Inchimals

Cute colorful animals numbered on sturdy wooden blocks ~

This is a great concept considering wooden blocks are a classic in children's play! Wooden blocks are timeless.

Add animals and numbers to that and it makes for a fun beginning math lesson. . .

And hours of imaginary play.

Aren't they cute?

They're Inchimals!






We received a set to review for Timerdoodle.

Each set includes:
  • 12 Wooden Inchimals Blocks
  • Dry Erase Marker
  • 100 Puzzles in a Spiral-bound Erasable {Write-On/Wipe Off} Book
Retail value: $29.95 ~ Timerdoodle price: $26.95

These are designed for preschool/kindergarten aged children and up ~ which means these were a perfect for my 3 year old and my 5 year old and I can see these being very helpful in our math curriculum for years to come.

There are many ways to Explore With Inchimals...

We tried a few of the suggestions:

~ Sequence the Inchimal blocks from the shortest to the longest.
~ Practice counting & learn about numbers as you explore the individual segments, numbers and dots on each Inchimal block.

Eliana can count as high as twenty, but she does not recognize numbers yet. So being able to count the dots and tell me the number made this a hit with her.

~ Learn addition and subtraction concepts:

Frog + Penguin = Bear . . .
 . . . or 2 + 5 = 7!

Lady Bug + Elephant = ?

Malachi is counting the inches to find out.  Then he will check his work by finding the correct animal number (the giraffe).

I love that he can work independently and check his own work!

~ Discuss the animals pictured on the Inchimal blocks and their relative heights/lengths.

We thought it was very fitting that the lady bug is the one inch block and the giraffe is the 12 inch block.

~ Use Inchimals as puppets to invite creative thinking, dialogue, and dramatic play.


I didn't even suggest this one to Malachi ~ I just found him engaged with the blocks after I left him to play on his own. He had quite a story line going.

~ Stand the Inchimals blocks side by side or stack them neatly on top of one another to promote fine motor control.
"I'm putting all the blocks on," she says.
Note: Just don't let brothers stack them all on top of one another to see how high you can stack them. They came crashing down and got dinged up a little (the edges are showing wear). Under normal play, I think they would hold up just fine but we have four boys in our home ~ and normal does not exist. ;-)

~ Introduce vocabulary related to measurement (shorter, taller, longer, height, length, distance, perimeter).

After stacking them one on top of another, she made a fence around the animals ~ and I introduced her to a new word: perimeter. It may not be important for her to understand that word right now, but she understood the concept!

And this was just the day they arrived! They have been playing with them everyday since.

I think math manipulatives are a wonderful way to make math meaningful and fun and I am happy to have Inchimals in my collection. I love it when I can't keep a learning tool in the box! But most of all, I love that they are learning without even realizing it.

Be sure to check out Timberdoodle on Facebook for 5 weeks of daily giveaways going on now to celebrate their 25th anniversary!

Disclosure: As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of Inchimals in exchange for a frank and unbiased review. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

11 comments

  1. We love Inchimals! My son asks every day if his math game can be Inchimals. They are seriously great.

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  2. These look like so much fun! Heading over to get some for Aiden!

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  3. We are sooooo adding these to our collection!

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  4. oo very fun learning toy! I had to crack up at this part: we have four boys in our home ~ and normal does not exist. ;-) Glad I am not the only one w/ a toy stress tester

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  5. These look so fun to learn with Michelle! How neat you got to review them. I"m thinking this might be something I have to get here:-). Thank you for this in depth review--very helpful.

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  6. Not about Inchimals:-), but....your new sidebar pics of the kids are FABULOUS! Jordan is looking so grown up Michelle! And, Eliana is precious in that rose colored sweater with the flower. LOVE these!

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  7. Thank you, Susana! *Ü*

    Luke has the old pics on his wall in his office and his boss made a comment that Jordan looks much older than the pic . . . and I realized it was time to update them. Hard to believe how much he grew in just one year!

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  8. Your blog is always full of cool things. I have given you the beautiful blogger award. You can pick it up here : http://homeschoolblogger.com/teacupsinthegarden/

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  9. I gave you the wrong link. Here is the right one: http://homeschoolblogger.com/joelle/?p=784697

    ReplyDelete