Reviews (4)

Nice picture making for an easier puzzle
My 2 year old daughter has this puzzle and thinks its wonderful.

Unlike many puzzles, with just one character on it, the picture is brilliant having lots of different trains, etc on it. It is easy to fit togehter, with parts of a different character or scene on every piece. She can easily put Thomas, the sheds, Harold, etc together thus eventually making the whole puzzle.

This is by far her favourite puzzle. For one, it's Thomas! And for 2, it's well-made and 'easy' to work out how to put together.

Most Beloved Toy
My son who just turned 4 years old in December received this for Christmas. I'm amazed at the beauty and durability of the pieces. He put it together about three times (with help) the first time we opened it! I never seen him so excited about a toy and to my greater surprise--a puzzle! Each time he placed a new piece in (sometimes with my assistance and sometimes not), he'd ask me to turn around and then ask me to look. When I looked I praised him for his accomplishment and he squealed with excitement. He literally jumped up and down almost after each piece was placed! He told me this was his favorite gift for Christmas and believe me he had quite a few more that were more expensive. I'll be buying more Thomas puzzles from this company in the near future as I'm very impressed.

Easy enough for young kids to solve by themselves
My son and I have been doing puzzles together since he was two, but most of the puzzles that claim to be for kids are too complicated or have pieces that are a little too small for him to work with; so he usually "helps" me by talking with me as I do the puzzle and occasionally placing a piece. He likes this big Thomas puzzle because, at age 4, he can do it all by himself. The pieces are big, which not only makes it easier to grasp and manipulate, but easier to comprehend the shape and the picture pattern as well. Of course, he likes that it is Thomas, and he even likes the "cool" box it comes in.

So this puzzle has a lot of replay value, because whenever we start a puzzle session, he will eventually move to this one to show mommy and me that he can do it all by himself, and that makes him feel good.

Big, bright puzzle
My son has enjoyed this puzzle since he was 3! It features a bright picture of his favorite engines. The pieces are large and easy to handle- perfect for a younger child who loves puzzles. It has been great for spacial learning. My son would put this together, again and again. He is almost 5 now and still plays with this. The pieces have lasted for almost 2 years and still look new! (They are a heavy cardboard.) ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Great Educational Toy!
I bought this for my son's 5th Birthday and he loves it! He wants to put it together every single day and is getting better and better at recognizing the states' names and their geographical locations. Next up...the capitals! I recommend this to all parents concerned that their children aren't learning US geography as they should. And I confess that this puzzle has certainly helped refresh my memory of the states and their capitals, too.

Kid-approved "sneaky education"
This puzzle is my 2 1/2 year old son's absolute favorite. He does it on his own, and is starting to know the state names. He will do it over and over and over again, and thinks it's great fun. I think it's a great way to help him learn! It's kind of nice when a learning tool has to be pried out of my child's hands....

If I had one complaint, it would be that Alaska is on the bottom left corner of the puzzle; it would have been nice if they'd made the puzzle larger so they could stick Alaska in roughly the right place. Not a big deal, though.

A GREAT educational toy!
My 3 year old son spotted this puzzle while we went browsing in the store. He wanted it SO badly even though it was rated for older children. Within 3 days of playing with this puzzle, he quickly mastered all 50 states, knew exactly where they all go at a moment's notice. Then in a few days, he is able to clearly identify and pronounce each state accurately. He can read a little bit, and I had to show him North and South so he could place the Dakotas in their places. We had moved to Arizona from California a few months earlier, so he understood that his "small house" was in CA and that we now live in AZ. Two weeks after playing this puzzle, we went to California to visit our old friends and favorite places. Upon returning home, he demonstrated he really understood the map even more and even knows Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean and several cities. Because he has 2 other USA maps, he has said several times that "Michigan is a mistake! They forgot to cut out Upper Peninsula (Upper Michigann)"!!!! I was originally from Michigan and know that Michigan has 2 parts. What I'd like to see in this puzzle is 50 individual pieces, even though they may be small and that their cutouts reflect more accurate shapes (maybe make the states a bit bigger!). My parents still have the wooden puzzle from late 1960's with all 50 pieces. Now, where can I find wooden maps of other places: Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia, showing pictures of the countries, along with capital cities and other information? My son is already learning a few countries in Europe and is so eager and so ready to absorb more information in geography! We play the USA map puzzle practically every evening before he goes to bed! He's already map-literate far ahead of his peers and even amazed his summer camp teacher! Who says a 3 year old can't learn geography?! ;-)

