| 38 of 38 people found the following review helpful  WOODEN WONDER TOY, By = Durability:  = Fun: = Educational: Amazon Verified Purchase This review is from: Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards (Toy) This is a lovely product on many counts. It comes in a sturdy wooden box which holds 5 double-sided pattern boards (so 10 pattern designs) and over 100 wooden shapes which are - hexagons, squares, diamonds (2), triangles and a trapezoid.There are numerous ways to play: 1) Let your child construct their own patterns freestyle with the blocks for using their own imagination. This is often the most fun for little ones. My little girl likes to stack these up as well as place them side by side. She has them all on a tray so they don't slide off the table! 2) Help your child recognise different colours or shapes by using the blocks. Shame there are only 5 shapes but you can also make a rectangle, for example, by placing 2 squares together. 3) We use the boards and blocks to count with. I ask my daughter how many squares there are on a pattern board or how many green pieces. Or we do basic adding up and taking away with the larger shapes. In fact... Read more 14 of 15 people found the following review helpful  Attractive but not functional as a toy for young children, By = Durability: = Fun: = Educational: This review is from: Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards (Toy) Pros:1. Light but strong wooden blocks and boards . Very durable. 2. Visually very appealing - Bright & attractive colours, interesting & varied patterns 3. Unusual (at least to me!) for a preschooler. Welcome respite from Peppa Pig and plasticky toys. Cons: 1. Design flaw: Blocks do not "stick" on the underlying pattern board. It should have been either magnetic or there should have been ridges on the board to keep the blocks in place. The board is absolutely flat and smooth and the blocks slide about as my preschooler attempts to put the pattern together. As a result, very frustrating to play with and she loses interest in minutes. I've resorted to sticking pieces of blutack on the pattern board! 2. No lid! Surely it's not so difficult to design a sliding lid for the wooden box. I wouldn't have minded paying a quid more for a box with lid. I really don't understand why so many of the Melissa and Doug toys don't have a lid (I have the Abby & Emma... Read more 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful Design flaw..., = Durability: = Fun: = Educational: This review is from: Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards (Toy) The main problem with this toy is that the boards showing the pictures are flat ie the pieces just sit on top and so slide off all the which put off my two little ones. They've really not bothered with the puzzle/game at all. All the pieces are beautifully made so it looks lovely but it's a case of form over function here unfortunately!Also there's no lid to the box holding all the pieces - I've used the plastic cover just to sit over the top to stop the pieces falling out but it's not ideal. However, since the toy's not really been played with I've not yet had to pick up all the pieces from the floor! |
