Tag: Bubble Ball

Apps, Education, Games, K-5, Problem Solving, Websites

Fantastic Contraption

Terri Eichholz

Screen Shot 2013-03-07 at 5.54.42 PM

Fantastic Contraption is my link for you for this Fun Friday – which is particularly fun, because our district’s Spring Break begins tomorrow!  This website reminds me a bit of the Bubble Ball app for iOS.  Kids who like to build and problem solve will enjoy this site.  This is a great way to emphasize the importance of mistakes, and how we can learn from them.  There is an option to pay for the full version ($10), but I was completely satisfied with the free version.  I thought the tutorials were very helpful, so definitely encourage your students to walk themselves through those.  Many gifted students will skip immediately to the hard levels, get frustrated by their difficulty, and quit.  Remind them that starting from the beginning is not a sign of weakness!

By the way, I would like to congratulate Cindy and mitzif, who commented on my Write about This post, and won app codes for the full version! (Brad was kind enough to offer an extra one.)  If you haven’t had a chance to check out Write about This, and you happen to be on Spring Break next week, too, you should take a moment to try it out!

Apps, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Education, Games, K-12, Problem Solving, Science

Bubble Ball (Reblog)

Terri Eichholz

For the summer, I have decided to use my Tuesday and Thursday posts to reblog some of my favorite posts that some of my readers may have missed the first time around.

Bubble Ball is one of my favorite iDevice apps.  It is a free download, and has 48 levels.  You can purchase more after you finish the 48  for  99 cents.  The purpose of this game is to use the various materials that appear on the screen in each level to direct a ball to roll toward a flag.  I don’t usually like to recommend game apps for the classroom, because students seem to get enough of those at home.  But this Physics challenge encourages problem solving and creative thinking.  Many of the levels have more than one solution.  This could be a fun center in which the students could take screen shots of their solutions and explain them using the free Screen Chomp app or other methods.  It would be interesting to compare the different solutions groups develop, and have them explain their thought processes.  Of course, I highly recommend that you play around with the app yourself – just to get familiar with the levels, of course 😉

3-12, Apps, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Education, Games, Problem Solving, Science

Bubble Ball (Reblog)

Terri Eichholz

For the summer, I have decided to use my Tuesday and Thursday posts to reblog some of my favorite posts that some of my readers may have missed the first time around.

Bubble Ball is one of my favorite iDevice apps.  It is a free download, and has 48 levels.  You can purchase more after you finish the 48  for  99 cents.  The purpose of this game is to use the various materials that appear on the screen in each level to direct a ball to roll toward a flag.  I don’t usually like to recommend game apps for the classroom, because students seem to get enough of those at home.  But this Physics challenge encourages problem solving and creative thinking.  Many of the levels have more than one solution.  This could be a fun center in which the students could take screen shots of their solutions and explain them using the free Screen Chomp app or other methods.  It would be interesting to compare the different solutions groups develop, and have them explain their thought processes.  Of course, I highly recommend that you play around with the app yourself – just to get familiar with the levels, of course 😉

Creative Thinking, Education, Games, K-12, Problem Solving, Websites

Bridge Builder

Terri Eichholz

I have never been good at building things, or at solving spatial puzzles, for that matter.  But Bridge Builder is an intriguing problem-solving game that your students will enjoy.  The object is to use the provided triangles to create a bridge for the motorcycle.  You can rotate the triangles and change their size, if you wish.  This game, though internet based, reminds me of the Bubble Ball app for iDevices I have reviewed in the past.  Bridge Builder is part of the website called Toy Theater, which offers many learning activities for younger students in several different subjects.

Apps, Critical Thinking, Education, Problem Solving

My Favorite Strategy/Problem-Solving Apps

Terri Eichholz

I thought this might be a good time of year to summarize and emphasize some of the most valuable resources I have reviewed so far.  Today, I would like to offer my Favorite Strategy/Problem-Solving Apps:

#3:  Solitaire Chess Free – I reviewed this as a tangible game provided by www.mindware.com, but it is available as a free app as well.  This is a great way for children to learn how the chess pieces move, and to train themselves to think ahead.

#2:  Isle of Tune – You can play this for free on the web, or you can download the app for $2.99.  As it is a music app, you might question why I include this app in the Strategy/Problem-Solving category.  But, I think there is a lot of problem-solving involved in trying to figure out how to use the tools to compose your song.

#1 – Bubble Ball – This is the most requested app during Center Time or indoor recess in my classroom.  It is fun to stand near a small group of students who are playing this app as they discuss the strategies for getting the ball to the flag using the different tools provided at each level.  I still can’t believe this app is free, as it has provided endless engagement for my students at every grade level.  Another thing that I like about the app is that every level has several solutions.

Here are my original posts on each of these:  Solitaire Chess, Isle of Tune, and Bubble Ball.

Apps, K-12, Language Arts, Science, Student Products, Writing

Bubble Ball

Terri Eichholz

Bubble Ball is one of my favorite iDevice apps.  It is a free download, and has 48 levels.  You can purchase more after you finish the 48  for  99 cents.  The purpose of this game is to use the various materials that appear on the screen in each level to direct a ball to roll toward a flag.  I don’t usually like to recommend game apps for the classroom, because students seem to get enough of those at home.  But this Physics challenge encourages problem solving and creative thinking.  Many of the levels have more than one solution.  This could be a fun center in which the students could take screen shots of their solutions and explain them using the free Screen Chomp app or other methods.  It would be interesting to compare the different solutions groups develop, and have them explain their thought processes.  Of course, I highly recommend that you play around with the app yourself – just to get familiar with the levels, of course 😉