Learning Resources STEM Explorers Geomakers - Shapes for Kids Ages 5

My 8-year-old autistic son and 7 year old niece absolutely loved this product. Inside the box was a booklet showing different shapes to make so they were able to go through and replicate what the book was showing. The only downside was one box was not enough for both of them to make everything they wanted. So I would suggest at least a box per child. My four-year-old also loved it. He didn't so much follow the instructions, he just did free play and let his imagination go wild. This was a great product for our household and I will be looking into the other options that are available

My daughter (5) has been really starting to like more challenging play options. This is an amazing way to get your creative child to really challenge themselves into creating different 2d and 3D shapes! It's really like a puzzle and so much fun to see them understand how shapes really look like in 3D! My preschooler (4) also likes to make shapes (with my supervision since there are small parts) and he's able to make 2D triangles and squares on his own. Overall I think this is amazing for play learning. I do think if you are interested in making more complex shapes just one box might not be enough.

This set is great for teaching so many different things! I have an almost kindergartener and a first grader and we use these when going over shapes, counting, sequencing and I even ask about colors. They can also be used to represent other things. My oldest is a visual learner so she really needs to be shown many things. You could use these for so many things making them a great learning resource. The pieces go together easily enough for small children's hands but well enough that they don't come apart too easily. I highly recommend them for virtual school, homeschooling, or doing a little tutoring at home. As a bonus they're fun for play as well!

These are so fun! My 5 year old is obsessed with Legos so these were a fun change for him. My two 12 year olds quickly joined in, and then my husband so it's safe to say these are fun for all ages. They spent an hour coming up with new creations! We will definitely be buying more sets.

Really good educational toy. My 5-year-old enjoys building with it and learning shapes. Pieces are a good size and easy to use. Just wish it came with a few more pieces.

Well, I would like to preface this review by declaring our loyalty to Learning Resources. This brand really helps me as a parent with different ideas and things I may not have thought of without the help from the guides, cards, etc, that they always provide. I've always appreciated how each set gets the little minds moving and learning, while providing the parent/s with the tools they need to teach those little minds. We have really enjoyed MANY, many educational and STEM learning sets throughout the last several years with my son. We've never had an issue with any of the sets we have used, had in the past, or still have and enjoy today. I was excited to introduce this Geomakers set to him. He is 6 years old and autistic. We've had much success with him learning through this brand. But this set is not quite up to par in longevity and quality. At first, it seems like great quality, the ball connectors have some weight to them and the sticks are sturdy. Until you start pulling them out to make new shapes, the connection end of the stick completely snaps off and gets stuck in the ball (see right side of “Photo A” showing issue up close). The gentleness in which my son cares for his toys and things is amazing, so it was not due to rough play. When I helped him make shapes, it happened to me, as well. Using hardly any strength to pull the stick straight out of the ball, the connecting end snapped off and remained in the ball. We've lost 3 sticks in just one play. This is pretty disappointing. How are 5+ year olds supposed to play with the set more than once, maybe a few times, when it so easily breaks? Aside from the end of the sticks breaking, first impressions were great. Colorful box as usual, contents all packaged well, a guide on what shapes to make with questions to get the little minds going. The usual great packaging and activity guides that Learning Resources provides in every set. Love the bright colors and the endless possibilities of 2D and 3D shapes and challenges. A fun and easy introduction to geometry for 5 and up kiddos. If we hadn't had the quality issue, I would 100% give this set 5 stars. I hope that maybe we just received a bad batch of sticks, and that not every Geomakers set is this unreliable. Something like this could be used for learning for many years if there are no breaking issues.

My son received this as a gift. Multiple pieces snapped and broke the first time he used it. The pieces that are supposed to curve to connect simply broke off at the connection leaving tiny little nubs in the ball pieces that required pliers to remove. Don't waste your money.

My son received this as a gift. Multiple pieces snapped and broke the first time he used it. The pieces that are supposed to curve to connect simply broke off at the connection leaving tiny little nubs in the ball pieces that required pliers to remove. Don't waste your money.

My son loved enjoys these. I say loved because he was so excited to get these. He has the full sized building version where you can build on the floor bases/house/rocketships that you can stand in! So a small tabletop version just made sense. He started building with these and within minutes he had kind of deflated. The sticks kept getting stuck in the balls, between my 8 and 5 year old, and as many as 10 sticks had broken off and the tips were stuck inside the balls making certain parts of it unusable! I tried to pull the tips out but they wouldn't budge! Then they ended up all over the floor and although I tried to get them into a gallon baggy they were so in entertaining by this point he didn't really care. My son isn't usually someone to damage and throw toys everywhere so I really wanted this to grab his attention and be another thing he was Interested in but the quality was so poor I threw them out.

Very few sticks and balls to make even simple shapes. It did not keep my 4 year old grandson's attention for long.