The Greatest Dot to Dot Books review... The Super Challenge pack

We were so excited to recieve more of The Greatest Dot-to-Dot Books to review recently. We were given the Super Challenge pack which includes Books 5, 6, 7 and 8 in the whole series.
My 8 year old, Mr A was a bit protective of the books and didn't want to share them with us. But, he had too even though he tried hoarding all of them. I love these books too and grabbed Book 8.
There are 17 different puzzle types (here). I couldn't believe how many different ways there were to do dot-to-dots. I always thought it was just a dot and a number, but nope! It was awesome to have a variety of puzzles to challenge the brain.
Here are some of the different puzzles that I worked on while I was having a stressful week recently.
I worked on one puzzle called Crazy Dots from Book 8. There are no numbers, just different graphics. The key to connecting lines had 2 pictures; one to start your line and the other to connect too.

When I had gotten to this point in my lines, below, my 5 year old blurted out, "Mom, Its a train!" I wasn't really paying attention to what the picture was turning out to be and was excited that he could tell what it was.

My 5 year old wanted in on the Dot-to-Dot action and grabbed Book 5 and found a page he wanted to attempt to complete. Since Mr Z is young and doesn't really know how to count above 20, I helped him find the numbers in sequential order. His lines were squiggly and all over the place, but he loves trying to do them. Mr Z recently figured out he likes the puzzles called Crazy Dots also instead of the numbered dots puzzles.

Some of the other puzzles that I really liked to do were the ones called:

Field of Dots

 You have a key with coordinates to connect and a grid.

Compass

I had the most trouble with the Compass dot-to-dots. I kept skipping compass directions around the mouth area and the tip of the ponytail of the girl. I erased quite a bit and had to back track to find my spot. I highly suggest crossing off the compass direction after completing it.

Numbers: I liked the Numbers puzzles because there are no dots to connect. You just aim for the middle of the next number. Lines were able to flow together better and curve more easily.

Mr A likes to have alone time or quiet time with these books. He does them before bed, in the play tent or in the playhouse fort in the yard.

"I just love these books so much. I want all of these books." Mr A says.

The Greatest Dot-to-Dot Books are awesome for anyone really: the mom who needs to relieve stress (like me), the puzzler, the schooler who needs a little something extra to stay focused or as a reward, the senior who needs a bit more mental exercise or hand & eye coordination.

They are great for so many different things too: activities in the car while on trips (if you don't get car sick), while waiting in the waiting room for appointments, gifts for birthdays or stocking stuffers or quiet time activities.

I always liked dot-to-dot puzzles, but they are redundant after awhile. The Greatest Dot-to-Dot Books offers brain stimulation and activity that make me want to do more. They aren't boring and are a great exercisefor the brain. We will recommend these to anyone. The Greatest Dot-to-Dot Books are such a great way to unwind or relax and have a simple, yet challenging activity.

Use this discount code DTD30AAL at the Dot Store for 30% off Dot to Dot books of your own. Valid for US addresses only. Code does expire.

Head on over the Dot Store for some of your own books. You or your children will love them... because we do. There are so many to choose from also! Some have over 3,000 dots to connect!

Mr A wants everyone to know, "There are so many ways to do the dot-to-dots. There's lots of numbers and some with pictures that you have to connect. Some are so super crazy. They're just so super crazy."

Dot-2-Dot Philadelphia review

Timberdoodle gave us the opportunity to review the Dot-to-Dot Philadelphia book. It is a book with extreme dot-to-dots with hundreds of dots to connect to form the picture. I figured that my almost 8 year old would like to have a go at it, but I found that I love them too.

I like that the numerical dots are separated in the picture and you have to search around to find the next number. Most of the pictures have instructions to connect the dots until you reach a star, then you find the next number and pick up where you left off. So, instead of drawing one continuous line you are doing sections at a time until you reach the last number. Trying to color it at the end is a bit confusing, to me at least. But, it was fun nonetheless.

In the back of the book is a page with small descriptions of the dot-to-dots that you can complete. This book is dedicated to Philadelphia and the Parkway Museums Districts.

Some of the pages are described to be completed like the picture below. I have had a great time doing these extreme dot-to-dots. They have been a good way for me to take a break when I get overwhelmed with stuff at home. What a great destresser this book has been. I've always liked those adult coloring books, but this worked my brain a little bit differently. I loved discovering what the picture was as I completed more numbers. It was satisfying to say, "Oh, that's a face and here's the hat."

I do think that this is a great addition to any curriculum, age appropriate, that is learning about The United States. It's a fun way to 'connect' with the theme and a different way to remember the academic aspect. This dot-to-dot is included in the 11th Grade Curriculum Kit from Timberdoodle.
Mr A, my almost 8 year old, worked on the first page which only has 156 dots. He did well, but was stumped sometimes when it took him a little while to find the next number.
Several of the pictures have over 1000 dots and one has over 1600.

Mr Z, the little brother, was interested in the book as well and liked to watch and tried to help a number from time to time.

After reading the description in the back of the book, we learned that his picture is the Love scultpure in the Love park in Philadelphia. Its a great fit for the location since Philadelphia means, brotherly love.

Mr A said he liked this dot-to-dot page. I could tell he was getting irritated when it took too long to find a number, but he wanted to finish. He did enjoy this but we'll have to see how a page with more dots works out. I know I like extreme dot-to-dots to use a destresser. We do recommend this book, Dot-to-Dot Philadelphia for anyone that wants to mentally check-out or is learning about the United States.
Thank you Timberdoodle for letting us discover this book.

UPDATE:
Since posting this review, Mr A has been asking to do more of these dot-2-dots. He has really started to like them and will sit in bed at night and work on them for quite awhile before he goes to sleep. Mr A has even asked for more of these types of books.