Guidecraft’s New IO Blocks® Wins Multiple Industry Awards
October 19, 2015 – Guidecraft is very pleased to announce that its new and unique IO Blocks® construction toy has earned recognition from several distinguished toy award and review teams this fall. IO Blocks® has won The Tillywig Brain Child Award, The National Parenting Center’s Seal of Approval, and the Parents’ Choice Silver Award!
• The Tillywig Brain Child Award which is given exciting products that energize the mind while seamlessly blending fun and learning.
• The National Parenting Center’s Seal of Approval which identifies the finest products and services being marketed to the parent/child audience.
• Parents’ Choice Silver Award which is given to excellent products that are designed to entertain and help children develop universally ethical attitudes, and rigorous standards and skills.
Here is what the toy experts say about IO Blocks®:
Tillywig Team Review of IO Blocks®: “IO Blocks® 114 Piece Set is a physical construction toy with a free companion app that presents a variety of models to build (Animals, Vehicles, Robots, and Structures). The physical components, which consist of 12 distinct plastic shapes in 6 different colors, fit snugly and securely together, making for wide-ranging, almost infinite possibilities. That versatility stimulates creativity and open-ended play. IO Blocks® unique appearance and vivid colors have an almost pixelated feel, as if bits and bytes had somehow sprung to life, a factor that lends a distinctive appeal to anything constructed from them. Working with the app’s interactive building guide makes the construction process more puzzle-like, stimulating a variety of conscious and unconscious thought processes. Utilizing the onscreen animated visuals both requires and hones a strong sense of space and depth perception, as well as visual acuity and logic.”
TNPC Fall Report on Winner IO Blocks®: “This IO Blocks® set is a terrific first building toy and according to several testers is an alternative to a more well-known building block brand. These blocks come in great colors that are not derived from your standard palette. The unique shapes are easy and comfortable to grip and don’t have sharp edges or pointy corners that have hobbled many a parent who has stepped on one in the middle of the night. The pieces fit together very easily and actually stay together. This allows children the freedom to think outside their usual “building box” and expand their creativity. Many parents told us that their children didn’t experience the frustrations that occur with other blocks that don’t stay together if they aren’t correctly aligned. A major difference you will notice immediately is that these blocks do not have small peg fittings, instead they use a tongue and groove style that is large enough for a young child to manipulate easily. Parents were very impressed by the quality of the blocks which are durable and hollow, making them lightweight and safer.”
Parents’ Choice Review of Seal Winner IO Blocks®: “The 114 puzzle-like pieces have 12 unique interlocking shapes in appealing and gender-neutral modern colors of red, green, blue, tan, black, and white. The plastic forms are well constructed and sized, have a satisfying feel when snapped together, and incorporate both straight edge and curved elements. Unencumbered by theme or instruction, our young testers made animals, buildings, cars and trucks, and some things we didn’t recognize. For those builders who want to explore Augmented Reality, there’s a free compatible app available on Google Play and the Apple App Store. While our testers were intrigued, they preferred the reality of their own making.”
We are very proud of IO Blocks® and all of the awards they bring home! Look for extensions and variations of our successful IO Blocks® system to be unveiled next year at Toy Fair 2016!
