My 3 1/2 year old daughter got this from Santa for Christmas, along with a few other Melissa & Doug sets. We are big fans of this toy company, so far all the sets we have purchased have been durable and well made, my daughter loved her alphabet puzzle with sound from last year, it still works great and looks brand new.
We got around to opening this set today, and she was all excited, and started to spell out several boards at once...then I discovered the problem, there were no letter "e" in the box, or "a"...only one each of the "d" and "o" letters. So being a long time purchaser of their products, called the number listed on the sticker on the back, and immediately was connected with a LIVE human being, no computer nonsense telling me to press 1 then press 2...that alone was amazing, lol...and the woman I spoke with took all the info quickly, and then without any hesitation told me a new set would be out to my daughter today...no asking me to return the defective set, she was quick, efficent, and very pleasant. This one problem with the set would not have turned me off to their toys, but with such quality customer service I am an even bigger fan than ever of this toy company... Melissa & Doug See & Spell
My 2 year old son is on the Autism Spectrum and tends to think in a very visual manner. He absolutely adores this toy! When I saw the recommended age, I was a bit hesitant, but I'm so glad that I went ahead and got it!
Not impressed with this toy. Good concept very poor execution. We have owned this toy about two weeks. Specifically the top color laminate of the letters is falling off about 25% of the letters. The storage box is poorly made with cheap materials. I would not recommend this toy.
I bought this for my 2yr. old (just turned 3), she loves it! She already knows most of her letters in uppercase, these letters are all lowercase so it is a whole new learning experience for her. She enjoys finding the letters and doing the puzzle, then telling me what it says.
There are 10 two sided sturdy wooden spelling boards and over 70 wooden letters included. The boards all have a picture of the word they are writing. This is an excellent way to teach your child how to spell as well as letter recognition.
We have a few other puzzles by Melissa nd Doug and we love them all, they make quality sturdy toys.
It says it's for ages 4 and up but my daughter loves it. It's never to early to learn letters and spelling, my little one just turned 3 and she can spell her name and has starting learning to write it as well.
We bought several different Melissa and Doug toys and we love them but on all of them, only after a week of play, the paint is coming off various pieces. On the letters, I can already see white where the red paint used to be on this toy. I'm disappointed, however, I surmise given the lead-paint scare last year that perhaps the company switched paint products and they are just not as durable but safe. I still caution, as your child may end up putting paint chips in their mouth. Or getting it on their hands. I'm going to write to the company to ask about their lack of paint durability; as with three toys and only a week's worth of play I should expect better.
My 5 year old likes to play with this toy, but the problem is the lack of a lid for the box. The letters fall out and it is a big pain to take in the car. For a Melissa & Doug toy, I'm suprised that the storage is so poor.
This toy is ok. The puzzles are fun, and my 4 year old enjoys them from time to time. It doesn't keep his attention very long. The part I don't like is the storage. The box the puzzles and letters come in is not very sturdy, and there is no lid over top of the letters. It would be nice to have a snap on cover so the letters would be easier to keep track of.
My 3.5 year old enjoys this puzzle very much. He matches the letter puzzle pieces into the words, he knows most of the photos by name so when he builds the word he sees how "Frog" is spelled. A very good learning tool. My only problem with it is that there isn't a cover to keep all the letter pieces together. I store them in a gallon zipper bag and fold it down and they still fit in the alotted letter area and they don't go flying everywhere when my son takes it down from the shelf :-)
My grandson is just under three and he loves doing these puzzles. I placed the letters for each two sided puzzle in a small plastic bag and printed the words on the label of each bag.Enough letters come with the puzzles to do this with a few extra letters left over. In this way, it is easier for a young preschooler to be successful. I began letting him choose the puzzle and giving him the correct bag with the letters in it. He has progressed to the point that he can find the correct bag of letters himself by looking at the labels on the bags. He puts the letters back in the bag after he has done a puzzle. He seems to have no problem with the effort this organization requires and is learning quite a few sight words. Happily, he thinks this is a lot of fun and it beats having letters all over the house.
I too, was a little hesitant when we saw the age (my daughter is not yest 3), but I knew it was something she'd enjoy since she's learning to read. Not only has this toy been an awesome tool, she just LOVES playing with it - every morning she wakes up wanting to "spell"! I'd recommend this toy to kids of any age interested in learning to read! - Letters - Spelling - Puzzles - Melissa doug'
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