A good start
I would have liked more information to be included on the puzzle. Each piece is cut out in the shape of the state and has the state capital printed underneath. I think they could have taken this a step further adding key information about that state such as it's nickname, state flower or other educational information. It is a good way to get very young children to learn their state capitals and the shape and geography of the U.S.

A puzzle for both young and old!
Our 4-year-old loves puzzles, and we were looking for something fun and educational that would challenge her but intrigue her at the same time. This is what we were looking for! Not only will this puzzle last through our daughter, but it should last through her brother and any siblings who come along in the future. She loves the pictures on the pieces and is very proud when she gets done. As a homeschooling family, we are glad to find toys like this that are of good educational value but are also fun, durable, and classic. You can't go wrong with this puzzle! ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Great Dinosaur Floor Puzzle!!
I purchased the Dinosaur Floor Puzzle for my 3.5 year old son. He does extremely well with puzzles and was concerned that it might be too easy. Though the pieces are large, it is still a little difficult because most of the dinosaurs are similar in color with the same background. It pushes to really study the pieces and decide where they go. I highly recommend this puzzle and look forward to buying more in the future!

Stimulate your child's brain with puzzles!
My 3 year old son enjoys his 24 piece grocery store puzzles and was able to spend a good 15-20 minutes assembling them, at first with help from mommy and then by himself. I thought it was time to try a more difficult puzzle- this was a good next step. He and I put this one together- he is not ready for it on his own, but it is not so difficult that he gets frustrated if we work together. As another reviewer pointed out, this is a good puzzle to teach 2 important puzzle skills that 24 piece puzzles don't quite get at: #1: to look at the box as a reference and #2: to start by making the outside border and then filling in the middle. The quality is outstanding- it blows grocery store puzzles out of the water. The colors are beautiful, but lots of similar shades of brown and green which make it slightly more difficult. My son is wanting to know the names of the different dinosaurs now. If you want to sit down and help your toddler with this puzzle at first it is a great one to get! We love this company and their products!!!

Awesome puzzle for kids interested in dinosaurs.
We bought this as a gift for our two-year old nephew, and he absolutely loved it! Like many little boys, likes anything dinosaur, and he also enjoys puzzles, so this was perfect. The pieces are very sturdy and can certainly survive some toddler abuse. The puzzle can be used again and again, but the finished work is so attractive that it also makes a cool wall hanging for a kid's bedroom--it looks great in my nephew's room! Highly recommended.

I can't say enough!
We bought this for our two-year-old dinosaur fanatic for Christmas. I was afraid it would be too difficult for him, but after doing it with him a couple of times, he can do it on his own. It holds his attention for the twenty to thirty minutes it takes for him to complete it. We've since bought him three other puzzles from this manufacturer. They're extremely durable.

Challenging, but lots of fun
My son got this puzzle when he was three. He absolutely loved it and still does at four. It wasn't quite as easy as many of the floor puzzles, which usually have simpler pictures (stylistically). I think that's part of why he liked it. The first time he put it together took him about 20 minutes of concentrated 'work'. After that, he was able to put it together in about 2 mintues, but loves to stomp around it and pretend that he is one of the dinosaurs in the puzzle.

This has been a great one. Lots of fun and very, very durable (it goes together probably every other day around here). I highly recommend it. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Giant puzzle fun!
My 2-1/2-year-old son has learned so much from this simple puzzle: lessons in looking at and focusing on what's before him, comparison (between box and pieces), sequence (what comes next?), patience, and following through to complete a task (who can leave a puzzle unfinished?). Now he can do the whole thing himself, which makes him feel so proud!

