Customer Reviews

Melissa & Doug Shopping Cart

5 star:		(182)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The Melissa & Doug Shopping Cart was an unexpected find after going through screen after screen of overpriced plastic junk.

This cart is all steel, except for the plastic handle (which has a steel core), the folding plastic "kids" seat for a doll and the plastic wheels. This cart looks like the real ones in the stores and it's built to last! Assembly is a breeze, too.

The two front wheels rotate 360 degrees for steering and they are mounted on spring loaded "legs". If you child leans into the cart from the front or sides, it will compress causing a rubber "foot" to hit the floor and stop the cart from moving forward or backward. There are also rubber "feet" on the left and right sides.

The only "dangerous" thing I can see with this cart is where the plastic wheels are minimally covered by steel "fenders" for mounting purposes. I can foresee a pinched finger or two in our daughter's future, but you can't shield your children from everything in the world that might hurt them, nor do I feel you should. In this out-of-control P.C. country of ours, we're raising a nation of coddled kids that can't think or fend for themselves. OK, I'm off my soapbox!

One other thing, if this cart will be used indoors (and I'm sure it will be) it will be downright hazardous to your furniture. I have used the padded shipping material to create bumpers for the cart to try and protect our furniture. A little cutting with scissors and a few cable-ties and you're in business.

Buy this cart first, you won't be disappointed!

This shopping cart looks so much like the real thing - it's awesome! Not surprised, coming from the M&D brand. I didn't understand what the straight legs were for, until my dh showed that when you push down on the cart, it actually pushes down, onto the pegs, to make sure kids aren't jumping in the cart and making a car out of it - it will just stop and stay on the legs. Genius! I love that it has the folding seat for HuggyBear or Baby, or whoever my little girl loves at the moment. PERFECT toy. My daughter is 2, by the way. Younger than recommended, but I like to think she's a little advanced. :)Great Buy, Great Product!

I love this shopping cart and my kids could play with it for hours. It is well made and is one of the cutest things in the M&D lineup. However, the metal cart scratches furniture and walls more than other plastic carts. Ours also has a place on the bottom where the steel spindle is a little rough and my kids seem to scratch their hands on it when they play with it. If you have good furniture I would opt for a plastic cart, if your furniture is beat to heck already this is a great little cart. :)

My daughter had a cheap plastic cart that she demolished fairly quickly with the constant play it received. I bought this cart after reading many reviews and I am glad I did. We have had it for about a month and it is holding up wonderfully. This cart pushes smoothly and can withstand rough play. Very safe.

My daughter has always been tall and she has also always been a bit rough on her toys. She's a tomboy and has never really played with girls toys so when she began showing interest in playing kitchen and shopping at around age 3 1/2 I began looking for a shopping cart that would suit her height and manner of playing. Unfortunately I didn't find this one until yesterday! My DD is now 5 1/2 and is too tall for the shopping cart I got for her two years ago. We saw this one in a great toy store yesterday. Other reviewers have described the sturdy construction of steel and plastic. Another reviewer mentioned the very real concern that the heavy steel construction can be murder on your furniture. All valid points. I wanted to point out that this is a toy that will see a little one through some growth. If your child is tall like mine, or still likes to play grocery story at 5 1/2 like mine you will appreciate how tall and sturdy this toy is. I have to say that I've been pleased with every single Melissa and Doug toy I've ever seen or purchased.

I bought this toy as a walker for my 1 year old son. He loves it since it makes him feel very special to have his own shopping cart that looks like the ones his mommy puts him into when they go out grocery shopping. It's been 1 month and he still uses it a lot. Very sturdy and will probably last through many children. Tip: Don't throw away the white foam packing material that comes in the box. Cut them to size and tape them around the front of the cart to protect your walls, furniture and appliances around the house. I would do it before the baby sees it for the first time, so that he/she won't get too curious about them and try to rip them off.

I bought this shopping cart for my daughter to go with a play kitchen for Christmas. She loves and still plays with it daily nearly a year later. Plus, when my nieces or any other kids come over, they are instantly drawn to the shopping cart. It was really easy to put together and it's just all around great. It's like a real shopping cart but miniature and not full of icky germs. I actually think it has some small educational value in that my daughter puts her doll/stuffed animals in the seat and it sets the example or at least reinforces my message that you sit in the seat of the shopping cart (not the body), which my daughter likes to try to do and I actually remember doing when I was little. The only thing I would say that is not necessarily a negative, because really it is not the shopping cart's purpose, is to be vigilant with smaller children in the pulling-up/learning to stand/walk phase. My niece who is younger had a tendency to try to pull-up to stand using the shopping cart, which will tumble over if you do that. She now knows how to walk and no longer uses it to do that, but in that period, I would simply move the shopping cart out of the play area when she was over, however, if it was a younger sibling who lives in the home, I suppose you would have to be watching out for the little one and/or really try to teach the child not to pull up using the shopping cart (not sure how well that would go). In any case, it's not really a negative but I don't see how this shopping cart toy could or should be made stable enough for a small child to use to pull-up to stand, but it's just something to watch out for if you have little ones (6-12 months) in the home.

