  | Lacing Beads in a Box
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Average user rating:  | ||||||
| Great developmental toy, made poorly | ||||||
| As an early childhood educator I try to provide at home the same developmentally appropriate toys my classroom contained. Now as a stay at home Mom, I was thrilled to find the lacing beads at an affordable price. My biggest complaint however it that the beads are made of wood and unfortunately were not sanded down very well on the inside. Therefore, when my sweet daughter tries to string the beads, the strings get "hung up" inside the bead. Sometimes, the wood is so rough inside the bead that I even have a hard time getting the string to go through at all! I am very disappointed with the lack of attention to detail and poor quality from Melissa and Doug. This toy cannot be used for its intended purpose, which is letting my daughter use her fine motor skills. Instead, Mommy has to string them for her and she enjoys pulling them out. Not quite the activity I had in mind when I purchased this item and not what the toy is intended for. I did not give this toy the absoute lowest rating because my daughter loves to wear the necklaces that I make for her with the string and beads. So in that regard it has not been a total loss. However this problem could be easily rememdied if the company would wax the string, or simply sand down the holes. I would not buy this product knowing what I know now. I would look for another set of lacing beads. | ||||||
| Fun But Beads Stick | ||||||
| My son who is 2 loves this toy. He has no problem with the concept of stringing the beads however, the holes on the beads are just rough enough to catch on the string. On the ovals, rectangles and even the squares they really have to push to get the string to pass through. The quality is excellent both visually and structurally. My son also likes to play "blocks" and stack the beads. I just wish they had sanded the inside of the holes better so the string didn't get caught. | ||||||
| Excellent Fun Cognitive Toy | ||||||
| This is one of those amazingly simple toys that does so much. The blocks are numbered and the shapes are thought out in order to develop early math skills. The threading/lacing helps develop fine motor coordination. They are building materials for stacking up towers. My kids play imaginative games with these toys, too. (which may also be a factor of them not watching more than 60 minutes of t.v. a day; they have well-developed imaginations). The blocks turn into trains, cars. They make homes for their tiny plastic animal toys, etc. I also like how just gorgeous this toy is. The wooden blocks with the little paintings please me esthetically. The one thing I don't like about the toy is that the plastic lid has cracked on mine. I don't know how the manufacturer could solve this problem, but I'm not looking forward to the day when the lid no longer works. All around, an excellent toy. | ||||||
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