Activities and Learning Reviews

My daughter was given this as a secondhand toy and it looks like it is brand new. She enjoyed looking at it and knocking it over as an infant and now at 2 she has mastered stacking the rings and knowing the hat has to go on last. The only problem is the smaller rings and hat can fit very easily in a child's mouth we have had to put the hat and the smaller rings away until she stopped putting them in her mouth.

My 10 month old son loves this toy. At first, I figured he was too young for it, but he enjoys trying to get the pieces on and taking them off. He also likes to hold on to the circles by the center holes and clap them together. The pieces even hold up to his teething --the paint stays on, he cannot bite through the wood, etc.

My son, who is now 4, wasn't into this kind of toys and I thought it was just a waste of money, but his 18 months old brother was absolutly delighted when he found it in the closet. It's one of his favorite toys now. This wooden stacker is made in Sweden in the same way it used to be made a hundred years ago and if nothing else it will teach your child to appreciate real, quality things in life.

We first saw this game at the NAGC (National Assoc for Gifted Children) conference this year and were intrigued. Our son is 4 and loves to play the game. We have all learned so much about the different eras and the history of the dinosaurs. Definitely recommended for children interested in science and/or dinosaurs. The different levels of questions allow the game to grow with the child.

I bought this for my daughter (age 4) for Christmas, and she was thrilled to be getting her own game, and about dinosaurs, no less! Unfortunately her enthusiasm (and mine, my almost 6 year old son's, my husband's, and my mother-in-law's) quickly died out as we played. It is advertised as similar to Candyland, which it is. But unlike Candyland, there are very few ways to change the order of the players--once someone gets out in front, they stay there. Even playing at Level 1, when you don't have to answer the questions, it is just too long. And as for the questions...well, there is one question card for each area on the board. On the card is a question for each color on the die. So if everyone rolls the same color (which did happen when we played), then everyone gets the same question. So basically, we are pretty disappointed with the game. The best part about it seems to be fitting the dinosaur puzzle pieces into each side of the board.

By combining a puzzle with a game we found this to be really fun to play. My kids wanted to play it again and were thrilled to be able to answer more questions the more they played. My youngest child even caught me from behind and ended up beating me! The reading,web site and museum list in the instructions was a great added bonus. I would recommend this for any one who likes dinosaurs.

I bought this for my 3 1/2 year old who is really interested in the solar system. He loves playing with these toys and treats them well. However, they are made of a "model" type quality rather than a "play" type quality. The stickers easily slide off the pieces; which easily come apart. I was also disappointed that there was not any type of information page included to describe any of the space structures and what they are used for. The box is the most durable feature. Overall the quality and educational value is poor and could be improved, but my son still loves it.

I bought this set for my four year old son. For the price, I couldn't ask for a better toy. The pieces seem like they would break easily if a child was too rough on them. My favorite feature is the container. He has so many toys and no place to store them. The container makes clean up easy.

Poor quality - pieces do not fit well and are constantly falling apart. The most durable part is the container.

I agree with the first reviewer. I purchased this kit for my 10 year old son, who is above average intelligence and has a voracious appetite for scientific knowledge and experiments. He is fascinated by the kit, but the instruction book is so poorly written that he cannot even begin to make sense of it. I am taking the other reviewers advice and purchasing some other basic electronics books in hopes of salvaging the [money] spent on the kit.

I've always been interested in learning at least the basics about electronics and finally decided to do something about it. I bought a couple of 'intro to electronics', 'electonrics basics' type books and I bought this toy. While rated for 10 years and up, they'd be pretty bright 10 year olds. The kit comes with capacitors, resistors, diodes, wires, transistors and even IC's. The other reviewer is correct. Resistors are all color coded -- and very small --- and very many in this kit. I finally spent about 4 hours labelling over 50 tiny plastic bags so I could easily find the appropriate parts to do the projects.
The manual explains how to identify all the parts, and for the projects uses a step by step approach to instruct one on how to put the project together. For example, "Insert 100 ohm resistor in B12 and J12 on the breadboard". In this respect, yes, a 10 year old could easily follow these instructions. The diagrams show the breadboard layout as well as showing you the "real" schematics. That coupled with my reading through my "electronics for dummies" books -- it's actually all starting to make sense as to why components are laid out they way they are. Without the other books, I would not have figured that out just from this kit -- but, if you just want to make things flash and make sounds etc and follow the instructions, that that won't matter. The manual does attempt to explain why something works -- but I was lacking the bare basics, so it didn't make much sense.

