Brainteasers - Skill Boosting Software

I SPY SCHOOL DAYS
Scholastic     
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(800) 724-4718; $29.95
Mac/Win CD-ROM
www.scholastic.com

Grades K-2
Kids will try I Spy School Days over and over! This program, based on the award-winning I Spy books and puzzles, cleverly challenges kids to sort and classify a captivating collection of objects. Nine areas, including "Nature," Software image"Codebreaker," and "Oops Hoops," contain different screen scenes -- a sandy beach, toy wood block set, chock-a-block craft drawer, and more! Rhyming riddles give clues to finding objects (shells, beads, jacks, dice, marbles, etc.). Players move objects on the screen into sets and figure out the sorting criteria. Students of all ages will enjoy hunting for objects, solving riddles, and making their own I Spy screens for others to sort.

Try this!
Prepare an I Spy sorting activity using Hula Hoops and kids! Arrange the Hula Hoops (create a Venn diagram) on an open floor space. Then "sort" your students into the hoops. Move kids to a specific hoop according to a secret criterion -- shirt color, gender, and so on. Once all the students are "sorted" within the hoops, ask them to guess what each crowd has in common.

ZOOMBINIS MOUNTAIN RESCUE
Riverdeep/The Learning Company    
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(888) 242-6747; $19.99
Mac/Win CD-ROM
www.riverdeep.net

Grades K-2
This zany Zoombini caper commences in Zoombiniville, leads to Turtle Hurdle, and winds up in Booliewood! As kids advance along the Software imageadventure, they'll aid 16 Zoombinis in the rescue of their comrade Binky by solving nine logic puzzles. Each dilemma in the Zoombinis Mountain Rescue requires kids to distinguish and sort Zoombinis by their features (eyes, nose, color, feet, and hair). As kids solve the puzzles, they'll zigzag Zoombinis along the rescue mission's map. The teacher's guide includes a game overview, a list of attributes, math explanations, strategies, and puzzles.

Editor's note: Pick up the first adventure, Zoombinis Logical Journey. This game explores the same logical reasoning concepts as Mountain Rescue -- but in a different Zoombini zip code (an isle)!

10 TRICKY TILES
Sunburst Technology
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(800) 321-7511; $89.95
Mac/Win CD-ROM
www.sunburst.com

Grades 3-5
Solving these arithmetic sentences can get tricky! You can only use the numbers 0 to 9 once. Three games, "Addition and Subtraction," Software image"Balance Scales," and "Crossword Tiles," provide vertical and horizontal number sentences for players to solve. Kids place number tiles in the correct places and press "Submit" to check their work. They can also click "Hints" to add a tile or use the program's calculator to check their mental math. A teacher's guide includes handouts that kids can use while playing the game.

Try this!
Make your own "tricky" tiles. Wrap 10 single-serving cereal boxes with white craft paper and write the numerals 0 to 9 on each. (You can also draw dot arrays on one side of the boxes or include Roman numerals and variables.) Then write number sentences and equations on the chalk board -- leaving spaces the size of boxes for the missing numbers -- and let kids use the tiles to fill in equations.

NUMBERBALL
Micrograms Software     Order Now
(815) 877-4455; $49.95
Mac or Win CD-ROM
www.micrograms.com

Grades 3-5
With the Numberball machine, kids complete arithmetic equations -- by "building" them! In this factory-like setting, kids play a Software imagepinball style game by arranging numbers and symbols to form equations. As each "numberball" pops up, kids decide if it completes a number sentence. They can adjust pipes to guide the "balls" to the correct position, steer them out a "chute" if they don't apply, or pass them to pipes that will add or subtract the number one. This simple game provides arithmetic practice that's fun!

Try this!
Play your own game of Numberball! Mark numbers, operations, and other math symbols (greater than, less than, etc.) on Ping-Pong balls. Place them in a box and have kids pick one (without looking). Set each ball on the chalkboard sill. Then challenge kids to arrange them to form equations.

SOFTWARE TOOLS FOR TEACHERS: BRAIN TEASERS
Teacher Created Materials
Order Now
(888) 441-4826; $19.95
Mac or Win CD-ROM
www.teachercreated.com

Grades 3-5
This collection of over 200 brainteasers, puzzles, and mind-benders is print-ready! Puzzles are organized by school subjects Software imageas well as other fun topics, including "Tough Words" and "Testy Trivia." You can also search for word scrambles, riddles, word finds, and math mazes by keyword. View each "thumbnail" puzzle; then enlarge to "full screen" and print. (Just in case kids get boggled, you can also print the answers!)

Try this!
Give a brainteaser for a daily warm-up. Have kids keep track of their teasers using square-inch graph paper. First write the school days of the week within squares along the bottom of the paper. (Don't skip boxes between days.) Review the brainteasers and ask kids to color squares for each correct response above the appropriate day. Use the histogram to see if kids get better at busting brainteasers!

STRATEGY CHALLENGES COLLECTION 1: AROUND THE WORLD
Riverdeep/Edmark     Order Now
(888) 242-6747; $9.99
Mac or Win CD-ROM
www.riverdeep.net

Grades 6-8
Nine Men's Morris, Mancala, and Go-Moku are three ancient strategy games that kids can enjoy today! Play Nine Men's Morris, a Viking Software imagegame, by sliding nine pieces on a board to get a "mill" (three in a row) and capture an opponent's piece. Players who remove all the opponent's pieces win the game. Mancala has been played in Africa and the Middle East since before 1400 bc. Move all of the stones off the board in this "pits and pebbles" game using only six possible moves per turn. The Japanese game Go-Moku requires players to place five stones in a row (in any direction) on a grid. In each game, kids learn ways to balance offensive and defensive moves. The collection includes culture-related activities, ideas for art projects, strategy suggestion cards, and puzzles.

Try this!
Invite another class to play a game of Go-Moku (or tic-tac-toe, checkers, or chess) with your class. But use kids as the game pieces! Have your class wear a shirt color such as red and ask challengers to wear blue. Then move to the gym and let the games begin!

THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF AL-JABR
Sunburst Technology     Order Now
(800) 321-7511; $109.95
Mac or Win CD-ROM
www.sunburst.com

Grades 6-8
Where in the chamber is the hidden treasure? With this program, kids use algebraic equations to gather clues that lead them to Al-Jabr's Software imagetreasure. Players evaluate ratios to arrange statues in order, place different-sized Egyptian objects (a sarcophagus, vase, etc.) on scales to create equal weights, and solve algebraic expressions to choose the correct number of balls from vases. In "Treasure Room," players use the clues they've collected to pick the golden scarab beetle with the secret to Al-Jabr's hidden treasure. A teacher's guide includes an overview, handouts, and activities.

Try this!
Create your own class problem-solving pyramid. First collect shoeboxes and have kids decorate the inside of each box to form chambers (with Egyptian hieroglyphs and art). Stack the boxes in a pyramid shape (with the openings exposed) and then tape them together. Write word problems on slips of paper and place one in each chamber. Then get kids to solve the problems. Award "treasures" -- pens, pencils, markers, etc. -- to students that answer every problem correctly.