With Beauty Comes Logic: SmartGames Butterflies Review

In full disclosure, I was provided Butterflies in exchange for my honest review.

I am sure you have noticed by now that we LOVE SmartGames at Mommy University! They offer a wide variety of fun logic games for individuals of all ages. We have reviewed several of them including many travel games. We recently received a new puzzle game called Butterflies. Not only is it pretty to look at, it also offers hours of learning through play!

Butterflies is a sliding puzzle game that offers ongoing brain boosting fun for individuals ages 6 and up. Players can enjoy 48 puzzles ranging from easy (starter puzzles) to very difficult (master puzzles). Each puzzle uses 8 square tile pieces that are placed within the board according to the picture provided in the manual. The player must then move the pieces around to create complete and symmetrical butterflies. The pieces must slide around the board and cannot be taken out or flipped over while playing. All challenges can be solved in 32 moves or less!

We recently took Butterflies with us on a very long road trip to Louisiana. My son who is 6 years old was so excited to play with this new game. At first, I set up the board for him, but as his understanding of the game grew, he was able to put together the boards himself by looking in the manual. He even put together some boards for his brother to play.

Butterflies is a compact game which makes it perfect for travel. It is small so it can fit in your pocketbook or kid’s backpack easily. The game also comes with a plastic top making it easy to store the tiles while putting together each challenge. It also fits perfectly on your lap so it can be played in the car, on a train, in an airplane or even at the beach!

This game is compact making it easy to set up right on your lap in the car!

Like all SmartGames puzzles and games, Butterflies offers so many educational and cognitive benefits for players. This is something we always look for when choosing games for our children. We believe that learning through play is vital in child development and SmartGames perfectly aligns with our belief!

Benefits of Playing with Butterflies

Builds Visual Discrimination Skills

The use of visual skills begins from the moment you begin setting up the Butterflies board. Players must copy the challenge from the manual exactly which means you have to visually discriminate between each puzzle piece. You then have to decide which way and where to place it on the board. Then, while solving the puzzle, players must continue to use their visual skills to decide which halves go together and how to get them there. If you put a blue and orange half together, you can’t win. This also assists with color recognition and understanding part-whole relationships!

Improves Problem Solving Skills

Like all logic puzzles, players must problem solve and use thinking skills to solve each challenge. They can plan ahead or use a trial-and-error method, but either way they must problem solve. If one method does not work, they need to find a new one. Problem solving is a skill needed in school, sports, careers and in life!

My son carefully thought about each move he made to solve the Butterflies challenge!

Enhances Spatial Awareness

When solving each challenge, you have to be aware of the space provided. There is only one open square so you have to strategically move each tile so you can get it to just the right place on the board. You often have to mentally visualize what the board may look like or what will happen if you move certain pieces around. This helps develop important visual-spatial and spatial-organizational skills which help in all aspects of education!

Builds Confidence

I LOVED hearing my son say, “Look mom, I did it!” He had so much pride in his eyes when he showed me the completed puzzle. As the players move through the challenges from easy to difficult, they become more skilled and successful. This helps build confidence and self-esteem.

Tyler was so proud of himself when he solved his first puzzle!

Butterflies from SmartGames is a wonderful addition to their amazing list of brain boosting games and puzzles. It stands apart from some of the other games through its artwork and unique playing pattern. It also can appeal to girls and boys.

You can purchase your own SmartGames Butterflies puzzle on Amazon for only $14.99 using our affiliate link! Use the discount code SweetSte at checkout to get 10% off any SmartGames game at this link.