All in all, I would highly recommend this kit to anyone who really has an interest in learning about basic electronics and wants to put things together.

It would be a great kit for family projects. However, there are a ton of very small parts and good eyesight or a magnifying glass and a flashlight would be recommended for those of us with less then perfect eyesight.

Well worth the cost, working out to much much less then $[money]/hour of enjoyment to work through the 300 projects.

What the descriptions fail to mention is that resistors, one of the most critical types of electronic parts, are *always* color-coded. If, like me, you're even moderately color-blind, you have a very expensive paperweight on your hand.

For people without that problem, this looks to be a greally great kit.

This product is educational and fun for kids of all ages, who can read.

I purchased this for my daughter, and she cannot put it down! It is educational, not too difficult, and allows her to have fun, while learning! Even when she gives the wrong answer, Barbie stays positive and encourages her to try again. The size is perfect and great for the car!

Quite honestly, I'd love for this toy to sneak away one night and not come back. Barbie praises you for correct answers, but scolds you with wrong ones. I'm serious, finger wagging in your face and a frown that will stay with you long after you put down the game. And the games are HARD! And frustrating.

Let this one go and find another education toy for your child.

This box of dinosaurs is great! My son and I play together with them for hours. He's learning what kind of diosaurs they are and you can see his imagination going wild every time he opens the box! The box is handy because you can take it with you wherever you feel like having some prehistoric fun. Not for kids under 3 as there are alot of small pieces. Definately a good buy for little ones that love dinosaurs!

THis toy was great, but basically the same as the Animal Planet Dinosaur playland. My son loved both of them. The other review here said it was just an empty box!!! Boy is she wrong. My box is packed full of fun dinosaurs! My 3 year old is in heaven!

My son has tons and tons of fun with the dino box. He stands on it, pushes it across the carpet, opens it up and looks for treasure, even hides in it. However he couldn't understand why, when he first opened it, there were no dinosaurs inside. I had to explain to him that it was just a dino box. He loves it anyways.

THE PRO'S TO THIS TOY IS THAT IT'S FUN AND NOT SOMETHING YOU'RE GOING TO FIND AT MOST STORES DOWNTOWN. IT'S UNUSUAL. THAT'S A REAL PLUS TO A TYPICAL CRAFT LOVING KID. MY 12 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER HAD A BLAST CREATING A FOUNTAIN SHE DEEMED TO BE UNIQUE. THE PROBLEM (OR CONS) ARE THAT THE PAINTS THAT CAME WITH THE PROJECT WERE DRY AND HARD AS ROCKS. WE COULD'NT GET THEM TO THE PROPER LIQUID CONSISTENCY NO MATTER WHAT WE DID. EVEN HAD WE BEEN ABLE, THERE'S NO WAY THE TINY AMOUNT OF PAINT THAT COMES WITH THIS KIT IS ADEQUATE FOR THE JOB. WE HAD TO BUY PAINTS, AND IT WAS NO EASY TASK FINDING SOME THAT WERE SUITABLE TO THE TASK.
OTHER CONS WERE THAT THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH ROCKS IN THE KIT TO ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING EVEN CLOSE TO THE PICTURE ON THE BOX AND WHEN THE FOUNTAIN IS ALL PUT TOGEATHER, THERE'S MORE NOISE FROM THE PUMP THAN FROM THE WATER, WHICH DOES MORE TRICKLING THAN ACTUAL FLOWING...
THE IDEA IS AWESOME, BUT THE PRODUCT NEEDS A LITTLE WORK AND IMPROVEMENT. IF YOU DONT MIND BUYING PAINT AND A FEW EXTRAS, AND MAYBE EXPERIMENTING WITH THE PUMP, IT'S A FUN AND WORTHY PROJECT AND I THINK THAT MOST CRAFT LOVERS WILL ENJOY IT.

