Customer Reviews

Ravensburger Ocean World - 240 Piece puzzleball

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

 

 

The artist is David Penfound. This should be a selling point, but they don't seem to advertise it.

I assembled it like any jigsaw puzzle, joining pieces by colors patterns and shape. It took about three hours. All the pieces are similarly shaped and many are identically shaped. I often used a magnifying glass to make sure I had the right fit. The printing isn't perfectly accurate, so a few pieces that looked like they didn't quite fit really did. I placed several pieces incorrectly at first. It's a bit tricky to attach the last few pieces. I used a crochet hook to perfect the fit as much as possible. I was able to tease in the last piece with gentle pressure and a rocking motion.

Of course, the pieces are numbered, so you could assemble it like a model kit, if that sounds like fun. I ignored the numbers. The top and bottom five pieces come preassembled, but I separated them and mixed them in with the others. Ravensburger also provides an image in the form of four pieces which can be rotated together to get an idea of the finished puzzle. I ignored that, as I always ignore images of a puzzle, preferring the surprise of seeing what would emerge.

If you want to try a spherical puzzle, this could be a good place to start. I think I'll stick with 2-D until more out-of-the-box 3-D concepts emerge. 2-D offers much more value for the dollar.

I purchased this puzzle ball for my 7 year old nephew for Christmas, thinking it would be something he would enjoy. My was I right! We just pulled it out for the first time this morning (they have more toys than they know what to do with), and he LOVED it. It was a morning project that took about an hour & a half to complete as a team (he & I and his younger brother & sister).

The best parts about this puzzle ball are:

1) the durability of the plastic curved pieces. It made it easier to put together, and even when he was rushing up the stairs to show his dad, and accidentally tripped dropping the ball, it didn't break. That saved us from some major tears!!

2) The way the ball is set up is by number (on the back/inner side) making it MUCH easier to piece together. Honestly, without the numbers, I think he would have been a little lost- and that's saying something because he's a little expert at piecing together models. In the kit, all the pieces are loose, except for the top and the bottom five. These are the starting points and the puzzles go by inside number around in a circle.

The easiest way for us to piece it together, given the age group of the kids (7, 6, & 4) was to sort the number pieces (first by tens, one hundreds, and two hundreds- then by individual number). This was actually one of funnest (and most educational) parts of the game for the two youngest and they were proud that they got to help their big brother. It really helped the littlest one a lot with numbers too, so I thought it was a great success. :)

Since we were the ones grouping the numbers in order, Connor was really able to fly through piecing the puzzle together. If he was doing it by himself, I'm sure it would have taken quite a bit longer than it did. But I think we worked out the best method for us. :)

I also like that the numbers on the back of the pieces can be used as a guide if you desire them, and am hoping that this puzzle will be something he can hold onto and allow himself to be challenged by in a few years when he's older and is ready to do it without the numbers.

Overall, if you have a kid that's into building or piecing models together, don't hesitate to buy this! We found success with it. :)