Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards with 120 Multi-Colored Wooden Shape Tiles, 5 Double-Sided Puzzle Boards, Tangram Puzzles, Montessori Toys for Girls & Boys

Useful For Many Concepts, Paint Might Have Longer Lasting Fumes
We’ve had this one for a little over two and a half years now. I purchased it to work on a whole bunch of things with our son, who has a host of medical conditions that come with global developmental delays. It ended up being a serious overreach at the time, and we’re just now getting to where we’re being able to start to use if functionally together.So, this is made of painted wood. I like that it’s painted, but my only thing is that the paint, at least on our set, does have a bit of a smell. Nearly 3 years later and I can still smell it. Now granted, I have been storing ours in a gallon Ziploc bag, which doesn’t really allow for a lot of airing out between uses, and it’s not really causing him to stop playing with it, but…that is a potential downside for kiddos with sensory issues, and it’s always possible a different paint is used now, so I’m not marking down for it, it’s just something to consider for you. I mention it, despite the fact that it has spent a fair bit of time in a bag because I’ve had a few other painted toys do the same that didn’t have the same fume issue over a comparable period of time, so I felt it was worth noting. Also, be aware some of the pieces are small, so if you have a younger baby or toddler in the house, or your kiddo is a chewer with low impulse control (like my kiddo) there are potential choke hazards in this set that will have to be watched carefully.I think that the concept of this toy is great, and it has good potential for so many areas. Fine motor, shape recognition, sorting, colors, matching, counting, really there are a whole lot of ways this toy could be used as a teach different concepts. Right now for us, we’re working at matching the wooden shape pieces to the matching shape in the composite picture on the board. He has patience for about two shapes right now, but we’ll work our way up on that. I also agree with another reviewer that a lid would have been fabulous on the wooden case, since they did go to the trouble of putting it in a wooden case, I think a lid makes a great deal of sense, but I’m not marking off for it, since I felt like I needed the flexibility of overall shape when it came to storage in our household that a Ziploc bag would provide. So overall, I think this is a great toy, but probably to unlock it’s full potential even for a typically developing child, it would work best with parental interaction.

Great product for toddlers and preschool/kindergarten age children
What adult doesn’t remember playing with these in school? These are great blocks to not only help with imagination, color and shape recognition, or pattern creation/recognition, but to have fun with mom or dad, or as they have gotten a little older by themselves. Our children (4yr old and 2yr old) love to play with these blocks and sort them into the different colors/shapes. The older child likes actually following the patterns on the cards and creating the design laid out before her. This is very high quality although the only complaint (not big enough to give it 4 stars though) would be the only “cover” to the box is the piece of plastic that comes with the packaging. Although this works okay to create a lid while on the shelf, it comes off easily and I would prefer some sort of better lid to actually keep the pieces in the box if it were say dropped by this(these) formerly discussed toddler(s). Overall though we got this product on sale before Christmas last year and have thoroughly enjoyed it since then. Although not as much of a novelty now, our kids still play with it and it has been a fun toy for our family. Would definitely recommend to others.