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Melissa and Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards

These Pattern Blocks and Boards will keep children engaged for hours of rewarding play. They feature 10 simply designed, colorful patterns and over 100 pattern blocks in six different shapes and colors to replicate the pattern shown. Contents store neatly in durable wooden case. Develops shape recognition and spatial relations.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Pattern Blocks/Boards Melissa and Doug
I was searching for a product for a kindergartener who is easily bored, intelligent, and needs a challenge when I found this set of pattern blocks and boards. As a teacher’s aide, I know these blocks are educational as well as entertaining. I bought this set on sale, so I got a great bargain as well as a great item! The blocks and boards are durable and well made. I highly recommend this set. It will stand up to the test of time. . .and little kids!

3 Stars Needs some improvements
I loved pattern blocks as a kid. I remember playing with them in school and there were a ton of them. I never had a board or anything, just pushed them together, made designs.

We got this for my son when he was 4. It’s all right… but I see there is a bucket with twice as many blocks (plastic) available on Amazon for the same price. No boards. I think that would be the better way to go. More blocks would be more fun – the boards are OK but more blocks would be better.

What really bugs me about this set, though, is there’s no way to really keep it all together. It came with just a floppy flimsy plastic cover that didn’t stay on – it just laid over the box. So you have this solid wooden box with loose pattern tiles flopping around in one side. We got my niece the M&D cutting board & food set when she was 2 or so, and later bought the same for my son when he was 2 or 3. My nieces came with a heavy plexiglass sliding cover – my son’s came with no cover. I think that M&D have kind of cheaped out on packaging over the years. This should really have a heavy plastic sliding cover – it would make it so much nicer. We got rid of the flimsy plastic cover and I keep the tiles in a cloth drawstring bag – it’s really akward though. I guess if you have shelves for toys it’s not so bad but we tend to shove everything in drawers.

Anyway – all in all I guess this is just OK. I think you’re better off going for just the tiles, in a bigger assortment.

4 Stars good for pattern learning
I like this product for pattern learning. In addition to replicating the patterns on the boards, I can also start a linear repeating pattern and have the kids finish it, which is good for kindergarten readiness and one reason I chose this toy. My 3yo and 5yo both like it. I prefer it over a magnetic pattern board because I try to keep the magnetic toys to a minimum since my home frequently has small babies visit.

My major problem with this toy is that the lid for the box is a flimsy plastic lid that tore after just a day. This seems to be a repeated problem with the Melissa and Doug brand: we have the same problem with the playfood collection and the letterboard toy. Some of them come with no lid at all, while the lids on the others are so flimsy as to be useless. The consequence is that the toys are difficult to store, and the pieces get lost or separated, which decreases the usable lifetime of the toy and negates the advantage of buying wooden toys that are meant to be kept for years. I keep the small pieces in a ziploc bag but this really doesn’t work that well as the bag tends to get torn by the corners of the wooden pieces.

2 Stars Great fun, Problem with Product though

This is a fun game for 4 or 5 and older. The concept is easy for younger ones to learn, but the boards are slippery and too hard for a smaller child to deal with on their own. It comes with a box to hold everything, but no top, so it is really not a storage box since the small pieces can easily spill out. Also a few of the puzzle boards have buckled slightly since opening the box a month ago.

4 Stars good educational toy
This is a good educational toy.There were some number of pattern blocks missing,but the rest of the toy is good.The colour patterns could have been more distinct from each other,eg. when making patterns,the dark green has to be put alongside dark blue.But overall a good product.

Buy/More Info

Kid Toys Puzzles Amazon, Bargain, Colorful Patterns, Cutting Board, Different Shapes, Fun, Improvements, Kindergartener, Little Kids, Melissa And Doug, Niece, Nieces, Pattern Blocks, Pattern Tiles, Plexiglass, Shape Recognition, Shapes And Colors, Spatial Relations, Test Of Time, Wooden Case

Basic Beat Pair of 8 Combination Rhythm Sticks

Made of American hickory; since the entire tree is used in the manufacturing process, color variations in the wood will occur.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Great teaching aid!
I purchased these for use with our children’s choir at church (K-3rd grade). We use these to study rhythm as part of the music education portion of choir. The kids love them and they are perfect for little hands. These are shorter than standard rhythm sticks, but if you’re using them for little kids, they are just right. The kids love using them – it makes learning note values and tapping out rhythms a lot more fun and interesting for them.

4 Stars rhythm sticks
Basic Beat combination rhythm sticks are great! One is serated and makes a washboard sound when rubbed. I like the ability to have variety in the sounds with such a small, light weight, easy to carry around instrument! Great for children or adults, rhythm beginners or experts. Lots of fun to play and the smooth wood feels great in my hands.

