Patchwork Puzzles (Junior Ed.)

Patchwork Puzzles is a fun pattern recognition game designed for parents of Pre-K through early Elementary School children (ages 5 through 8 years old). It helps your child build the academic skills critical for school success based on National Early Learning Standards. It improves knowledge of colors, shapes, numbers, letters of the alphabet and basic logic skills like ordering and sorting.

The game layout consists of a large "Crazy Quilt", filled with colorful icons that share a common theme. These include Food, Zoo Animals, Transportation, Sports, and Tools. Additional "educational" themes include Lower and Upper Case Alphabet letters and the numerals 0-9.

Below the Crazy Quilt, a small "Patchwork" section is presented. The patchwork is a subsection of the Crazy Quilt, partially filled in with icons from the quilt, but with some missing patches. The objective is for the child to locate the patchwork pattern in the Crazy Quilt, then fill in the missing patches on the patchwork by touching a patch on the quilt and touching its proper location on the patchwork.

Pattern recognition skills are developed naturally. For example, using the Food theme, the child sees a blue milkshake next to a red sausage link. When these two icons are found on the Crazy Quilt, the missing patches on patchwork can be determined. In a more practical example, imagine using the Upper Case alphabet theme. The child sees a green "A" and an orange "Z" above it. When this letter combination is found on the Crazy Quilt, the missing letters on patchwork can be determined.

There are three levels of difficulty built into the app. Level 1 uses a large 6 x 6 Crazy Quilt, making it relatively easy to match the [3x3] Patchwork pattern. Level 2 uses an 8 x 8 Crazy Quilt; Level 3 uses a 10 x 10 quilt. The higher levels don't necessarily represent a higher difficulty level, but rather it will probably take slightly longer to find the pattern. The size of the [3x3] Patchwork is the same at all levels.

For younger children just learning the alphabet, numbers or basic colors, this app is a very effective tool to build confidence and enhance learning. These children should be very comfortable remaining at Level 1. Older children, or young ones who become proficient, will enjoy the higher levels. Patchwork Puzzles is designed to enhance keyboard and/or touch screen dexterity.

To reward achievement, trophies are awarded for completing a round of eight puzzles in a particular theme (Food, Tools, etc.) Trophies are primarily intended for the older children who move on to levels 2 and 3. A Trophy Case displays Level 1, 2 and 3 trophies, with a trophy awarded for each theme completed. If two full Trophy Cases are completed (all levels/themes), the Ultimate Challenge level is unlocked. This level features a 12 x 12 matrix and presents a formidable challenge.

PATTERN RECOGNITION

This is the real strength of the game and is reinforced throughout. Since each Patchwork is a [3x3] section copied from the Crazy Quilt, the child is sure to find the matching Patchwork pattern. Then, using the quilt as a roadmap, the child transfers patches to the Patchwork to complete the puzzle. Patches are transferred by clicking/touching a patch on the Crazy Quilt and then clicking/touching a square on the Patchwork Workspace. If the wrong patch is chosen, the player is advised to try again, and no transfer occurs.

The game is designed to be played on an 7in tablet or larger, but can be downloaded to a phone (the larger the better).

No data is shared (the game is off-line only).