CONNETIX 12 Piece Clear Rectangle Pack

What our experts think

Children who were familiar with Connetix tiles and had previously played with them were surprised to only find rectangular shaped tiles when the box was first opened. This did not put them off, however, and they immediately started to play with them. The children, regardless of age, were able to play with the set and remained engaged, without adult support or encouragement.

The designs that children came up with varied hugely, for example; a cube house, a paddock for animals, a fish tank, and a “Toblerone” (triangular prism). As one child pieced together their ‘paddock’ they commented that the ‘fence’ wasn’t high enough to keep the animals in, and after considering what could be done to improve it, used trial and error to reconfigure the tiles and stand them on their shorter edges to give the ‘fence’ more height. They then extended their play by placing some toy animals within the ‘paddock’. This encouraged other children to join in with the play, and inspired conversations and roleplay among them, helping to develop communication and social skills. The younger children enjoyed playing with the tiles flat on the surface of the table and were delighted they could make squares from the smaller rectangles and could make their rectangles increase in size simply by adding more pieces.

Children used hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills as they played, particularly when making 3D creations. Some of the children, who had previously played with other Connetix sets commented that the rectangle tiles stayed together well and that the structures they made felt very sturdy. Some of the children towards the end of the session did ask if there were any coloured tiles, as they felt their design would be improved with the addition of coloured tiles.  No gender biases were observed on the packaging.