Construction and Blocks Reviews

Nice bright, simple patterns for my 2½ yr old to follow, and the cutout of shape makes it easy to place the thick wooden pieces. We're teaching her shapes and color recognition and this is a great teaching tool, and she really feels proud when she finishes each one (there's a pattern on each side of the wood board.) She even helps clean up afterward, made easy with the wood storage box. Can't say enough about the educational value and great quality of this set. I think we have just about all of Melissa & Doug's products!

My daughter is 11 months old. I was thrilled when she got all of the peek a blocks for the holidays but no one got her this circus themed one so I went to get it myself. I love it! She loves it! All of the blocks are interesting and fun filled but the circus blocks are the best, so colorful, and each has its own tiny surprise inside. The big top case is the best because the other blocks are in a plastic container having no where to put them and this holds them as a convenienent carrier, great purchase. She will surely enjoy these for years to come. She is teething now so they go in her mouth and I am so happy that there is nothing she can break or damage or swallow. They were made with our kids in mind, get them!

I was pleasantly surprised by the high quality of this item - it has survived being stepped on (accidently, of course) several times by children and adults. In addition, it has now survived almost a whole year of hard playing, crashes, and trips down the stairs.

The vehicle is well-made; all the parts fit together properly. No sharp or rough edges. The trunk opens and closes smoothly, and the detachable roof re-attaches quite easily. The package comes with three figures, and their accompanying items (suitcases, newspaper and hats.)

A few caveats:

1. It's sometimes difficult to get the driver (or any of the included figures) to "sit" properly behind the wheel. You have to contort the figure and the steering wheel "just so" to get him or her in.

2. Be prepared to lose the antenna on top (unless you use some type of super glue.)

3. The figures "personal effects" tend to get lost easily as well.

All in all, it's a well-packaged set that should offer hours (or in some cases, years) of good solid play. It's a great item - we highly recommend it!

These blocks are good for the most part.My daughter is slowly learning the numbers, she mostly likes to see how high she can stack them before they fall.They are not good for infants to be around because the wood and the paint can chip off.If you your little one likes throwing you may want to look into a more sturdy block set because they can brake apart if you have a Hyper kid or if any animals in the house enjoy chewing things.Overall I think these are fine, my 2 1/2 yr Old Loves them and it keeps her happy and from stacking the Toilet Paper:O)

What a piece of crap this "toy" is. My son is soooo not into this. He's 20 months and hasn't been interested for the last 10 months. Do NOT waste your money.

My daughter is 11 months & she absolutely loves playing with this toy. I showed her how to put the block in the giraffe & she's got the hang of it. Sometimes she gets frustrated when the giraffe falls over, but once you set it back up, she's happy again.

This toy is too narrow and tips over all the time. My daughter lost interest with it (even when she was 9 months old) when it fell over. I have tried bringing it out again now that she is older, but she still doesn't like the giraffe. I would suggest a different block toy like the elephant that has a "chute" in the head that blocks can drop through.

2 strait roadways to add to your town. A nice addition to anyone who has LEGO Town sets. Every town needs roads and these base plates provide them.

What a great thing to have. You can make a city with winding roads, to a small towns all over. A really great toy!

We purchased the farm and several farm accessories for our son, and he's absolutely thrilled with all of it. The attention to detail is what fascinates him most, and we've spent hours watching him pretend to plant gardens, harvest, care for cows, sell eggs, and raise rabbits. While it takes some time to assemble, it wasn't difficult and stays together as long as we keep it on a table or other flat surface. Playmobil and carpet don't mix well. Still, we're very happy with the purchase and our son's enjoyment of his farm. The educational value has been enormous to us since it's really encouraged J. to learn about real farms. We're taking a field trip next week to the university's argiculture department, and he's just so excited about the world of farming these days.

This farm is fairly expensive, and we got it as the major xmas present for our son. I am not very happy with it, and my son plays with it occasionally, but it definitely isn't his favorite. Here are my gripes: 1) Very difficult to put together, which would be okay if it stayed together, but 2) It falls apart easily. So, our main activity with his toy is that my son tries to play with it, and ends up with the barn in a number of pieces, and then he calls me to help him put it back together. 3) It could use a few more animals. For the price, they could have tossed in some chickens, maybe.

WARNING....the spinning barrell hurts!!!
Do not buy this toy....my daughter and many other children that I have since researched and discovered has smashed her fingers and hands in the rolling barrell. I have called Fisher Price to report this and am getting a refund. I think I will purchase the hipo instead...I have not heard anything bad safty-wise about this toy.
DO NOT BUY this toy...it hurts your child!!!!

WARNING...FINGERS SMUSHED>>>HAND SLAMMED!
My daughter received this as a gift and absolutely loves it...the music, lights, etc. She has almost every peek-a-block made and loves them dearly. This toy, however, must have a warning on it...or be fixed....(definitely needs some quirks fixed!!!!!) The rolling barrel that you place the blocks in to be loaded into the holding space almost ALWAYS slams her fingers! She'll be having a great time, spinning the barrel then all of a sudden bursts into tears because it catches her little hand and slams it! I am seriously thinking about sending the toy back for a refund. I hate to do this since she really loves it otherwise, but I always have to keep something in the barrel to keep it from spinning...which prevents her from playing with it and makes it harder for her to smash her hand. It's almost not worth having the toy at all. SO...WARNING....it can HURT your child's hands!!!! I just spoke with FisherPrice today and will be sending the toy back for a refund...I think I will get her the hipo instead. They must know of this defect, because they were quick to offer the refund!!

