A couple days ago our oldest son informed me that there is just one thing that he would like for Christmas this year… a Perplexus.
I was quite perplexed myself, having absolutely no idea what he was talking about. I didn’t pay much attention at the time, but eventually asked the boys a few questions and looked it up online. I discovered that the Perplexus is the new “Bendy, Trendy, Can’t-put-it-down Challenge” GAME.OF.THE.YEAR. which they were recently introduced to at a friend’s birthday party…
Hmmmm… That does look like fun! I think I just might have to add one (of the four options – any suggestions on which would be the best to get – the Rookie, Original, Epic or Twist?) to my Christmas shopping list. In the meantime the boys decided to create their own version with LEGO!
I know I am biased, but are they creative, or what?!
Here are a few videos of the boys attempting to “Flip, Twist, and Spin” the marble through their maze:
Maybe I should just skip the Perplexus and give them some more LEGO instead! 😉
Very cool. I miss Legos. Faith plays with Lego Friends, but not usually free style like the boys did. We have a Lego store nearby and one of the most fun gifts I've ever given is a bucket of mixed Legos. Have you ever been? They have an entire wall of drawers full of pieces to choose from — tires, steering wheels, blocks, windows. So fun!
Those boys are clever. I hop you find the right thing. Do they take turns?
Your boys are always super creative when it comes to Legos! I always love to see their creations. I've actually always wondered if they have a system for organizing pieces when they're not in use or if they keep pieces from the special sets separate from the basic everyday Legos!? I think we're gearing up for a Lego-intensive Christmas – my boys are fairly creative with them too, and they're pretty good about cleaning them up, so I'm excited to get them something a little more advanced this year! Thanks again for sharing the pix and videos – I can't wait to show my guys!
Looks great! We have the Epic that's a huge hit around here. Easy enough to get kids engaged, but too hard to solve yet!
Well, that was awesome. What great ingenuity your boys have. It looks like they need an engineering mentor to help them expand their ideas from sort of works to really works.
Wow, they are amazing with those legos! I put one on my wish list for my 13 year old nephew. They look really neat, I've never heard of them!
We don't have an official Lego store in our area, but when we traveled for a baptism this past summer we surprised the kids with a stop at one on our way home! I posted a few pictures near the bottom of this post. My boys absolutely loved that wall and we did let them fill a bucket while we were there! It was very fun! And, yes, they have been taking turns – and letting the girls try too, though they can't seem to make it nearly as far as the boys with the lego maze!
I actually posted a little about how they organize their Legos in this post about The Boys' Bedroom and Triple Bunk. Their room looks a little different now that we moved the 4th bed out and replaced it with their two desks from the old school room, but everything else is still the same.
My boys like to keep most of their special sets displayed and the rest of the legos are in various storage containers. I've been watching for the release of the new Lego Hobbit sets that should be available soon. Depending on the cost I think we might get them the Lake Town Chase set and the Mirkwood Elf Army. We'll see. 🙂
Thanks! Looking through the descriptions I was leaning towards the Epic too. I think you are right, that will probably be the best option for my boys!
Once again – my 9 year old is fascinated. Was wondering what to get him for Christmas – he is the kid who waits until literally Christmas Eve to announce that he wants X Y Z for Christmas – so I am always guessing! This is so going on his list. That and – I showed him the video and he wanted to know if I know if he could go play legos with those guys! 🙂
Jessica
Know your boys are big on Lego but if you are after other creative present ideas have you looked at K'nex? Here's a pic of my ds14 with some recent creations to show you what can be made(scroll to bottom)
http://sevenlittleaustralians.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/recent-creativity-in-our-home.html
My "Bud" has the "epic." He got it for Christmas last year and I don't believe that he has ever solved it. He messes with it now and then – but not often anymore. It is VERY frustrating for me… and "bump" who prefers to pretend that it is ONLY a big ball to throw across the room. I struggle in stopping him since I find the game so frustrating… and I tend to LOVE logic puzzles – but NOT this one!!! TOO HARD for this (apparently) impatient mama!!
Thank you very much for showing me this. I have one grandson that LUVS mazes and puzzles and I just ordered it from Amazon. (so much better than video games) and no pieces to loose.
That must have taken your boys a good bit of time to design that. My girls are more into building the Lego models vs. creating their own designs. I have to show these videos to my girls. I think my middle daughter would be the one who's most likely to try something like this.
Jessica, my boys absolutely loved this! They actually have a couple of the Perplexus spheres, but think this is awesome and would love to know if your boys can put together a tutorial! They are very inspired! Thanks so much for sharing this!
My 11 yo son recieved a perplexus as a gift and after the first couple of weeks of working through the levels and solving them it hasn't been touched. Too static, you know? But the legos, oh my, they come out every day for decades!!
My 9 and 7 year old boys were very impressed! We have the standard Perplexus and they've enjoyed it.
Wow! What your boys did was really creative! I am afraid I can't give you any advice about perplexes since I've never heard of it before. It does look like a lot of fun though.
God Bless!
Kate
What a cool idea, Jessica! I know what my boys will be working on this coming week. Thanks for all you do and share! God bless you, dear!
Jessica,
We have all four. Discovered them last Christmas – got the original, then the others for subsequent birthdays throughout the year. Would have to say the original and epic are our favorites. My boys bring them everywhere. If it's for little guys the rookie is lots of fun – got it for my 6yo who was frustrated by the others. This one he can do and get pretty far. It makes him feel "big". The twist my 10yo just got for his birthday and it's not as much fun, almost too complicated. Hope that helps. Also love the legos! Very creative!!
Yes! That does help. Thank you!
I asked the boys, but they didn't think they'd be able to turn it into a tutorial… 🙂