The pieces are nice and large, and because they're much thicker than most cardboard puzzles, they're also quite durable. He puts it together at least once a day, and when he sees the same puzzle at a friend's house, he wants to do it there, too. The price was a pleasant surprise - it's worth far more than [the price].

The start of a wonderful relationship with puzzles!
My daughter (now 28 months) has loved this puzzle for over 1 year! She first loved seeing the excellent barn/farm animal picture come together like magic when she was young. Then she enjoyed putting the pieces we gave her in the spots we'd show her. Now she knows to look at the picture on the box for help, separate all the edge and middle pieces and can put it together pretty much on her own. (Although she loves an audience when putting puzzles together!) We now own six large floor puzzles, although this one is still the favorite. The alphabet train puzzle is a close second and is great for helping my daughter learn the alphabet visually in order. We sing the alphabet song from the beginning each time so she can figure out which letter piece comes next. These puzzles are really fun and are excellent quality. Also, this barn picture comes in a large knob wooden version as well, which my 8 month old son is beginning to enjoy! I highly recommend these puzzles for any child just under a year old and up to probably age 5 or 6. (The neighbor's kids play with them just as happily and they are 5 and 7.) I'm sure my daughter's love of puzzles began with this barn puzzle.

Great Puzzle!
We bought this for my 5 year old when she was 2 and she still loves this puzzle. All of her cousins do the puzzle when they come over and now her younger sister loves it too. It has held up well for all the use it has gotten!

Priceless Learning Tools & Fun Too!
My 3 yr. old daughter is autistic. This is the 7th Melissa & Doug puzzle we have bought. Thanks to these puzzles, she has developed her attention span and motor skills as well as her speech! She never gets bored with them and she has developed several different techniqes for putting them together. As other parents of autistic children know, reaching their children is not an easy task. These puzzles are wonderful therapy tools and children love them. These puzzles are so great for special needs kids, we have even bought some to give to the children's autism interventionist to help others as they have done for us.

A great puzzle
I purchased this puzzle to use with a class of Kindergarteners. They love it! We just finished a farm theme and this puzzle obviously fit perfectly. The kids would work in a small group of three or four and put the puzzle together. Some kids also decided they wanted to put the puzzle together by themselves. One plus is that the pieces are extra thick. This puzzle has been used A LOT, and it is still in great condition. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Excellent Puzzle!
My three year old loves this puzzle and it has helped her learn her letters. We even play games with it - kind of like "I spy" for the next letter. The peices are large and easy for her to assemble. Well worth the investment.

Grab this puzzle!
This has got to be one of the best puzzles or tools to teach the alphabet. My little one just received this for his birthday and has put it together all by himself already (he's 3)! It teaches great motor dexterity as well as the alphabet and 26 animals. He loves to make all their sounds as he goes along. It stretches clear across the kitchen floor and it's a bunch of fun for the cat too! My son is getting a big jump on the alphabet with this puzzle and it's just a great investment. Here's a little hint though. Don't wait until the last minute to get it for Christmas. I tried last year and it was sold out for 2 months! Get it now and don't be disappointed!

Lots of fun
I bought this puzzle for my 2 yr old daughter for Christmas and she loves it. She doesn't know her letters yet, but she can find all 'passengers' on the train and we say the letter for the piece that she is looking for. Now, she is starting to know what letters we are looking for. This is a step up from the alphabet song and leading into letter recognition. The pieces are thick and durable. She stands on them and there is no wear and tear. This is a great toy for any preschooler! Wonderful 'hands-on' toy!

Can't go wrong with this one!
My 3 year old daughter is autistic and I read another person's Amazon review. The review recommended it for working with autistic children. These puzzles are outstanding in quality and "entertainment with a purpose". This puzzle is so much fun and holds my daughter's interest. It has helped her motor skills to figure out how the pieces fit and manuever them into place. She loves to sort and to search through the pieces, hide and seek style, to get the one that comes next. She used to not be able to sit and finish anything. This has increased her attention span and we love it! Buy it!