I bought the touch sensation blocks first then the wagon for my son who was 7-8 months old. He liked the textures of the blocks from the first set. The blocks with the wagon aren't very interesting. He's since gotten the sound and sight sensation blocks. The first thing that he did with the wagon was lift and then close the yellow lid that starts and stops the music @ 30-50 times, each time he was near it! He loves to hear the music, even now. The yellow cover with the square hole in it has been yanked off, since day one and every time it's put back on. It now stays off. The heavier blocks work better to turn the wheel independently. He's now 1 yr and plays with it, daily, in numerous ways. He'll fill the bottom with blocks and sit in it; try to put other things in the wheel, and throw all the blocks out then put back in. Now that he's learning to walk he will try to pull around, little too heavy for him, right now, but pushing it works! Haven't had one pinched finger. Would highly recommend.

For toys to be fun they have to be accessable to children to create "play space." This, like most Playmobil sets, has a lot of little pieces that tend to wander off. We've tried plastic containers to keep the pieces together -- but they always seem to get lost in the BIG toy box. Then when they do want to play, they can't find all of the pieces. Unlike some other Playmobil sets, this one lacks a place to put all of the little pieces together and put it up on the shelf. That said, the pieces are sturdy and the kids enjoy playing when they can find them.

Rabbits are adorable - especially to children - and this hutch, bunnies and set of kids is adorable - but it sends a really bad message to kids on rearing rabbits.

It is a common practice for people to buy rabbits for their children (especially during Easter), only to put them in a hutch outside and just feed them and that's it.

The chickenwire floor of a hutch his very hard on a rabbit's feet. They do not have padding like a dog, so they will often get sores on their feet.

Rabbits can also literally scare to death - so it is sometimes a neighborhood cat or raccoon that will try to get into the hutch that will frighten the bunny right into a heart attack.

Rabbits are very social, clean animals and quickly learn to be litter trained. If a pet is kept outside, they don't realize they are pets - members of the family. My rabbit stays indoors with me - safe from predators and from the heat (many rabbits kept in hutches will die of heat stroke in the summer).

He stays in a comforable cage when I'm not home - with litter box, wool bed, rack of Timothy hay and a water dispenser. When I am home, he plays with my dogs and runs back to his cage when he needs to use the litter box.

For a toy to be educational, it needs to have something new to teach kids, not the same old hillbilly ways of "caring" for rabbits. A hutch is great if you are raising your rabbits for food and/or fur - but I doubt that is what is the intended message of this toy. Rabbits are keenly intelligent and need exercise - rabbits kept in a hutch get bored, sometimes frightened and exposed to the elements. Rabbits in the wild play, feed and live in complicated networks of underground dens called warrens, where they relax and regulate their body temperatures.

Don't teach your kids that this is the way responsible pet owners care for rabbits. It's just cruel.

I bought this to go with my daughter's playmobile "123" house. She likes to play with these bunnies and sunflowers better than the house! All parts of this set come apart: the flowers from their stalk, the stalks from the dirt, the ribbons from the straw hats, the straw hats from the girls' heads... The bunnies are cute and come with little dishes for feeding and a little fenched in area. Also, the bunny cage is well made with little lattice doors that open and shut easily. Of course, the whole cage comes apart, too. THe set comes with two girls who have hands, arms and legs that move. The hands can also latch on to the fence pieces.

I love ALL of the playmobile sets and can't wait to buy more. The only problem is how to store them so the little parts don't get lost. For now, it's a tupperware thing, but I'd love to see the company come up with some nicer storage options.

I ordered 12 of these toys and the quality was just horrible! Some people complained about the paint fading fast. . . how about - some of my blocks didn't even come painted!!! Yeah, terrible quality control. Also, I did experience some problems with splintering as I carefully examined each piece. Out of all of the blocks in one wagon, I can honestly say that on average only 2 to 4 were in perfect condition. . . that's pretty bad considering that I have ordered 12! You're almost better off going to Home Depot and buying some wood and paint to make them yourself; I'm sure those will last longer. Unfortunately, I can't even rate this product for fun - since my god son and his friends never even got a chance to play with the toy. . .

I never wrote a review of a product that I bought via Amazon before, but I just had to write in about this one.

I remember these wooden blocks from when I was a young girl, and loved them. When I saw them at Amazon I bought them for my 15 month old grandson.

When we opened the package and took the blocks out, there were two major problems.

1. I got a splinter from a block.
2. One of the blocks BROKE!

These blocks are not of the same quality of the alphabet blocks of old. The toy went right into the garbage.

My sixteen month old son plays with these blocks every day. They provide him with enjoyment as well as teach him motor skills as he stacks them and then knocks them over. He now will stack a few and clap after each one. As far as the letters go, by the time he knows them, the paint will have worn off. That is my only problem with this toy;The colored letters should be more permanent.