Customer Reviews

Melissa & Doug Bead Sequencing Set

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I love Melissa & Doug toys and this one is a great concept. The patterns (that you copy with beads on poles) are on sturdy wood and vary in difficulty. However, there are lots of different bead shapes, and the pictures are sometimes hard to follow -- the oval bead looks a lot like the cylinder bead, blue looks like purple, etc. I found that I had to figure out what bead each picture was supposed to represent (not easy), teach that to my son (3 yrs), and THEN let him copy the patterns.

Having purchased many Melissa & Doug products for my son, I did not hestitate to buy this. I was extremly disappointed. The blue & purple beads are so close in color that I cannot tell them apart, let alone my 2 year old! There are not enough beads to complete some of the sequence cards and the shapes are hard to determine. My son still loves to play with the set but as a teaching tool it is useless.

My son seemed to enjoy this item and I love it for the educational aspect. Patterns and sequencing are very important concepts in the early school years and even into the higher elementary grades, patterns/sequences show up in math homework & reading (i.e. sequence of a story). Sequence/pattern questions are also prominent on standardized tests. So this item is a great introduction, however, I agree with the previous reviewer, some beads are very similar making it difficult to discern on the pattern card - even I goofed on the first look. Blue does look too much like the purple and cylinders and squares look too similar on the pattern cards. Also, it needs more beads - my son wanted to fill all 5 posts but ran out of the 'right' bead to complete the additional patterns. As with all M&D toys, the quality of construction is great and even given the few minor flaws I mentioned, I would still purchase this item again.

I rated this toy 5 stars because it is very economical. I tried to make my own bead sequencing set for my three year old but couldn't put it together for less than the cost of this complete set.

I agree that the blue and purple colored beads are a little tough to distinguish and some of the pictures on the control cards don't readily match the real beads which makes this hard for three and four year olds.

However, in the Montessori preschool books I've read, this activity is set up a little differently. You take a tray and put one or two control cards with the necessary beads and a single shoe lace. At the start, I plan to make one lace, tie it off, and then put identical beads in the basket for my son to match. Then the young child has more chance of getting used to the process.

This kit has the capability of challenging a child for a few years as you add more colors and shapes of beads and increase the length and difficulty of the sequence.

I'm a do it your self type, but I love this toy!

My experience is exactly the same as the "Not Impressed" review. Yes, I'm the dummy who bought this despite a negative review that pointed out obvious flaws. Hopefully you will not be the same.

I usually love M&D products, and in general, they offer a much cheaper alternative to traditional items for those interested in Montessori, Waldorf, etc. I'm here to buy a child's M&D flute and this came up, so I'm compelled to share my experience:

This product is so bad that I've just left out the shapes for imaginary play and put away the rest of it. It probably IS ok for younger kids to practice threading and stacking, but to use it properly to learn patterning is probably more detrimental to a child's development than nothing at all. The colors and shapes don't match the control cards at all, which of course is The Point Of This Game.

M&D needs to find a new vendor for this one. It's a hot mess, which I recommend that you side-step around. And that's how I really feel :-).

First, the set does not come with enough beads to complete more than 3 sequences (dowels) at a time. Why do they include 5 spaces? Secondly, there is a hexagon on the pattern, but no hexagon block. Several of the shapes are hard to distinguish and match. It is frustrating for me, let alone my 3 year old. Don't waste your money.

This is a simply awful activity for young children. The bead shapes are almost indistinguishable on the wooden strips, when you put the beads on the poles, the sizes don't correspond to the picture sizes on the strips, and the woodwork is generally shoddy.

Great idea, unnecessarily lousy execution of product. I won't ever buy from these manufacturers again- shame on them!

I am typically a huge Melissa and Doug fan, but I am not impressed with this one. The shapes are really difficult to decipher--both in color and in shape. The beads really do not look much like the picture they are supposed to match, which makes it quite frustrating for the kids (and for me!). I really do not like this puzzle.

This toy arrived and we were disappointed with the quality of the craftsmanship. We usually like Melissa and Doug products. But we have had it for about a year and all but one of the slots that hold the sticks up is broken, so the sticks that you stack the beads on don't stand up anymore. It is really now broken and must be recycled. Also the pictures on the cards, don't match the bead colors or shapes, making the matching part of this game sort of meaningless. Don't bother.

My daughter is 2 and is amazingly active. She is rarely interested in anything for more than a couple of minutes, tops. The first time she played with this, she was engrossed for over an hour, and then went back to play with it some more about 3 other times in the same day. This has truly never happened before!

It has really improved her fine motor skills as well as her pattern recognition. There are a lot of little touches to this product that make it nice, too - a slot to hold the pattern "cards" upright, a nice clear lid to keep it all together, etc. I do agree with what others have said about the blue and purple being very close in appearance. Other than that, this toy is absolutely perfect!