Wonderful Floor Puzzle
I just got this puzzle and the animal barn puzzle today. They are wonderful. I bought them because of the nice reviews I read here. When I got it, I am still surprised in their thickness and size. My daughter is still too young for them, but I am sure she will love them when the time comes. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

We LOVE this PUZZLE!
This puzzle has lived through three children! All of them have enjoyed playing, and learning with this toy. It is very durable, and easy to use. The letters fit in their places with ease. Good for little fingers, and bigger ones as well. The pictures behind the letters are clear, and easy to interpret. I highly recommend this puzzle! Your children will enjoy learning their ABCs with this toy.

Great Puzzle
I got this puzzle and the big knob geometric puzzle for my 21 month old twin daughters because their other 3 piece puzzles were no longer challenging, but they really liked them. This puzzle is good quality but not excellent quality. The letters do not have knobs, but they are not hard to get out because the places where they go are shallow. As a result, the letters fall out easily if the puzzle is tipped (which means cleaning them up a lot). The letters have pictures under them for each letter, though I would have chosen different words for some of them. My girls already knew all their letters before I bought this puzzle, but it is great for reinforcing them!! They can pick up a letter and name it. You can also do colors as well, though there are only 4 colors. If they chew on the letters, the colored coating will scratch off. It is great for fine motor skill as well and hand eye coordination -- trying to get the letters in the right way. I would recommend this puzzle. My girls have really enjoyed it.

Very Educational.....NOT DURABLE
My son received this puzzle as a gift when he was just 26 months. He loved it so much and played with it all the time. He knew all his letters when he received this toy, but it helped to reiforce them. Unfortunatley, even though this is a very educational toy, it has some big problems. The letters in the puzzle appear to be painted on, they are not! The letters have a sticker GLUED on, not painted as it appears in the picture. Needless to say after little hands play with them for a while, the sticker peels off and you are left with a bare piece of wood. Next, the wood is of very poor quality and has some jagged edges. The last point is not all pieces fit very well in their spot. It is such a shame because the concept is great and it is very educational just very, very poorly made. I would recommend taking a look at the puzzle in Toys r us first or any Imaginarium store to get a good look at the quality. Personally, we had to dispose of this puzzle and bought the Alphabet Art Puzzle from Lights Camera Interaction. Much Better.

Loved the puzzle!
At 18 months, my son knew his alphabet thanks to this puzzle. We have 4 other puzzles from this manufacturer and this is his favorite. He loves puzzles and quickly masters them so we keep buying them. We also let him watch Wheel of Fortune and he calls out letters as Vanna turns them. He spells out letters on books, cereal boxes and tee shirts. These real life examples demonstrates that he can distinguish the puzzle from the real world. We play mind challenging games with our son daily!

FIVE STARS PRODUCT !!
This puzzle is made of wood and the letters are very colorful that attracts my tot's attention. I brought it only 2 days ago and I start teaching him the alphabet. He already learned 2 letters as I am teaching him a letter a day. The beautiful part is you can use the letters independently without the board. Also, after removing a letter , you'll see a picture of an item which started with that letter. very educational ! Excellent teaching tool!! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great Puzzle!
For a pre-schooler needing to work on problem-solving skills, this puzzle was excellent! Not too big or too small, and the Noah's Ark theme was perfect. We had a blast pointing out all the different animals and making their sounds. The puzzle has held up well, and we'll continue to have fun with it.

Great fun, great quality at a great price!!
I got this puzzle for my daughter's Easter basket and she loves it! What realy sold me was the great quality of this puzzle. The pieces are all well cut out--no peeling paper or edges and they all fit perfectly. My daughter is three and a half and I help her with the puzzle until she gets good enough to do it on her own. She wants to break it up and start over as soon as she has finished it. The Noah's Ark artwork is beautiful--highly detailed and very interesting to look at.

