Deductive reasoning at its finest. Mind Benders books help students (and adults) learn and practice deductive reasoning as they are presented with clues to unravel and organize in order to reach logical conclusions. Becoming proficient in deductive reasoning will not only improve standardized test scores, but will help sharpen reasoning ability in all curriculum areas and in real life situations. As a child, I particularly enjoyed working these clue-and-grid type problems and consumed puzzle books full of them just for fun. I never gave a thought to their educational value. But perhaps it’s no coincidence that I ended up a computer systems consultant..... Anyone doing Mind Benders for the first time should begin in the Warm-Up or A-level book to learn the deductive reasoning process before trying the more challenging levels. Each book contains 14 activities, and the books spiral slightly within each level. Solutions are included in the book.

Although the Mind Benders Warm-Up has been the introductory book in the Mind Benders series in the past, Critical Thinking has come out with two Beginner Levels which introduce deductive thinking in the format of the grid puzzle. While the Warm-Up includes questions like "Skip likes cake better than pie. He likes ice cream better than cake. What conclusion follows from this?" that guide the student to use their deductive reasoning skills, no clue and grid puzzles are included or introduced in this book. The beginning levels feature an instructional page at the beginning that demonstrates how to use a grid chart, and the grid puzzles that follow utilize pictures and simple words wherever possible so beginning readers aren't more frustrated by the sentences than they are by the puzzles. Answer keys are included in each book.

Customer Review

 
Korri M. from Oregon wrote the following on 07/13/2007:
I loved this book as much as my kids did. They got excited each time I brought it out. I used it with my 4 and 6 year olds together. It was such a fun and easy way to get them to think logically. I plan to buy the next book in the series for this year.