These 70 plastic blocks arrived in a nice, big, blue storage container. For all extents and purposes, these look like ordinary stacking blocks (similar to a Mega Blok), except that they have unique imprints on the top of each block.  When I say technology, there are booster block packs that you can purchase that will bring the blocks to life through sound. The are 6 different booster packs that can be purchased and each pack comes with three blocks. There are Nursery Rhyme Blocks, ABC Shape & Counting Blocks, Music & Dancing Light Blocks, Math Blocks, and two packs (Purple, Pink, Orange & Red, Yellow, Green)  that encourage color recognition and manners through the use of rhyming.

Some of these special blocks in the booster packs have LED lights and special chips that allow for numerous possibilities when stacking them. You have to see the SMARCKS website to really appreciate the amount of technology that has gone into creating these blocks, honestly I was completely amazed and I will admit, slightly overwhelmed at first!  For all you tech savvy people and engineers, a lot of love and dedication has gone into the process and development of this product, there is no doubt they will intrigue parents too.

I am a huge fan of products that stand the test of time and I love that young children can initially use them as young as one like regular stacking blocks while their older siblings and parents will be baffled trying to figure out all the possible puzzles and combinations that will also make these blocks laugh, count, sing, rhyme, light up, add and subtract.

My son and some of the children that I work with, in true toddler fashion, have enjoyed the old classic songs included in the Nursery Rhyme Blocks like Pat-a-Cake, Itsy Bitsy Spider and Old MacDonald Had a Farm. Gavin can open the container himself and knows how to stack them on top of each other. When I give him the nursery rhyme block, he will even start to sing-a-long with some of the songs in his own way (usually Ya-Yo, Ya-Yo is his version of requesting EI-EI-O!). He loves it if I start singing along with the block, too! He does a few little sways and bounces to dance along with the songs! I would definitely suggest, choosing only a few of the special blocks to incorporate at a time with the younger kids. If you activate to many of them at the same time, you can’t differentiate the sounds and it doesn’t do the blocks justice, it just makes for a lot of noise.

If you have multiple children in your household these blocks have entertainment value for everyone. Definitely go online, download and print out the Puzzle Building Guides, older children can follow the step by step building instructions to unlock the secrets of these special blocks by placing the block in different locations in sequence to sing an entire song.

Ways to help your children use all the functions these blocks have to offer:

- If you are using the puzzle guide, depending on their age you may need to help them sort out only the blocks they will need for that specific puzzle and place the remaining blocks back in the storage container

- The puzzle building guides go in all sorts of paths like left to right, right to left and circular, which is great for attention, memory and the visual tracking skills that are helpful to develop when children learn to read

- After they have completed the puzzle  a few times using the guide, see if they can remember the sequence required to play the song themselves as this works on their visual memory

- These blocks are great for older children to work collaboratively together at home or at school to learn how to share, take turns and communicate with each other if you have more than one child following the puzzle guide together

Guess what! ToyQueen.com is giving away a set of the Learning Special Smarcks valued at $76.95! Here is what the giveaway includes: 

The original blue container, housing 70 Smarcks Smart Blocks, along with the talking blue block. Included in the Learning Special set are the Math and Counting Blocks which provide children a way to see, touch, and hear what they are counting and adding. The Learning Special also includes the Spelling, Shape, and all 7 Color Blocks.

Mandatory Entry:

Please visit the Smarcks Website to see what these amazing blocks can do firsthand. Comment under this post which booster set you think your child would like the best.

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Additional Entries:

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Please leave a separate comment under this post with any additional entries completed.

Giveaway ends April 13th, 11:59 p.m. EST.

Smarcks Smart Blocks provided these blocks free to facilitate a review. The opinions expressed in this post are my own.

P: Pen! First we filled the small pen like dispenser with colored beads. I found it helpful to take a pair of tweezers from the medicine cabinet to help fill the dispenser, as the beads were very small, and sometimes challenging for the kids to pick up.

I: Index Finger! I encouraged the kids to hold the dispenser, as they should their pencil or marker, with three fingers in a tripod position. We used our index fingers to push down the button to release the beads onto the template.

X: Xylophone! Okay, so we didn’t make a xylophone, but you could easily do this with the create your own template feature online at www.pixos.com!

O: ORGANIZE! Make sure you are organized prior! This is definitely an activity that you may want to do sitting nearby your child to assist them as they need it. PixOs has a key on the back of each product, identifying whether the kit is easy, medium, or hard, so be mindful of this with younger children. There was a sorter in the box for the kit I reviewed, that allows you to separate out the beads by color, but there was not a cover to this particular container. I would encourage you to put the entire container in a sandwich size ziploc bag when you are finished to prevent the beads from escaping all over the place. However, after looking more at other great PixOs Products online, some kits do come complete with sorters that have a cover.

S: Spray Success! I successfully used this in a small group with two children at the same time. They alternated taking turns between filling the dispenser and placing the beads onto the template. We created one design in about 1/2 hour, then needed another 1/2 hour or so for it to dry. It says to let it dry for 10 minutes, but the kids got a little excited about the water spraying, so it took a little longer. We also needed to spray some of the designs twice as some of the outer beads did not attach when they were sprayed.

Other thoughts:

- Considering their price points, these would make excellent birthday and holiday gifts!

- Don’t stop with just making your creation! After spraying the design with water and waiting for it to dry, we made a story together about our creations and wrote them down in a journal to promote the academic skills of learning letter formation, as well as the visual spatial skills of writing with good spacing, formation and size of the letters. Children working on social skills and social language can have their PixOs interact with a friend’s creation.

- Parents consider PixOs for a fun activity over the summer. Teachers and therapists always encourage children to continue with their writing to keep their skills current, why not take a fun activity like PIxOs and bring it to the next level by promoting your child’s fine motor coordination and keeping their academic skills fresh!

Spinmaster provided a free sample of PixOs to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed in this review are purely the blogger’s own.  If you are wondering about the safety of these beads, visit www.pixos.com for all information. PixOs meet and exceed all current international toy safety standards.