KnuckleStrutz is a good step­-up for students who love building with Legos and parents will appreciate the lack of “commercialized characters.” The sets enable students to create joints (e.g. straight, multi, axle, elbow) to make objects that are “flexible” (e.g. a walking robot or a twister square). Some students may struggle with the pictures which are not always clear on how pieces should fit together and students who have weaker fine motor skills may likely have difficulty snapping the pieces together (and even more difficulty unsnapping them). Overall, students who love to build will like the bright colors, sturdiness, and endless numbers of objects they can create with this set.

• Provides sufficient and varied types of practice problems to maximize understanding and generalization of the targeted skill/concept
• Manufacturer claims alignment with Common Core/Known Standards
• Presents educational concepts accurately
• Explains answers so students can learn from mistakes
• Better for teaching the skill to new or struggling learners
• Better for practicing or refreshing the skill
• Skills are practiced through authentic, meaningful problems (not just rote practice)

• Appropriate for a broad age range to use and enjoy
• Visually appealing to children in the target age range
• Adults would enjoy playing with a child
• For electronic games, gives positive or encouraging feedback
• Offers ongoing, progressive challenge
• Overall - Enjoyable. Given the option, students would choose this option

• Provides teaching guidance for adults to support the child and set appropriate goals
• Student should be able to use independently after first use
• Student graduates to the next level or topic only after meeting a benchmark
• Can effectively understand and monitor student's progress (email report or in product)
• Does not require excessive set-up time after first time use
• Can be fun as a single player game
• Multi-player game which fosters collaboration or cooperation
• Well-made for the cost
• For electronic games, can play without sound
• For electronic games, allows user to save work
• For electronic games, voice/sounds are appealing and pronounces words properly
• Provides options to play in languages other than English/Good for ELL
• Presents information in multiple formats (voice over, pictures and text, etc.)
• Overall - Easy to use

• Fine Motor Skills
• Requires challenging finger movements, motor precision or physical manipulation
• Has small parts that may be difficult to manipulate (e.g. battleship pegs)
• Assembly is difficult or product may break or fall apart easily
• Organization
• Directions may be confusing for students using independently
• Self-regulation
• Assembly is difficult or product may break or fall apart easily