the time of writing this, 5 of the kids are currently laughing, building, and creating their newest brain flake creations.) Buying STEM toys for kids is a fun and simple way to engage in STEM activities for homeschoolers and public school kids alike. There are so many STEM toys available on the market today, but some of our favorites are Brainflakes. I remember something like them as a kid (unknown name), but bought them as a tool to explore geometry, and I'll bring them to a summer camp for kids next month. My youngest daughter left the jar of Brain Flakes on the table one afternoon while running errands and we returned to find an amazing colorful tree built by my teenager. Care: Toss them into the jar

You see, while STEAM definitely includes fun science projects and mechanical experiments, STEAM also includes building and exploring physics and expanding the creative mind.My 8-year-old wasn’t the only person who wanted to play with the jar of Brain Flakes. My 17-year-old daughter was intrigued by them, which surprised me. She convinced her sister to share so they could build together. The two of them snapped the pieces together to build trees, snowflakes, and colorful buildings, and there wasn’t a single argument between them during that time. Michael loves playing Legos with his older brother, but somehow, no matter how many Legos I buy for the younger boys, they all seem to end up in Spencer’s private collection. Mysteriously. The other day, the kids spend an entire afternoon building different Pokemon (yes, my kids are into Pokemon – ahh the memories!) and having battles with each other. I bought these last week and the kids haven't put them down. I have a 4 y/o who prefers them now over lego's. As a parent, I enjoy them a lot too! :)

I was also surprised to see my 17-year-old play with them on her own. My youngest daughter left the jar of Brain Flakes on the table one afternoon while we ran some errands, and we returned to find an amazing colorful tree had been built from them. I asked who’d made it, and my teenager laughed and told me she’d Googled how to build it while we were out. I have to admit that I’ve also played with these colorful discs too after the kids have gone to bed. I’m not as creative as my daughters are, but I’ve enjoyed building towers with them.Child safe | BPA, lead, heavy metal, and phthalate free! | Compliant with ASTM US CPSIA safety regulations. Charlene Hess is the founder of Hess UnAcademy. She spent many years teaching before she had her own kids. She now has 8 kids of her own, whom she has been homeschooled for over a decade. These kids spend HOURS playing with these silly little flakes. And you know what? I don’t mind! This is true creative and cooperative play at work. STEM-Based Play at Work Using Brainflakes

Yesterday, Nicole built a giant horse-drawn carriage, complete with three horses. Spencer used a good portion of our collection to build a skeletal dragon, complete with moving joints. Dragon with moving joints made out of brainflakesA few of the kids were harder than others to decide on, but 3-year-old Michael was particularly tough. Great price, great to have 12 colors. I bought 4 sets of 500+ to be able to make more things, but 2 sets (1000+) should be fine for lots of large projects, or many small ones if you don't want to take them apart right away. Solid addictive satisfying toy. There are a lot of abstract building toys out there, and this one is always a hit with kids. My grandkids love these brain flakes. They build for hours and hours. What a great creative outlet. Sometimes they dream things up in their heads. Other times, we look at library books or images on-line to create all kinds of animals, cars, etc. etc. I love that all ages can enjoy them, even adults. The hardest part is taking apart the favorites to build something new! A simple geometric toy of wide potential for construction and creativity. The pieces fit at 45 degree angles, but flexible enough that you can warp them a little.