MindWare
The MindWare catalog says, “Brainy toys for kids of all ages,” and I almost always find an intriguing new game or puzzle for the waiting room at Denmark, Faris, Gaebler, Linnell, and Cantrell.
I do wish that Jeanne Voigt’s message in the current catalog didn’t say “give your child an edge in an increasingly competitive world” – you know I think the “life is a competition” perspective works against a child’s best development. (From the introduction to Grow With the Flow: ” We hear that our children will have to fight and claw their way into the world …. Wanting to prepare our kids for the worst, we are, paradoxically, in danger of giving them a taste of it.”)
But that’s a quibble about a company that routinely turns up toys, games, books and workbooks with an eye for both function and form, and a clear sense of what can help children grow.
This time around, I’m trying to decide between the Hexabits and Quarto, which I should have bought years ago. Ah! There’s Mastermind! And a client showed me Strange Attractors – unfortunately with only three pieces jammed in her pocket with the remains of a snack, so it was a little hard to see how it works, but she’s definitely a fan.