Looking to get your students interested in recognizing and building patterns? They’re sure to have fun playing Q-bitz!
For 2-4 players, this pattern-recognition game comes equipped with four sets of 16 wooden cubes in a small tray and 80 Q-bitz cards depicting different patterns for the players to recreate.
The game is not simply recreating the pattern on the card, however! There are three different types of rounds:
- Round 1 is straightforward: players race to put their wooden cubes in the tray in the same pattern as in on the card.
- Round 2 adds a complication: luck. All players must roll their cubes like dice, and only the upward-facing side of the cube may be used to recreate the pattern on the card. Players must re-roll the cubes they cannot use until they roll the shapes needed to continue recreating the pattern.
- Round 3 adds a different complication: memory. When the Q-bitz card for this round is turned over, players have only 10 seconds to memorize the pattern on the card. The card is then turned face-down, and players must recreate the pattern from memory. The first player to successfully recreate the pattern from memory (or who has the most cubes in the correct pattern) wins the round.
The goal of this game is speed and accuracy: the first player to correctly recreate the pattern on the card using their cubes wins that round and gets the card. After nine rounds, the player who has won the most cards wins the game. For children ages 8 and up, this game is an excellent resource for classes learning about patterns.
If you’re looking for even more activities to teach about visual patterns, there are quite a few others at the OISE Library! You may be interested in the game Architek, the Manipulative Kit for Light Table, or any one of our pattern blocks sets: Studies in Symmetry, Building Blocks, Pattern Blocks & Boards.
Q-bitz is currently on display on the ground floor of the OISE Library next to the reference desk. Stop by to check it out!
