Block Design

About the Block Design exercise

Putting flat-pack furniture together from the picture on the box, setting a table the way it was shown, folding a towel to match: copying how pieces fit together from a picture is part of everyday life. Block design practices the same thing in a simple, clear form, with a pattern to copy and a handful of identical blocks.

Block Design is a free online block design exercise. Each design is a square or rectangle of red and white blocks, and every block has solid red faces, solid white faces, and faces split half red and half white on the diagonal. The job is to turn the right face of each block up in the right place. Build on the screen by picking a face and tapping a square, or show the designs here and build them on the table with real blocks.

How a block design task works

The half-and-half faces are what make the task interesting. Two halves on neighboring blocks join into one bigger triangle, stripe, or diamond, so a design has to be seen both as a whole picture and as separate blocks.

1. Look at the whole design and its outline. It is made of 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, or 16 blocks.
2. Work out where the edges of each block fall. The design has no lines between the blocks, just as on real block design cards.
3. For each block, choose the face that matches its square: solid red, solid white, or half and half turned the right way.
4. Place the blocks one at a time, checking each against the design, until the copy matches.

What Block Design practices

Seeing the parts in a whole

With no lines between the blocks, a design reads as one picture. Working out which part of it belongs to each block is the heart of the task.

Spatial reasoning

A half-and-half face can be turned four ways. Choosing the turn that matches means comparing angles and directions between the design and the block.

Building from a model

Copying a pattern with real blocks is a construction task: look, choose a block, turn it, place it, and check, over and over until the copy matches.

Planning and checking

Working row by row, or from one corner, and checking each block against the design keeps a bigger design manageable.

How the tool works and what it records

Three free presets: 4 blocks with a few half-and-half faces, 4 blocks with more of them, and 9 blocks, each with 5 designs per round. Every design is drawn like a real block design card, with no lines between the blocks. Pro unlocks the dials: designs from 4 to 16 blocks (2 × 2, 2 × 3, 3 × 3, 2 × 4, 3 × 4, and 4 × 4), half-and-half faces none, some, or many, and 3 to 10 designs per round. Always free: building on the screen or with real blocks, red and white, blue and yellow, or black and white blocks, the clock on screen, large print, and Check.

Every design is generated fresh, under rules that keep it readable, and each round runs from the easiest design to the hardest. On the screen a design is done when every square matches; with real blocks, tap Built it. The results show designs built and the time for each design and the average, and on the screen, the checks used and blocks placed wrong. Signed-in users get 5 free rounds per tool per day, and once a day a free account can play a round with every dial; Pro removes the cap, adds PDF design cards with an answer key that shows where each block goes, and saves rounds to a session log.

Screen or paper?

The screen deals new designs every round, checks the copy square by square, and times each design without anyone keeping score, with no blocks needed. Real blocks add the hands-on part, picking up, turning, and placing each block, which suits therapy sessions at a table. Printed cards suit sessions without a device, groups, and home practice with a set of blocks.

The printable version is the Kohs Block Design Pattern Cards on rehabworksheets.com, and there is a free block design pattern card sheet to try first, with no email required.

Using it well

• Start small. Begin with 4 blocks and a few half faces. Move to more half faces, then to 9 blocks, once rounds finish comfortably, and drop back when a round starts to feel like hard work.
• Find the block edges first. Before placing anything, look for where the edges of each block would fall in the design. Splitting the picture into its blocks is most of the work, and half faces that join into bigger shapes are the hardest part.
• Build in a fixed order. Working left to right along the top row, then the next row, keeps track of what is done. Saying each face out loud, such as half red in the top right, can help too.
• Use Check before stepping in. On the screen, Check outlines the blocks that are wrong without giving the answer. Each check is counted, so the results still show how much support a round needed.
• Compare like with like. Time and checks depend on the number of blocks and the half faces. Keep the settings the same from session to session when looking at change.

Common questions