I'm not sure how educational a shopping cart is, so I gave 4 stars. However, buy this thing it's great my kids fight over it, they love pushing it around and collecting things, running it into walls, etc.Easy to put together, I was a little stupid on installing the red plastic seat part, but you will figure it out, or you will do it right the first time, and think how can anyone try to do it any other way. Very durable and I've got a seven year old ADHD boy that is always testing the limits of everything I buy.

Over the past several years, I have tried lots of different shopping carts for a daycare. A good shopping cart is hard to find. Many of them tip over easily, many are cheaply made and fall apart if there is too much weight in them. The "Little tykes" shopping cart has a longer basket than base, which makes it tip forward easily, so I got rid of those. The cheap "American plastic" and the like carts, the ones that typically come with cardboard "food" boxes, are so flimsy that if a 2 year old leans on them, they bend in half. I like the "step 2" carts, but they are plastic and after a while the wheels crack in half and they are priced around $45 each. This brings us to my purchases of the "Melissa and Doug shopping cart"

These carts were easy to put together. Just 4 bolts and snapping in the plastic "kid" seat. That is a big plus. All 4 wheels are swivel wheels, which detracts from the sturdiness. If a child is pushing or pulling the cart with 1 hand, it is probably going to tip over. However, with proper use it pushes pretty well. The wheels are actually on springs, so with too much weight on the cart the cart lays on the three "legs". While it may be intended to prevent kids riding in the cart, the basket is pretty small so I think that would be difficult to do. However, this is great for older kids who tend to lean their full weight down on the cart. It prevents them from pushing it and shows them they have to be more gentile, without constant adult reminders. Additionally, If you let the kids play with real items like canned foods, this prevents them from overloading the cart.

The only negatives I see are that: The red seat pops out pretty easily, and (like most toy carts) these do not push together for storage. Other than that they are great, and I have high hopes for them lasting several years.

There are many toys that can make a child feel like he or she is in the grocery store imitating mom or dad, but most of them are meant for mild play at home and don't last for very long. Even though some stores use carts with plastic baskets, most still use carts with wire baskets and metal tube frame. The Melissa & Doug Shopping cart reminds me of the ones used in nearly every store that provides carts for customers to use.

The Melissa & Doug grocery-style shopping cart is so very realistic, we just adore it for our child. The Melissa & Doug Shopping Cart is made of a large gauge wire basket and very similar tubular frame, it has the typical fold out child seat with plastic bottom shield for a child's baby, and the plastic cover over the handle looks just like the ones at stores we frequent.

This cart also has two other features not found on typical carts: anti-tipping riggers and spring-loaded front wheels. Since the cart is smaller it has a narrower wheel base. This cart has anti-tipping riggers with rubber feet to help prevent the the cart from tipping which might result with a hurt child or damaged walls or flooring. The spring-loaded front wheels are a nice 'surprise' feature, too. These springs keep the cart from having such a rigid feel to it. It's too small for my children to get into (by design, I think), but when the kids lean over the end of the cart to get something out (like mom and dad do at the store) the springs allow the cart to lower which prevents the basket from pressing too hard on little ribs and tummies. This feature was an unexpected bonus we never would have missed, but really appreciate.

We like the durability and the realistic appearance, but what makes this toy even better is that the cart SOUNDS like the mom and dad's cart at the store. Plus, this 'toy' is actually very functional and useful. We also bought Melissa & Doug Wooden Pantry Products for playing at home, but this doesn't stop us from taking our little cart on real shopping trips.

We take this cart with us to the store for our little one to shop along side us when we visit the store and use shopping time as a way to teach our child how to be responsible at the store. Our child gets to carry some of the groceries or other items as we peruse and learns how to respect other shoppers at the store and how to handle a babydoll. Another lesson we try to teach is that everything she puts in her basket has to be purchased; we don't purchase what we can't afford. I believe this teaches confidence in doing the things she will one day need to do to provide and follow a budget.

If this were any other type of toy cart, we wouldn't feel comfortable bringing it to the store. Other than it's small size, this cart looks like it belongs in the store. What we have found from this one 'toy' purchase is that we are getting so much more from this than we could have imagined. I believe all of our discovery about how this basket can be sued is attributed to its appearance, feel, and strong construction.

As you could probably tell, we recommend this product if you are looking for something like this for your child.