Ethan had an awesome academic games session playing a new game called Blokus. Blokus is an abstract strategy game with transparent, Tetris-shaped, colored pieces that players are trying to play onto the board. It encourages creative thinking and has received a Mensa award for promoting healthy brain activity. The goal of this game is for players to fit all of their pieces onto the board. When placing a piece it may not lie adjacent to the player's other pieces, but must be placed touching at least one corner of their pieces already on the board. The player who gets rid of all of their tiles first is the winner and strategic thinking helps as you block moves from your opponent. Blokus sometimes comes to an end because there are no more possible moves. Blokus is a catalyst for spatial thinking, as players form images in their mind before placing the pieces on the board. Children and adults can play together for hours of competitive fun. It was absolutely amazing to see Ethan play this game! His ability to spatially see the board and what places to put his blocks to advance his play as well as block the opponent was astounding. It was impressive to watch him play and I'll look forward to playing again with him.