3-D Puzzle
This toy would be a measure of a child's problem solving skills, hand-eye coordination, and understanding of three dimensional space. In order to solve it, one would need to be able to slide pieces back and forth to try and free whatever they could from the cube. I saw this concept in the movie IQ, and thought a simpler plastic version would be great for kids. I thought it would be a great step up from the "put the shape in the box" games.
The child would need to slide pieces back and forth, sometimes two or three different ones, to remove a single piece from the puzzle. Putting it back together would definitely prove more difficult as the pieces would probably have to be reassembled in a certain order. The pieces would be made of plastic, but would be pretty stiff to avoid bending.
Good source of similar puzzles:
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Dan Gielas dgielas@andrew.cmu.edu 39-245