Manipulative Puzzles

Pyramid Puzzle

Twenty polished wooden balls are fixed into two lines of four and four lines of three. The puzzle is to arrange these six pieces on a triangular wooden base to make a tetrahedron. As puzzles go is is not very difficult to do but is rather satisfying and produces a beautiful finished result. £7.50 (+ VAT)

Twins Puzzle

This ingenious metal puzzle is made of two identical pieces. They slide together easily but it is surprisingly difficult to take them apart.. A very special feature is that it has a curious right-handed/left-handed symmetry. £3.00 (+ VAT)

Rings & Strings

The three puzzles in this collection each consists of a wooden framework linked by white nylon strings to either metal rings or coloured beads or both. For two of them the challenge is to remove the ring completely and for the other to bring both beads together on the same length of string. All require manipulation, patience and dexterity to solve. A solution for each puzzle is included. £18.80 (+ VAT)

Happy Cubes

The original collection of six different puzzles in six different colours. The sets of squishy foam pieces link together to make hollow cubes and the puzzle is to find out how. The level of difficulty varies with the colour and some of them will be found very challenging. In addition, the pieces of different colours will combine into larger shapes.

Wooden Puzzles to Construct and Deconstruct

Three-dimensional symmetry and an attractive polished finish makes each of these puzzles a pleasure to handle. They also offer interesting intellectual challenges and great saticfaction when they fit together to make such beautiful

Soma Cubes

Seven pieces made in hardwood fit together to make a 3x3x3 cube. First discovered by Piet Hein and then much discussed by Martin Gardner and others, this classic puzzle offers many different mathematical diversions apart from the straight-forward one of trying to assemble the pieces into a 3x3x3 cube. £7.50 (+VAT)

The Three Cubes Cube

This ingenious puzzle has pieces that are shaped so that they fit together wither to make three separate cubes of three, four or five units, or to make a single large cube of side 6 units. £8.50(+VAT)

Tower of Hanoi

Seven squares of increasing size are first arranged to form a tower. Then they are to be moved to one of the other pegs with the squares in the same order in the fewest possible number of moves, with the proviso that only one square can be moved at a time and no square may rest on one smaller than itself. It only takes 127 moves!
£6.50 (+ VAT)

Holey Cross

Twelve identical pieces fit together in complete symmetry to form a cross with indented hollow cubes on each face. It may also help with the solution to imagine it as a shape made from a cube by removing a smaller cube from each of the vertices. £9.50 (+VAT)

Dnorty

Six identical pieces fit together in different ways to make a symmetrical solid in a three-dimensional cross shape. £5.40 (+VAT)

Rhombic Star

Six identical pieces slide together to make the first stellation of the rhombic dodecahedron. It is an attractive object in its own right and there is considerable satisfaction in discovering how this mathematical form can be assembled. £9.50 (+VAT)

The Minipuzzles Collection

Each of these puzzles is presented in a clear plastic cube of edge about 5cm and they offer a variety of different challenges. Whether fitting four identical pieces to make a tetrahedron, or moving two beads next to each other, there are puzzles to interest almost anyone. A leaflet showing all the solutiions is provided to that returning each to its own box ready for next time is not a problem. Set of six £20.80 (+ VAT)

and tactile objects.

£5.40 (+ VAT)