Customer Reviews

Educational Insights Design and Drill Activity Center

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

This play set is wonderful! It is easy to use and entertaining for preschool to early school age children. While kids are having fun playing, they are improving their fine motor skills and patterning. They can be creative with their own designs or learn to follow one of the included pattern cards. The set includes 3 bits for use with the drill or screwdriver handle and 5 different colored large screws. The drill has forward, off, and reverse settings and makes drill sounds at a reasonable volume. Overall a great buy.

Love this toy, probably the best of the year. It is well made and sturdy. The drill fascinates my 4 year old, and even the 8 yr old and 11 yr old enjoy matching the pattern cards (and they are all girls...). A toy my children will play with for at least 30 mins straight(quite a feat in the video age!!!) If you are considering it, try it...I would bet that you will be impressed.

My two and five-year-old boys love to play with this. My youngest just loves drilling in and out, but by oldest uses the pictures and makes designs. This toy is also very durable. This is a great toy for boys!

I bought this toy for my 5-year-old. He has autism and loves tool type of toys. As soon as we opened this he got a HUGE grin on his face. Totally a hit with him!

My 3-year-old daughter was DYING for a turn, and she loves to use it as well. Surprisingly, even my 19-month-old daughter can join in with her older siblings...she puts the pegs into the holes for them.

It's great for their fine motor skills...getting the drill bit in the right spot is a little tricky for small hands. There are also hand tools which are good practice for the little ones, too. I also use it to practice turn-taking with the 3 and 5 year olds...each gets to drill a certain number of pegs and then has to trade the drill with their sibling.

And it is FUN! My kids like just filling up the whole board, but I think after we've had it for awhile (it's only been 2 weeks) we can start using some of the patterns. Great idea to extend the life of the toy.

This toy seems really durable, has lots of play options (pattern or freestyle, different drill bits, power tool or hand tool), is educational AND fun. And rarely do I find a toy that all three of my kids can sit around at the same time and play with...but they do with this one! Highly recommended!
UPDATE 9/11:
We have had this toy for three years and it is STILL one of the most popular toys in our house. My kids are now 7, 6, and 4, and all will still play with this one. I do rotate it so they don't see it for a couple months and then when it comes back out they are all fighting over who gets it next. One thing I find interesting is that none of them have ever been interested in making the pictures...they just love to use the drill and get those pegs in!

We bought the design and drill activity center for my son's 3rd birthday. We also bought a Take-A-Part Airplane. The drills with the attachments can work on either toy, so we now have 2 drills for the design and drill center. Since we have 2 drills, we bring this out for playdates and it is always a hit. Boys and girls ages 2-6 have enjoyed it. I find that the kids like to drill in a lot more than they like to remove screws, so I end up having to remove them myself so that the toy gets played with, but that's a small price to pay for the 20 minutes or so of concentration this provides.
So far, no one has wanted to replicate the pictures - they just make up their own patterns.

I purchased this for five year old. The drilling was fun but she hasn't really played with it since. It appeared to be too tedious for her to remove the screws to create another design. She became bored with it very quickly.

Drill doesn't work! like it says in many other comments. I email Cust Serv from their own web page "Contact us" and now reply for a week. So I called a week later and received and email saying that I should find out from where the toy giver purchased this. I don't even know my husband co worker and I would have to bother this people n tell them -hey the toy you bought for my kid sucks -sucks even more the Cust. Service that would not take charge of their own TOYS n design!!! (and after the 2nd request)
Here is your Cust Serv. email.
I guess is going to cost you more money the bad reviews (Not even a smart Co.)than send us a new drill.
PLUS it says 90 policy return. Can u imagine with all the toys your kid gets you can't hide some of them for later.

Hello,
>
> Thank you for your inquiry. I should explain that any product not purchased directly from our web site or one of our catalogs is under the warranty of the reseller and not Educational Insights. We provide our retail partners various terms and conditions that allow them in turn to provide these kinds of services to their customers. Perhaps the gift giver can assist you with identifying the dealer from whom they purchased the item. If they purchased it directly from Educational Insights, I will be happy to search for their order. Hello,
>
> Also, please note that if the drill is past the 90 day return policy, replacement Drills are available for $xx on the website of our sister company, Learning Resources or from our toll free sales line at 888-xxx-xxxx. The item number is EI-4112D. I've included a link for your convenience.
>

This one's a truly gender-neutral toy that has wide appeal. My daughter is 3, and I just picked it up for her. She immediately wanted to fill the board and experiment. She's not ready to follow the patterns yet, but that actually makes me happy, because I know that this toy will have a long life in our home since there's a second "level" for her to use once she outgrows just wanting to randomly drill stuff.

I love that the drill has a forward and reverse on it like a real drill. It feels powerful-- more so than most toy drills-- and works easily. The pieces are big enough that I don't have to worry about finding them underfoot all over the house, and the box is durable to store them.

All in all, this is a solid toy that encourages creativity and fine motor skills, and I'm glad we bought it. My only suggestion would be that it would be nice to have a second drill if two kids want to play with it together.

Gave it as a gift to a 3yr old and have heard nothing but raves about it. Keeps the child busy and is no longer asking his dad for the real power drill!!! I need to buy one for my kid now!

Cant say enough good about this. It is fun, it has several options for drill tips. You can drill with the power drill (run on batteries) or with a screwdriver or wrench. The patterns are fun. Although you must have the right lighting to see the pattern colors when they are placed under the plastic tray with the screw holes. My son has fun just making patterns on his own as well. Hours of fun and its not totally mindless.