20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well-made, fun, but better for older kids, December 25, 2009
= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars
I was racking my brain for another Christmas present for my toddler (she's 2-yrs, almost 8 months)...and I saw this magnetic puzzle game. We've always loved Melissa & Doug products, and I thought this seemed a great value, and a good educational opportunity for her.
It is, indeed, very cute & well-made. The magnetic wand controls the balls well IF it is held flat against the acrylic cover plate. Another important requirement is that the board be laid down completely flat (as in, NOT held on the child's lap) or the balls just roll right out of the number areas. (This was a frustration expressed somewhere by someone, I believe). It has the potential to be good counting practice, IF a child is at that level.
All this to say that this is a fun toy, but is not exactly fitting for my toddler. She can play around with it, making the little balls move around, enjoying doing that for a short time, but I would say that it doesn't really become a great educational toy until the child is around 3-1/2 to 4 years old and really starts to grasp counting. My older daughter (just turned 6) can play with it and fully appreciate the learning potential: hand-eye coordination & counting (though she's definitely beyond learning how to count at this age, it's fun for her to manipulate the correct number of balls to their corresponding number area).
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Need a spot to store the 'apples', January 8, 2011
= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars
I generally love Melissa and Doug toys and would have to convinced to find something 'bad' with any of the products. However, this product has a lot of potential - but falls short of being what it could. As others have stated, it has to be absolutely flat (no car trips). It is a fairly weak magnet. Also, I think there should be one large 'basket' on the puzzle to hold all the apples to move them from over to the individual baskets. It is hard also for kids to actually count the apples separately in the 10 baskets -- they move around and are close together - so they give up counting - and head to another puzzle. A few design modifications could make this puzzle a winner too!!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Even the Adults liked it, February 17, 2010
= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars
I bought this and saved it for a car trip last summer. I got it out when things started to get hairy and it saved the day. My 4 year old loved it. When we got to our destination we took it inside with us and the adults took turns doing it. I think they had even more fun than my son.
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