Soft & Sturdy Jumbo Blocks

by Step 2

Product Features

• 44 easy-to-grasp shapes in 4 colors
• Low-tack blocks stack at angles
• Quiet and soft, these blocks won't hurt your house or other children
• Blocks also float for water fun

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1 x 1 x 1 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B000ALH16K
• Item model number: 7566KR
• Our recommended age: 4 - 6 years
• Manufacturer recommended age: 3 years and up
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #182,239 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Wooden blocks are so last decade. Now you can get foam blocks that provide all the building fun, but without the noise, weight, and damage to your furniture. These innovative blocks can even be stacked at angles due to their low-tack nature, and float for use in the tub or at the pool.

Product Description

Preschoolers will love these chunky foam blocks. They're easy for small hands to grasp and they're safer than traditional wood blocks. Blocks come in four bright colors - red, blue, green and yellow -- and a variety of geometric shapes. Promotes color and shape recognition. Foam is safe, sound-free and even floats in water! 44 blocks.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Toys are the Simple Ones, May 6, 2006

By 

Altitude Adjustment "wensmith" (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soft & Sturdy Jumbo Blocks (Toy)

I bought these blocks for my 5 and 2 year old boys at Christmas and they have played with them every day since. Despite the blocks being foam, they are very durable and the only wear is a few teeth marks! The bright colors and soft texture seem to make them irresistible. The boys' imaginations never stop coming up with new ways to use them, and they delight in the tall towers they can make that are relatively stable because of the grippy surface of the foam. These are far superior than the wood type because they are so light they don't hurt or damage the furniture, and the scale and size of the pieces makes them the perfect ramps for little cars and houses for small stuffed animals. Hours of quiet, battery-free fun - probably the best toy purchase I have ever made. A safe bet if you don't know what to get a preschooler.

January 2009: I wrote the above part of this review back in May of 2006 and I am just adding that we are on kid#3 (a girl this time) and these are still in good shape and being played with almost daily.

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed feelings., March 27, 2007

By 

Value Mommy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soft & Sturdy Jumbo Blocks (Toy)

I have very mixed feelings about these blocks. Along with the previous reviewer, I thought these would be a perfectly safe toy for my 2 year old to play with along-side her 4 year old brother. As it turns out, they are not firm enough to hold up to a still oral toddler. Our blocks, which have been used for just six months, are covered in tooth marks and have edges that are crumbling away. I definitely cannot fault Step2 for this, as they clearly advertise these blocks for 3 and up. However, I feel it's important to warn parents who view these as a safe alternative for their toddlers. I was one of those parents and now I only allow my toddler to play with these under my supervision.

As far as play value, blocks are wonderful. Blocks are a classic toy and I thought these would be a perfect alternative for the same reasons a lot of other parents will--inexpensive, pain-free if used as weapons or when they tumble down, etc. I liked the concept of blocks so much that, after I became aware that these are not a good option for younger kids I actually went all out and purchased a large set of solid maple unit blocks for my third child's first birthday. He will also enjoy block play but can't use the Step2 blocks for the reasons stated above, even with my supervision because, as all parents know, everything is floor to mouth at that age and for quite some time to come. Obviously, the maple blocks were more expensive than the foam but not nearly so much as people might think. Do a search for wooden unit blocks on-line and you will find some solid maple blocks at reasonable prices. They will prove their value as time passes because they will never deterioriate and can be used for years and then passed down for generations.

When I received the maple blocks, I was stunned at how inspiring they were to my 2 and 4 year olds. They watched as I unpacked their younger brother's gift (I refer to it as his leverage for encouraging his older siblings to share--ha ha) and fussed and howled for HOURS when I had to put them away. They clearly preferred the plain wooden blocks to the colorful foam ones. I have to admit that I definitely did as well. As you hold just one you think, "Yep, it's a piece of wood." But then you see and hold all the different shapes and it's beautiful to think of all the creative opportunities in front of your kids. Their weight alone makes building and balancing more interesting. Also, they follow unit sizing, which encourages the development of math and science skills. Finally, the variety of shapes is greater, which makes it more interesting to build.

Foam or wood, I encourage a gift of blocks for young children--just not foam for children who still mouth objects or are teething. Do investigate the prices on wooden blocks. Though they are initially a larger investment, they will prove their value long after the foam ones are dry and dusty in the corner. As far as the fear of injury from wooden ones, I will just say that I have baskets of toys that could be improperly used as weapons if a child has a mind for that. I have a Fisher-Price corn popper that could tell a few tales of sibling rivalry. Ugh!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Value, February 13, 2007

By 

Chad Johnson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Soft & Sturdy Jumbo Blocks (Toy)

I would grade this toy as follows, with the most important categories first:

SAFETY: A
These blocks are made of lightweight foam, so it's difficult to hurt anyone by throwing them. However, they're tough enough that toddlers cannot bite pieces out of them. None of the blocks are small enough to fit inside a kid's mouth, so there's no choking hazard. Amazon recommends waiting until 4-6 years of age, but I feel comfortable letting my 18-month-old play with these.

FUN: A-
The blocks come in a lot of different shapes and 4 bright colors. They're fun to stack. You can do whatever you do with normal wooden blocks. However, if you have 2 kids playing with them at once there aren't really enough blocks to do much with. I hope your kids like to cooperate.

VALUE: B-
I'd say a fair price for these would be about $25, tax/shipping included. You don't quite get enough blocks with one set. Ideally I would want 2 or 3 of these sets so that more kids could play at once, or so one kid could build some nice things. To make a dollhouse, for instance, you really need more of the large rectangular blocks than you get in a single set.

MISCELLANEOUS: The word "Jumbo" might be a little misleading to some people. When I think of jumbo foam blocks, I think of something a bit bigger; the largest block here is 8x4x2 in, while the smallest is 2x2x2 in. (Note that the product dimensions given by Amazon are wrong.) Also, these blocks do not "stack at angles"--I'm not sure what the manufacturer was thinking when it made this claim.

Overall, a decent value for really nice, safe blocks.