Customer Reviews

Melissa & Doug Noah's Ark Shape Sorter

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The ark & animals are very colorful and my 20 month old son loves playing with the animals and naming them.

The only problem is this really is NOT a shape sorter as the animals can be put in nearly any hole just by tipping them sideways. My son rarely puts them in the "right" hole as it is so easy just to put them all in one of the holes on the top. When we do try to put them in the "right" hole it is a challenge to get them in right as there really is no good way for little fingers to hold onto them and put them squarely in the hole.

Overall, great toy, but do not buy it if you are really looking for a shape sorter.

This one can be entitled: "Melissa & Doug, what were you thinking?!" Except, obviously, my mother-in-law gave them $[...] for this complete waste of space on the toy shelf. Because the individual ark characters are so thin, and vary in size so greatly, most of the pieces can just be shoved into any available hole. Thus, this "shape-sorter" is no shape sorter at all. Just find a hole big enough, turn the piece on its side, and it drops right in. The animal pictures are only painted on one side of the character - the other side is blank. If you want a toy that builds your child's fine motor and problem solving skills, this is not the toy for you. If you just want an ark to do some Bible-knowledge building, I suppose this would work, but for my money, I'd say there are better options out there.

This is a great toy. It's durable and a great learning toy. But it's not great for my almost 3 yr. old granddaughter with Down Syndrom. When the animals are held sideways they can be slipped into any of the shaped holes. It did not take long for her to figure this out. She has a great time putting the animals in and taking them out - just not into the intended slots! Oh well, she is enjoying playing with Noah's Ark.

This is a very solidly made toy, but as for being a shape sorter...it's a joke. You can drop the pieces through virtually any hole and once it's unpackaged it has so many animal shaped cut-outs that it basically resembles a puzzle with numerous missing pieces. The only use my 2-year old has for this toy is dumping out the animal pieces and spreading them all over the house. I regret the purchase.

my son got this toy for his first birthday and it is by far his fav! He now knows all the sounds each of the animals make and loves to march them around the ark. It can entertain a one year old for hours so it must be good!

A wood ark with holes cut in side, two ddors that open and close spring operated. The animals are cute but have a blue outline that is well...kinda blue. Compare with the brighter Maxim before purcahsing. Still I am happy with this product.

Our daughter has loved this shape sorter since she was 12months old. The pieces are big enough that she can't swallow them, and it helped us teach her animal names. At this point she just sticks all the animals in whatever cutout she can find.

Now that she's 20months, she is getting more interested in trying to fit the pieces in the right way, but I can see this toy being very useful and fun for her for another couple of years.

I've been impressed with Melissa & Doug toys build quality, and this one doesn't disappoint. Durability of the ark and the blocks is excellent, and nothing has broken or come loose. I do deduct one star for some of the paint chipping off and/or wearing down from baby saliva, but I'm not sure if there's a perfect solution for that issue anyway.

We have another girl come to the house often who is just now 12mo and she loved it as well. We bought one for her 1yr birthday.

I really thoroughly dislike this toy. I thought it was cute when my 2-year-old got it as a present, but quickly realized it would be a pain in my behind. The ark doors fold down to open, which makes sense, except that the elastic that is meant to hold them closed when you want them closed stopped working within a week. This means that 1) all the pieces fall out as soon as you try to move the toy so you spend 10 minutes cleaning it up every time 2) the doors stay permanently open so the toy becomes a few inches longer, and nearly impossible to put away in a cupboard since the open ark doors make it too long for the cupboard door to close. It's now a year later and my son still plays with the pieces, dumping them and parading them around our house, but never uses the toy as a "shape sorter." Even though he knows the pieces fit in specific holes on the ark, he's never cared and shoves them in sideways in any of the holes. I would not consider this a shape-sorting toy or educational in that way. Educational in terms of talking about animals, yes, but we can get that from a myriad of other toys and books we have. We also have a bunch of other animals that can be used as animal/parade toys, so this toy is pretty useless for what it was intended.

In korea, Noah's Ark is very popular with mom. Because they can tell the Bible's story to kids during a play.
So I will tell the story about Noah, when my son grown up.

We purchased this for our daughter for her 1st birthday.
Pros
- very durable (although teething on the pieces does make the edges a bit rough but no chipping or splintering and still very safe),
- beautifully made and decorated
- gorgeous pieces and selection of animals (especially love Mr and Mrs Noah with their additional animals on their pieces)
- very educational - the shape sorter works for older kids but younger ones will just put them through the nearest hole, but great for teaching kids the words for animals.
- fun! My daughter can spend ages pushing all the animals into the ark and then fips down the side (very nice safe opening mechanism!) and starts again!

No real cons but things to be aware of:
- heavy for a little one - my daughter is determined to pick up and carry everything and this is just light enough that she can pick it up but just heavy enough to cause a bruise when she dropped it on foot - and then on my foot!
- yes the wood does become a bit worn with use (and repeated bashing on the tile floor) but it does stay safe. I would love this to be the toy that we keep and pass onto our grandchildren (my daughter is only 1 year old so I'm being a bit preemptive here) but am not sure it will last that long but do think it will last throughout my daughter's childhood and that's good enough!