Customer Reviews

Melissa & Doug 26-piece Wooden ABC Picture Blocks in a Wooden Storage Tray

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We ordered these when we realized that our 2-year old had just about learned the ABCs already, and we thought these would be good for reinforcement as well as good old block-piling fun.

Our child loved them immediately and called out letters while pulling each block from the sturdy wooden tray that the blocks come in. The blocks are made from an attractive wood and the grain shows through nicely behind the letters and the pictures associated with each letter, that fill four of the six faces. We consider it a definite plus that each block shows the upper and lowercase form of each letter. We also like the fact that these are small enough for little hands, but big enough to give to a 2-year-old without worrying about a choking hazard.

One quibble: the blocks are not designed to provide any cues as to vertical orientation, either for letters or illustrations. The reason this matters is that the capital-M has spreading legs, which makes it basically *identical* in appearance to the capital-W, when either letter is upside down. It should have been possible to design the M with vertical sides, which would have reduced confusion and would teach the letter "M" in a form more likely to be found in other settings. Similar confusion applies to the lower-case "L" and upper-case "I", which look identical.

Quibble #2: some of the letter-related words that illustrate each block seem oddly chosen. For instance, "Ink" for the letter "I" -- how likely is it that a 21st century child will encounter an old-fashioned ink bottle anytime soon? Perhaps the problem comes because some letters are not used to begin many words familiar to toddlers, but across the 26 letters in the set, we find quite a few illustrations and vocabulary words that we don't think will be much help to our child learning the alphabet, or be useful in everyday speech later on.

Finally, an unknown: durability. Since these are brand new, we can't say, but the letters are painted onto the surface of smooth, flat blocks -- not cut into the wood, like some old-fashioned block designs. That makes these more attractive for now, but we suspect the paint will probably chip or wear off somewhat more rapidly. That's just a guess.

All in all, we are pleased with this set. We had been looking for something like this for a while, with no luck. So I suspect that it may be hard to find blocks that accomplish all the same things these do (uppercase, lowercase, word associations, size, attractiveness) without any of the quibbles raised here.

My daughter is almost 2. She has had these blocks for several months, and enjoys playing with them, stacking them, throwing them, and trying to name the pictures. So far the dog isn't attracted to them.

These blocks have great pictures and clear letters. I agree, however, with another reviewer's comments regarding M/W and some of the word choices, but in general they are great. So, we'll just have to explain somehow what Ink is. I'll bet we can do it.

I particularly like that the block holding tray is durable, and that the dimensions of the box allow for extra room (2 blocks worth) to make re-packing easy.

The blocks are a nice size, and the size and shape remain consistent between the blocks for easy stacking. I have not found any rough edges or splinters. So far the pictures have held up well.

These are high quality blocks that should be a satisfying toy for several years to come.

This is by far one of the best investments I have ever made- these blocks have been in my home for 5 years and have been thrown up and down stairs burried at the bottom of toy boxes and still are as good as new- they never fade, or wear I have two boys who love to play with them and what is even better is that they have both upper and lower case letters making it easy for my older son to notice and learn from, thanks for making such a wonderful toy.

We bought these toys when our daughter was 10months old, for her first christmas. She just loves them. She also recieved some of the old-fashioned "carved" blocks with the letters cut into them. Unlike these, she quickly chewed the paint off of some of the old-fashoined blocks. She has chomped on these pretty hard and they seem to put up with it with little damage. She bangs them together, chews on them and occationally stacks them. Though they are recommended for older children, i think we made a nice choice as she will be able to play with these for years in many different ways as her skills develop. Also, they are bigger than the standard blocks, so i dont worry about anything and she should be able to manipulate them a little earlier.

My daughter is one and a half, and she's had these blocks for about a year now, but only now is she really playing with them and identifying the little pictures. Some pictures are a little obscure, but all the basic animals and objects seem to be covered. I'm very pleased with how smooth the blocks are, and how well they are holding up. I feel they will really help my daughter to learn her letters, both in upper and lower case. My only problem is with the tray. It only holds the blocks if you keep it completely flat (as if a toddler can transport anything while keeping it level). I also don't like its sharp edges. My daughter went through a phase where she liked dumping the blocks out and then waving the tray around. Now the tray is stored out of reach and the blocks are stored in a small plastic bin.

My 9 month old loves these blocks. We bought them for her when she was 5 months old. All she did then was put them in her mouth. I had to supervise her when she played with them as she could hurt herself. Now she looks intently at the pictures on the blocks, enjoys knocking them down when we stack them up and enjoys the wooden sound they make when she knocks two blocks. These blocks are her all time favorite. I anticipate further use of these blocks for educational purpose and I highly recommend them.

I love Melissa and Doug products with nearly religious fervor, but these blocks were a little disappointing. The pictures are lovely, the size is good, the weight is easy for kids to manipulate, and they stack and fall down again like all good blocks should. As for flaws, several blocks in my set (5 or so) came only partially finished, one with a deep gouge in one side. The corners are also brutally sharp (these are perfect cubes), not sanded down. I'm a big girl and know where to find my spray-on varnish, sandpaper, and a marker to add lines (as orientation cues) to W and M and p/d/b/q, but still... it would have been nice for these to have been ready to play from the get-go.

The blocks are great. The quality is great and the graphics are nice and clean. My baby and I play with these together. I show him the pictures and recite what they are to him. He loves them. My only complaint is that the picture is deceiving. There are only 26 blocks, so there are two empty spaces in the tray. The picture looks like the whole tray is full.

I bought this for my 26 months old daughter and she loves it. It's very educational and good teaching tool for the kids to learn.
I always had a passion for Melissa and Doug Wooden products.