5 Stars rhythm sticks
My daughter is a music therapist and uses these in her session they work really well and the different techtures are great, better than both being smooth

5 Stars son loves ‘em
my son absolutely loves these sticks! he is only one but loves to bang them and helps him to want to bring items to midline (helps development for under 1 too).

5 Stars Great Product Great Service
Received product on time; just as advertised. Great quality, perfect for our preschool students. Thanks.

Buy/More Info

Kid Toys Music Adults, American Hickory, Basic Beat, Color Variations, Education Portion, Little Hands, Little Kids, Lots Of Fun, Manufacturing Process, Music Education, Music Therapist, Note Values, Preschool Students, Rhythm, Rhythms, Smooth Wood, Stars, Teaching Aid, Washboard

Scrabble Junior Edition

If there’s any game out there that normally makes little kids feel left out, it’s Scrabble, the word game that’s usually played by adults and older kids. But Scrabble Junior is a great way to introduce young children to the game and get them interested in how words are formed. In the beginner game, specially developed for younger kids, players draw seven tiles from a pool, then work to match letters to the ones printed on the board. As they work through their tiles, they spell out the words, one letter at a time, and receive points for finishing each word. By the end of the game, they’ll have used over a hundred letters to work through a variety of different words. On the other side of the board there is a basic version of the classic Scrabble game with simple scoring rules. Once your children master the advanced game, you might be surprised to see that they’re ready to take you on in a match of the original Scrabble. Just be prepared to lose gracefully. –John Longenbaugh

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Educational Fun Game
This old standard is great fun for younger children in this jr. edition. My 6 yr. old grandson just loves it and plays it often.

2 Stars Scrabble Jr. Review
This game was disappointing. It needs to be more like the real adult version with double points, etc. It did not come with a holder for the letters, so we had to lay down our letters on the table and others could see them. Letters were made of medium thick cardboard! Overall, the game was just okay.

2 Stars Not really worth it!
Buy the real one instead. It’s cheaply constructed and really limited on the “Junior” side.

4 Stars Our almost 3 y.o. son loves this game
Our almost 3 year old son loves this game and asks to play it multiple times every day. He’s fascinated with letters and has recently started reading. I thought this game would be a fun way for him to learn a few words. He has already learned all the preprinted words on the board. He has also learned how to take turns and follow the game rules. The only shortcomings that I see are:

1) the cardboard letters and board, which are not very durable or cleanable

2) there should be some alternate pre-printed game boards avaliable to keep the interest level up for a longer time

4 Stars Good for an age range of children playing together
Our whole family could play this game together, which is rare. The 3yr old could place tiles for us on the printed game board by matching letters. The emerging 6yr old reader could recognize the printed words without having to know how to spell them correctly on her own as with a blank board. The 10yr old and adults could just play along without it being obnoxiously simple. This was a great game for a nice family evening. It has potential for the game to get more complex as it also includes a blank game board, which would be good with older children. The game tokens are shoddy tagboard punch outs, my only complaint about this game. Well worth the price, but I would have paid a few bucks extra for better quality pieces.

Buy/More Info

Kid Toys [Learning & Education] Adult Version, Adults, Classic Game, Few Words, Fun Game, Limited, Little Kids, Match, Multiple Times, Pool, Real Adult, Scrabble, Scrabble Game, Thick Cardboard, Tiles, Word Game

International Playthings Lift Off Rocket

Your toddler’s very own rocket.? Watch as the child is fascinated with the rocket itself and the multi-add cargo items.? The child will imagine space exploration with himself/herself leading the way!? Can be used independently or in conjunction with the Space Base (sold separately).

User Ratings and Reviews

3 Stars Good, but room for improvement
Our 18+ month-old really seems to like this, so she would probably give it four stars. I give it three. Overall, it’s a good toy. The two astronauts are about the same scale as Playmobil people, which means playmobil people can pilot the ship and drive the moon buggy. Oddly, the included dog and alien do not fit in the moon buggy or pilot areas, which writes off a whole slew of potentially interesting story lines for your child. How can the alien steal the ship or buggy if he doesn’t fit? The ship handle has a button with two soundtracks. One is a launch sequence and the other is just spacy sounds. I’m sure they could have packed ten more random sci-fi sounds in there. The doors pop off easily so that they don’t break off, which is good, but fastening them back on is a bit of a puzzle even for adults. A good aspect of this toy is that it is very much like a little dollhouse (there is a bed in the central compartment, for example), so it doesn’t have to be a rocket at all. Our toddler spends a fair amount of time putting creatures to bed in the central compartment. The moon buggy is quite popular by itself as well.