I will keep Ravensbuger in mind for future puzzle purchases. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

hours of fun for my 3 year old
I got this puzzle for my daughter for her third birthday and she just loves the bright colors and the vivid images of the bugs and flowers. The first time it was completed she was so amazed by how pretty it looked and insisted on using it as a napping pad! Each piece is distinct enough to tell apart, and the adjacent pieces usually share some common feature (such as a bright-colored pedal or a wing of a dragonfly), so that even though she is challenged, she can complete it by herself after some time. In that sense the puzzle is great for fostering patience and building confidence. It's been two months and she still plays with it. Recently I brought it to my office and now we can both have our "quiet time" when she visits. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

great toy
We bought this puzzle for our 10 year old daughter. 600 pieces seems to be the magic number. She gets frustrated with 1,000 piece puzzles, but anything under 500 is boring because she can finish it in 10 minutes. This is a great educational toy and you can't beat the price.

Nieces and Nephew Loved It
I recently bought this puzzle for my nieces and nephews. Not only did they love the puzzle, but the whole family learned how little we knew about World Geography. Now I actually know that Cameroon is in South Africa. I recommend this for any young student or adult who desires to learn about the world we live in. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Great challenge
Wonderful puzzle, not as easy as it looks, but is not redundant because of the many details in the image. It was a real brain teaser.

To remember her as she was (pre-9/11/01)!
I wanted my kids to remember NYC as she was, thus my doling out much more than necessary for a puzzle.

In Memorial
Went looking for a jigsaw puzzle to challenge us as the evenings turn cold...and I will walk over to the (fabulous) Times Square store to purchase it. Very surprised to find the WTC towers depicted without any text alluding to 9-11. Sad. Manhattan is the island and borough (not Manhatten.) ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good For Begginers
This puzzle is very good for beginners. 700 pieces is perfect for children 12 or up. Even more challenging for kide around 10. It allows the builder to leard what to look for in harder puzzles to come. It like other puzzles around the same challenge level don't just require the builder to think about the shape and picture, but the color of the picture, the tine, and even the style of every single line. The lines could be dashed, dotted, or both, and the builder learns to look for these things as they progress. When they finally complete the puzzle, they WILL want harder and harder puzzles. They will also feel very confident with their problemsolving skills and might jump straight for the 3000 piece puzzle of New York City. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A bit confused
I tried playing with this game, but I couldn't figure out how to get the spiral game to work. That is the only one I have tried sp far and I've only been trying for about a half hour, but it gave me a head ache, so i gave up. But other than that, the game was a ton of fun and is sure to keep me busy for a long time.

An Uncle who bought a cool gift
I bought the Harry Potter Magic Puzzles for my nieces and I scored some major brownie points. They loved this at first because it was about their hero, Harry Potter, however, they play with it for hours on end. Putting the puzzles together is fun in itself, but then there are the cool magic tricks and the VERY COOL optical illusion using the spiral disk too. This is great for any kid interested in magic, as well jigsaw puzzles and Harry! A big thumbs up!

?
This game is cool.
anybody can play this game.

The Best
It works perfectly and it is so cool!!! I LOVE IT!!!

Harry Potter game
This was ok i guess.

I'm a British fan though and it said Sorcerers in stead of Philosophers stone but it doesn't matter that much.

I would say this game is pretty good, but you've gotta be a Potter lover to play. If your not or have never read the books you could find it very confusing.

I'm 12 and I understood it though, but the instructions were very confusing and it took ages to work them all out, i spent about 4 hours trying to work out how you caught the snitches!

It was quite durable but hadly educational

Thankyou for allowing me to show my personal opinions of this truly athentic game with you Americans! ... . ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Must for Simpsons Fans
As you can tell from the picture, this puzzle is a picture of any of the Simpsons characters from the television show. Some characters appear more than once (but only a couple of them).

The illustration is really quite nice and it is fun to try and identify the characters and their episodes. Because of the scope of the show, not every character is here but there is a good chance that your favorites will be here.

My only real trouble with the puzzle was that many pieces were not cut through completely. Leave them together, the thin puzzle stock is not sturdy enough to force them apart. The front or back will peel.

Other than the problem above, the puzzle was fun to put together and its lack of large objects made almost every piece a challenge. It provided several hours of fun. ... Read more