Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Soma Cubes

We had a museum class today about shapes. One of the main activities we did was to "play" with Soma Cubes. I didn't recognize the name, but I had seen these cubes before. Basically, there are 27 individual cubes which are connected into 7 puzzle pieces. You then put the blocks together to form different shapes.


Since the class wasn't full, the moms got to get involved and I WAS THRILLED to complete the cube! I've never been able to do this before! (And, I didn't have any hints... we just started with simpler puzzles and I figured it out. I really felt as excited as a kid to figure this out!)

I also completed some other neat puzzles - I think this was called the chair.

The snake.

The bed.


And the crystal palace.
You can either make your own puzzle pieces using small wooden blocks, or you can buy a set. There are lots of sites online where you can find photos of puzzles to put together, like at this site. So, now I'm planning on making a set... or finding a set so we can play at home.

6 comments:

live4evermom said...

That is so cool! Reminds me of the puzzles at the Health Museum that we went to after we went to the zoo.

Lana said...

I have totally enjoyed your blog! I love the birds, the stories, the videos and the pictures.

It is inspiring. My son loved looking at the plants and birds. We will be back!

www.ilovemy5kids.blogspot.com

Robin said...

What strange little cubes!
I've got to check these things out. That could be the perfect late-school-year type of activity.

Anonymous said...

I love this puzzle, and I've thought about having my math club make them. Need to find a good (cheap!) source of little wooden cubes.

Did the students in the museum class glue the cubes together themselves, or were the puzzles already made? I would like to know what glue was used, how long they took to dry, etc...

CJ said...

The Thinkfun block by block puzzle looks very much like the soma cube puzzle. (I haven't used it myself, and so I do not know for sure).

Unknown said...

SOMA-puzzles are incorporated in official tests that psychologist use in evaluating cognitive features of a person. In general, the ability to solve SOMA-puzzles usually follows the curve of intelligence, with occasional shifts when it comes to the most and least intelligent people, promoting a hypothesis that a unique cognitive feature is required for this kind of mental operations. Read more about the Soma Cube: http://www.glennwestmore.com.au/the-soma-cube/

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