Smart games: play first, then puzzle
Author: Tanja Damhof
Webshop owner and mother
The basic idea behind Smart Games
Smart Games are games, or rather puzzles, that do not have just one solution, unlike a regular puzzle. The ‘puzzle pieces’ are 3D pieces that can be placed on the puzzle board in different ways. This creates many different solutions. That is the basic idea.
Development
The instruction booklet makes it extra smart. It sorts all the possibilities by difficulty, from easy to challenging. This way, a Smart Game matches the development a child goes through. A child starts with the first tasks and works their way up step by step. This allows the child to see their own development grow through the levels of the game.
Play first, then puzzle
A new Smart Game is always a new challenge, even if a child has already played several Smart Games. That is why the possibilities of the pieces can be explored first. By offering a Smart Game and letting children play freely with it first, they discover what they can do with the pieces: build, place, move, and rotate. The puzzle pieces are interesting and rich in detail one by one. Once a child knows the pieces well, they will recognize them more quickly and there will be less distraction when completing a task.
This way, a puzzle is solved faster and with more satisfaction.

Just puzzle away
With a Smart Game, there is no right or wrong in the sense of “failing”. Every piece you move, rotate, or pick up again brings you closer to a solution, and there is always more than one to be found. So let the pieces run through your fingers first, take the instruction booklet and puzzle at your own pace from level to level.
Which solution will the child find this time?
This blog post is inspired by a post on Instagram by @speelspiratie
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