In full disclosure, we were provided Design & Drill Flower Power by Educational Insights in exchange for our honest review.
This flower will not be losing petals anytime soon!
The Design and Drill toy has existed in the Educational Insights catalog and due to its success they released an addition to this collection which is the Flower Power. As soon as my eyes landed on Flower Power, I was in love. The colors of the toy are stunning and, unlike the original, it has additional pattern pieces that you can secure to the frame. However, at Mommy University our focus is not on the appearance of the toy but what it offers children.
Flower Power is a phenomenal toy. Children can use the handle to carry it from location to location as it is designed so that the flower folds in half and closes securely with a butterfly clasp. When open, it resembles a bright yellow flower with pink petals. Children can use the drill to fasten bolts into the holes as well as pattern pieces such as: cloud, heart, star, butterfly and crown.
Over 60 bolts in five different colors come with Flower Power which is more than sufficient, and the drill has two bits which can be easily changed by your child. The drill requires batteries to propel the two settings: forward and reverse. Essentially, your child drills the bolts into the board. While the premise is simple, there are a lot of brain boosting stimulation and connections occurring.
Mommy University Presents
5 Benefits of Design & Drill
Develops Spatial Awareness
Children develop strong spatial awareness when they are allowed to interact and engage with the surrounding world. With Design & Drill, children need to understand where they are in relation to the bolts and shapes, the drill and the flower platform. As children drill or remove the bolts, they are continuously enhancing their spatial awareness as the distance of these physical items change. I have noticed that my daughter prefers to stand as she maneuvers the pieces that she wants to apply to the flower.
Enhances Hand-Eye Coordination
It is not easy to hit a nail with a hammer and when you miss it can significantly hurt. In order for these pieces to be secured to the flower, children need to utilize their hand-eye coordination to insert the bolts in the holes as well as when they place the drill over the bolt to insert or remove. Since children enjoy playing with this toy frequently, they are improving hand-eye coordination.
My daughter loves drilling the bolts into the flower platform and making her own creations.
Teaches Patterns
Another layer to the Design & Drill which I find fascinating is that children can begin to explore patterns. As a parent, you can encourage their ability to identify patterns by placing a simple pattern on the table (purple bolt, green bolt, purple bolt, etc.). Ask your children which piece they believe follows in the pattern that you created. You can also identify patterns that they are in the process of creating and then ask them to create new patterns.
Art Appreciation
By creating patterns on the flower platform, children can actually create art similar to small dots comprising a larger image. Due to the size of the Flower Power it is not possible for your child to make a rendition of the Mona Lisa, but they can start to make images of a butterfly, a simple flower or even a house. Similar to identifying images in clouds, point out what you see and ask them if they see an image.
Children can explore patterns as well as creating basic pictures with Design & Drill.
Enhances Academic Learning
As your child becomes more confident with their academic skills, you can challenge them to make letters or shapes by adhering bolts to the flower. This is not a quick way to reinforce letters which works fabulous for a kinesthetic learner.
We are going on our second week of the Design & Drill out on the play table which my daughter frequents. At this point, she is perfectly content drilling the bolts into the flower so we have just begun to explore patterns. Watching my daughter holding a bright-colored drill as she has been entranced by the power of the flower makes me perfectly content!
Design & Drill Flower Power can be purchased on Amazon using our affiliate link for under $25.