4 Stars good rocket ship for child’s imagination
After watching Wallace and Gromit’s quest for cheese, my 3 year old nephew loved the rocket ship. So for his birthday I was searching for something similar. Other rocket ship toys I saw were a bit too realistic – maybe good for older kids but too serious for little kids. This particular ship is whimsical, has neat little accessories, and is very simple to figure out. The only complaint was that parts came undone, but you could easily snap them back on. But my nephew loved the fun design and within minutes had multiple adventurous space travels with his astronaut friends, the dog, and the moon-buggy.

5 Stars Pricey but loved
Our son got this when he was 4, still plays with it at 5. All the kids, from 2 to 42, who visit our home love this rocket. We are going to get the Space Base, another toy that matches this one, by the same company.

Some of the rougher playing kids knock off the doors and hatches, but they always click right back into place.

5 Stars Great toy! A favorite in our house
This is a fantastic toy! When we first received it from my in-laws at Christmas for my then 18-month old, I thought “great, another noisy toy that will break in a week.” It’s now six months of solid use later and still looks and sounds like new. For the first two or three months both my kids (1-1/2 and 4-1/2) played with it on a near-daily basis. They still play with it at least once or twice weekly. I love that most of the parts fit inside the rocket (wish the alien and the crater fit, but we tuck them underneath). The hinges to the doors are made to come off without breaking in the event the kids get really rough with it, and easily go back on. Also, I think the alien glows in the dark (or at least seemed to when I saw it in my room the other night–might’ve just been a weird light thing going on). Like others have mentioned, don’t be scared by the price–this is a great toy–destined to become a classic.

5 Stars The Lift-Off Rocket is a blast!
I bought this product on Amazon for my grandson’s 2nd birthday, after first seeing it in a “high end” specialty children’s toy shop. It is colorful, easy for the children that haven’t yet developed their fine motor skills to play with and yet still has enough challenges to keep those that are adept with smaller objects.

He stopped opening gifts after laying eyes on his rocket and we couldn’t get it out of the packaging fast enough for him. He plays with it constantly, putting the figures in and out of the different cargo areas and driving around the little moon buggy. Even the 18 month old playmate has given this toy a heavy duty work out.

There will be more International Playthings items among our gift purchases for the little ones that we love.

Buy/More Info

Kid Toys Electronics Amount Of Time, Astronauts, Dollhouse, Fastening, Four Stars, Imagination, Interesting Story, Launch, Leading The Way, Little Kids, Moon Buggy, Nephew, Pilot Areas, Rocket Ship, Sci Fi, Soundtracks, Space Base, Space Exploration, Wallace And Gromit, Whole Slew

Melissa and Doug Deluxe Wooden Stringing Beads with over 200 beads

Open up your own jewelry-making factory with this Wooden Stringing Beads set. This conveniently packaged, brightly painted set contains more than 200 wooden letters and beads. There are also eight colored cords to make necklaces and bracelets that you can keep or give as gifts. Stored in a durable, handy wood tray.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars GREAT WINTER GIFT FOR INDOOR ENTERTAINMENT
I PURCHASED THIS BEAD SET FOR MY GOD DAUGHTER WHO LIVES IN ALASKA AND ALWAYS NEEDS TO FIND SOMETHING TO DO INDOORS. SHE IS 8 YRS OLD AND JUST LOVED MAKING THINGS SHE COULD WEAR TO SCHOOL AS WELL AS GIVE TO HER FRIENDS.

5 Stars Days of fun
My daughter loved making “jewelry” with this set. Also, my autistic son enjoyed the set and it really helped him work his fine motor skills. This has lots of pieces so I recommend supervision otherwise you could wind up with quite a mess if the set is dumped in the floor.

3 Stars Great set but no lid
I love Melissa and Doug products but like other reviewers I have NO clue why none of the beautiful wooden boxes come with lids. THis seems like a given for a beading set like this one. Virtually everything I have purchased of theirs simply overflows into the larger drawer it is stored in … so I, too, have begun to trash the wooden box and put everything in a craft organizer box. Would it be that difficult to include a lid with each toy?

5 Stars christmas suprise
my grandson loved it he is 3 and still knew how to use this toy. very fun .glad i purchased this product. always satisfied with thier toys. mary d. north carolina

4 Stars Cord not practical for little kids
The colorful beads are pretty, durable, and reuseable. However, the non-stretchy cord that comes in this set isn’t practical for kids. It is made of shoelace material, which could be hazerdous if a child made a necklace out of it and got caught up on something. It is too thick to break away. Otherwise, it is a nice set. My children will continue to play with the beads, but the not the cord.

Buy/More Info

Kid Toys Dolls Autistic Son, Beading, Colorful Beads, Craft Organizer, God Daughter, Indoor Entertainment, Lids, Little Kids, Melissa And Doug, Melissa And Doug Products, Necklaces, Own Jewelry, Reviewers, Shoelace, Stretchy, Stringing Beads, Thier Toys, Wooden Beads, Wooden Boxes, Wooden Letters