I have had a long and rewarding career as an architect, inventor and bicycle activist. I may best be known for the Cape Town Cycle Tour which I created with Bill Mylrea in 1978. It is now a world renowned 100+ km cycling event, enjoyed by many thousands every year since.
However, looking back half a century, I rate MOZIBLOX as my greatest contribution because it has turned out to be an exceptional educational toy. Thousands of children have benefitted from it, sets are handed down from generation to generation. MOZIBLOX should continue to help millions more children worldwide, allowing many to escape poverty.
The journey starts with our daughter Anne’s 4th birthday in 1968 when . . . she was given a six-picture cube puzzle. The pictures were so complex and similar that I decided to make her a six-picture cube puzzle with copies of pictures in children’s books.
The project, using oil paints, was taking a long time. After painting three pictures I finished it off quickly using a bright colour and a simple geometric shape for each of the three remaining sides of each cube.
What struck me immediately was that whereas a six-picture cube puzzle is limited to six pictures, the geometric shapes could make lots of patterns and pictures! Inspired by this idea I made her a new set using 27 cubes to include a 3D puzzle. I spent hours choosing the shapes and carefully distributing them among the cubes. And so MOZIBLOX (‘mosaic cubes’), with a seemingly infinite capacity for pattern and picture making, was born!
Everyone was intrigued by this new toy and asked me to make more. That proved to be really difficult. I submitted a cardboard set in a design competition where the judges gave me an award for the toy concept and urged me to make it with wooden cubes. Two entrepreneurs at the prize giving were keen to help.
It took years, but once in production (in plastic) children were attracted by the bright colours and people began describing MOZIBLOX as ‘developmental’ and ‘educational’. Before long it became (and still is) essential equipment for Occupational Therapists.
As decades passed numerous anecdotal reports by adults attributed their skills in mathematics, planning and design to having played with MOZIBLOX when they were very young. Since MOZIBLOX has no numerals this seemed to magic of some kind and I was determined to discover how this occurs.
Psychologists ascribe it to ‘visuospatial processing’; an instinctive and core early development phase, essential to all learning, including numeracy and literacy. Children have to learn to see the world in 3D and to see colours. The very beginning of knowledge acquisition is when an infant sees something, moves towards it and tries to grab it.
MOZIBLOX stimulates early visuospatial processing exceptionally well. Manipulating physical objects (rather than passive observation) is really important. I used to joke about our infant son, remarking that he has two tests for everything he encounters: Is it edible? Can it be broken? If it fails both tests he moves on.
Then I discovered something about numeracy. Did you know that numeracy is essentially about basic reasoning? Toddlers learn the meaning of words like same/different, more/ less, bigger/smaller (logical reasoning) before they learn the numbering system. Reasoning is how numeracy improves comprehension and literacy and future-proofs scholars heading into an unknown future.
MOZIBLOX cubes, with its colours and shapes can be used to teach numeracy and the concept of sets. For older children there are the concepts of permutations, tessellation and geodesics.This is preparation for mathematics, which is about analysing patterns and is a tool for hypothetical reasoning. The infant brain, however is not yet ready for hypothetical reasoning or for virtual reality.
MOZIBLOX Nature is now beautifully made in wood by Beleduc. At first Beleduc engineers were hesitant as they discovered how complex it is to produce. Fortunately for us they persisted.
That opportunity enabled me to give MOZIBLOX its first upgrade. The new colours can be used to teach colour theory and there are now three 3D puzzles — one needing 27 cubes and two needing 8 cubes each — where the solutions are given by particular cubes.
MOZIBLOX encourages experimentation with its limitless capacity for making patterns and pictures. It teaches basic concepts of logical reasoning and facilitates visuospatial processing to a high degree. . .
Could MOZIBLOX, that spark of an idea in 1968, be one of the world’s best ever children’s toys?
“Litranumeracy”
The carefully crafted graphics on MOZIBLOX Nature cubes belong to the universal languages of mathematics and design that deal with patterns and reasoning.
GREAT NEW PACKAGING FOR 2021
Developed from the first 27 cube set created in 1968, MOZIBLOX Nature is our flagship product, superbly manufactured by Beleduc. The exceptional educational and therapeutic features are re-inforced by anecdotal evidence that has shown that young children who play with MOZIBLOX often turn out to be good at maths, design and art. All the endorsements and reports back this up. MOZIBLOX Nature received the coveted German Spiel gut red dot award which further endorses this pedigree.
Jigsaw puzzles have one solution. MOZIBLOX has a multitude of puzzles, often with a multitude of solutions, suitable for almost everyone from toddlers to old- timers and can be kept in the family for generations.
Over the last two centuries, parents around the globe have recognised the benefit of alphabet blocks. These have been popular and will remain popular. Literacy, the ability to understand, speak, read and write a language, is very important and typically accounts for up to 70% of teaching time in junior schools.
Numeracy, a steppingstone to mathematics, is considered to be more difficult than literacy and reserved for older children. Numeracy, however, is the ability to reason and to apply simple numerical concepts*.
It’s as simple as this. Babies come with a number sense that provides a foundation of reasoning to build on. They soon understand the concept of more, and the reason for asking for more. When they can ask for two more they are learning numeracy. Meanwhile, they’re playing — manipulating the blox to explore the graphics, making patterns and pictures — and they’re talking to you, learning important new words and concepts of reasoning that underpin mathematics.
Enormous development is made through early play. I coined the word “litranumeracy” to emphasise the fact that literacy and numeracy have an essential symbiotic relationship and should be taught together from the outset.
There is very much more here than meets the eye!
We have listed many of the worldwide distributors of MOZIBLOX Nature. If you can’t find it, please let us know and we will endeavour to find a solution.
We want you to ask for it by name and help us to create thinkers!
*Wikipedia
John Stegmann, a South African architect, invented MOZIBLOX in 1968 for his 4-year-old daughter. Manufacture commenced in Cape Town in 1975 and over a period of 25 years its popularity amongst young and old grew steadily, leading to extensive use in schools for teaching basic concepts of numeracy and logic. It is used by professionals to assist with diagnosis and treatment of individuals with perceptual difficulties. Superbly made by Beleduc GmbH, this wooden version incorporates significant improvements to what has become a widely accepted classic.
An award based on the following criteria:
- Ability to stimulate the child’s imagination
- Ability to hold the child’s interest with numerous play possibilities
- Connection to the child’s environment
- Appropriate size and quantity
- Durability
- Appropriate ease of use
- Safety
- Environmental friendliness
- Price
What wonderful recognition for this timeless product.
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Some of the global suppliers…
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An essential toolbox for home schooling!
All graphics and text copyright © John Stegmann EU Registered design 002168336-0001
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