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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.
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. 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.
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. I like this product for pattern learning.
My major problem with this toy is that the lid for the box is a flimsy plastic lid that tore after just a day. 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. Some of them come with no lid at all, while the lids on the others are so flimsy as to be useless.
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.
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. The blocks and boards are durable and well made. 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. I highly recommend this set. It will stand up to the test of time.and little kids.
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.
It came with just a floppy flimsy plastic cover that didn't stay on - it just laid over the box. but I see there is a bucket with twice as many blocks (plastic) available on Amazon for the same price. I remember playing with them in school and there were a ton of them. My nieces came with a heavy plexiglass sliding cover - my son's came with no cover.
It's all right. I loved pattern blocks as a kid. So you have this solid wooden box with loose pattern tiles flopping around in one side. We got rid of the flimsy plastic cover and I keep the tiles in a cloth drawstring bag - it's really akward though. No boards.
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. 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 never had a board or anything, just pushed them together, made designs.We got this for my son when he was 4. I think that M&D have kind of cheaped out on packaging over the years. 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. This should really have a heavy plastic sliding cover - it would make it so much nicer. I think you're better off going for just the tiles, in a bigger assortment.
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