I bought this for my niece at age 11. She was able to paint and assemble the kit by herself. She needed a tiny bit of help with one of the wires that connects the battery.

She enjoyed putting it together, but when we added the rocks, it looked very bare. There definitely were not enough rocks.

Luckily we have a collection of "finds" from the beach including beach class, stones, shells, etc, which we used to decorate it.

Unfortunately my sister, after a few months decided that she didn't want the water sitting in their living room where it was waiting to spill on their new leather furniture.

I'd have to say that if you like the idea, the kit alone isn't enough. I'd recommend a nature walk for pretty stones first.

This toy was great for me (an adult), but I'm not sure an 8 year old would have the patience for it.

A couple of tips: 1) Read the directions through before starting. 2) Don't confuse the white paint with the contact cement. 3) Save a little of the brown and black paint to reapply over the white paint if it gets too light.

A couple of flaws: 1) There aren't enough rocks to make the waterfall look like the pictures on the box. 2) The pump works fine, does not leak or anything, but the sound you hear when it is on is primarily the motor running, not gurgling water. (This is lessened when you take the cover off of the motor, so perhaps playing with the wire positioning, etc., would reduce the motor noise.)

However, I *LOVED* putting this together and am satisfied with the results.

A first Magic set for my 5 year old, he loves it!! He and his friends have created magic acts for each other and have laughed all the way. The tricks are easy enough for their age to try, and remember how to do. The directions come with pictures, so they can figure them out if the wording is too comlplicated. The set itself is durable enough fot most tricks to be done over and over. The blocks take some reshaping and the rabbit ring trick does not really fit right, but overall, a good first set. It definately was the hit of a rainy Sunday!!

This is an easy to understand and simple to set-up magic kit for the first time magician. If your child is a reader, then they are capable of presenting most of the tricks independently. A plus! My seven year old enjoys demonstrating his magic tricks for family. His four year old sister loves to watch, and if allowed, to be an assistant. A great buy!

My son got this kit as a gift. The durability is as good as that of the next. It must be taken care of. It's not a rough and tough item. We've had many magic shows...and it is still around 3 years later because it is put away in the box and up on the shelf when not being played with. It is magical fun for the little magicians and builds confidence too. In our house one adult helped "learn" the tricks while all others were in the audience at the big show.

The largest is not six inches long, it's only three inches. Some blocks were splintered and looked banged up. I returned immediatly, not safe for children of any age.

the best toy for toddlers, my godson spends hours playing with them! very durable and engaging.
in fact i used to have a set as a child and they had the same effect.

I got this toy recently because I felt it was important that my daughter begin to play with blocks. she has nesting blocks, but gets frustrated when the blocks fall into the "nest" and dont stack up. This toy is fun for her, she seems to enjoy playing with the smaller blocks, and her mommy seems to enjoy building more than she does! however, im happy with my purchase because I know this is a good investment, the blocks are durable, they will last me for future children, and im sure my daughter will love them when she sees how much i love them!! A worthwhile purchase.

I recently purchased this puzzle for my toddler son. When I received it, I was disappointed with the small pieces and was going to send it back. I did, however, keep it because I thought the educational value may prove more important than the size of the puzzle.

Boy, was I right on that! My son truly enjoys putting together these mini-puzzles and on his own. He's only two, but loves his letters and shows interest in words. He's actually learning to spell! And I love the fact that the puzzle is self-correcting; he knows a word is spelt correctly if the puzzle is complete.

My son started this puzzle at age 2 and really enjoyed putting every set of words together and would not stop until every one was complete. He has always enjoyed puzzles. I would put the letters in groups so that each pile would complete a word.
Now that he is a little over 2 1/2 I can just let him search the whole box for the letters and match them up himself. I highly recommend it because after each individual puzzle is complete you can have your child spell it to you to continue the learning!

There are too many pieces to this puzzle..My son knows all his letters and can spell some words (he is 3) so I guess this was too advanced for him because the pieces were everywhere..I think this would be more beneficial if the letters were grouped in at least two to three per piece versus one puzzle piece per letter.