AJ's Lego Toys: 2011

Friday, November 18, 2011

Lego Star Wars III for Mac

Lego Star Wars III for Mac was recently released this year, now Mac users can join in on all of the Star Was III The Clone Wars fun! Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars comes in many different platforms so it is available to practically everyone, now including Mac users.

"Feral Interactive has released LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars for the Mac. The game costs $29.99 and is available for download from various online distributors including the Mac App Store. You can also order the game in box form.
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars recreates scenes from the animated TV show and some favorite moments from the movies, too. Players explore 16 different star systems as they go on 32 story-based missions, play 48 bonus levels and interact with more than 100 playable characters. Feral says this installment is the biggest LEGO Star Wars game to date. LEGO Star Wars III features single-player and a cooperative multiplayer mode that lets the second player drop in and drop out whenever they want. A new customizable “Arcade Mode” offers head-to-head combat, and new abilities let player slice using a lightsaber or perform lightsaber jumps, squad command, long-distance Jedi attacks and more.System requirements include a 1.4GHz or faster Intel-based Mac with 2GB RAM, 128MB or better 3D graphics and Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later. Some Intel, ATI and Nvidia graphics not supported – check the site for specific details." - The Loop. Read original article here.

Lego Star Wars III is great for kids ages 10 and up. Playing Lego Star Wars you'll find epic space battles, challenging puzzle games with all of the fun of Lego! You can unlock over a hundred Lego characters, all of your favorites. Or you can build your own new characters by mixing and matching parts from already existing Star War Lego characters. You can jump into hyperspace as there are over 30 vehicles from Star Wars for you to choose from.

The fun continues when you use 2 player mode and play with a friend, the second player may drop in and out at anytime without disturbing the game. So if a friend wants to join in part way through you will not have to start over so they can, just drop in! There is a lot of excitement about Lego Star Wars III for Mac, with the holiday season just around the corner this would be a great gift idea for any Lego fans you may be shopping for!

Are Legos Educational?

We all are ware that Legos are most certainly great fun for a widespread age group, but the question remains, are Legos educational? The answer to this question can be diverse, however it edges more to the side of yes. Lego can be used in a lot of activities that are beneficial to learning as well as engaging the mind with the imaginative play Legos and Lego toys provide.

Bloomfield Elementary started their first ever Lego League and actually starting using these colorful little blocks as an engaging educational tool, sounds like a lot of fun, don't you think?

"Most kids can't wait for the school day to be over, but for some students at Bloomfield Elementary, that's when the learning and the excitement just begins. "Turns out I'm really having fun. I get to learn how to program a robot, and I'm making a lot of new friends," said 4th grader Star Baker. Over 60, fourth through sixth graders are participating in the school's first ever Lego League.
Students must program robots to complete over 30 missions, using math and science principles. "They love it, and then they're hooked and they can transfer that to the classroom, and say hey I can find something I can be successful at that's not just math and science, it actually has an application outside the classroom... and I get to use Legos to do it. How cool is that?" said organizer Brandy Frady.
Organizers say it's important to get kids excited about these subjects, as early as possible.
"If we can capture those kids with the engineering, with the science, with the technology and the math at that age group and hook them into doing something scientifically with with, then they're going to be geared for that for life," said Frady. The program is also used to help teach students the skills needed to work together and achieve a goal. "We've got 6th graders working with 4th graders. People they didn't know, and having to mesh their personalities and learn what it means to work in a group," said Frady.
Along with the robots, students also have to research, design and present a device that will cure a disease.
"They get to learn a hands on method of trying to come up with a solution, for a real problem in life, which is what we need to develop them for for the workforce," said Frady
And for the students, it's about seeing all of their hard work finally come together, and knowing that they have enjoyed the process." - MyWabashValley

Schools, Moms, Dads, Grandparents quickly have decided that the question, are legos educational?, is a no-brainer! Legos are fun, interactive, educational fun for many kids everywhere!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Octopuses Play With Legos

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Who would have ever thought that an octopus would play with legos? The suction cups that most octopus have on their legs can be used to grab objects and move them. I suppose this is must be in a manner similar to humans using their fingers.

It seems that researchers are learning that an octopus not only uses tools, but also likes to play with toys! Read the excerpt below about an octopus that had fun "bouncing the ball".

One octopus Mather was watching had just returned home and was cleaning the front of the den with its arms. Then, suddenly, it left the den, crawled a meter away, picked up one particular rock and placed the rock in front of the den. Two minutes later, the octopus ventured forth to select a second rock. Then it chose a third. Attaching suckers to all the rocks, the octopus carried the load home, slid through the den opening, and carefully arranged the three objects in front. Then it went to sleep. What the octopus was thinking seemed obvious: “Three rocks are enough. Good night!”

The scene has stayed with Mather. The octopus “must have had some concept,” she said, “of what it wanted to make itself feel safe enough to go to sleep.” And the octopus knew how to get what it wanted: by employing foresight, planning—and perhaps even tool use. Mather is the lead author of Octopus: The Ocean’s Intelligent Invertebrate, which includes observations of octopuses who dismantle Lego sets and open screw-top jars. Coauthor Roland Anderson reports that octopuses even learned to open the childproof caps on Extra Strength Tylenol pill bottles—a feat that eludes many humans with university degrees.

In another experiment, Anderson gave octopuses plastic pill bottles painted different shades and with different textures to see which evoked more interest. Usually each octopus would grasp a bottle to see if it were edible and then cast it off. But to his astonishment, Anderson saw one of the octopuses doing something striking: she was blowing carefully modulated jets of water from her funnel to send the bottle to the other end of her aquarium, where the water flow sent it back to her. She repeated the action twenty times. By the eighteenth time, Anderson was already on the phone with Mather with the news: “She’s bouncing the ball!”

This octopus wasn’t the only one to use the bottle as a toy. Another octopus in the study also shot water at the bottle, sending it back and forth across the water’s surface, rather than circling the tank. Anderson’s observations were reported in the Journal of Comparative Psychology. “This fit all the criteria for play behavior,” said Anderson. “Only intelligent animals play—animals like crows and chimps, dogs and humans.

Excerpt taken from:

'Deep Intellect - Inside the mind of the octopus' BY SY MONTGOMERY

These eight legged wonders seem to like to play as much as any of us. Not only does this add to the growing evidence of how incredibly intelligent these creatures really are, but we are seeing that octopuses play with legos and enjoy it as much as we humans do!