University Games Eric Carle Wooden 4-in-1 Jigsaw Box: Product Review
My best friend is one of those people who always gives the perfect gift, and this Christmas was no exception. She bought my daughter, Marcella, a sock monkey that she loves and the University Games Eric Carle Wooden 4-in-1 Jigsaw Box. I had told her how much Marcella loves puzzles. She had previously only had the Melissa and Doug chunky wooden puzzles with the picture behind the object so those were fairly simple ones for her to do.
This puzzle box, however, has the traditional interlocking puzzle pieces. Four puzzles come in the box and the box is a wooden box with 4 compartments for each puzzle set. The puzzle pieces have the number on the back so it is easy to sort them and put them away. My daughter (23 months) can even do it. The top of the box slides in place. With a little practice, she can also put the lid in place on her own most of the time.
The actual puzzles are the fun artwork of Eric Carle (from 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo). They are each a different animal(s) which is great since Marcella loves animals (an elephant, lions, giraffes and hippos). The actual puzzles themselves can be put together to form a train. (I actually didn’t notice this until my husband pointed it out.) Marcella will sometimes slide the puzzles off with the lid and set them up on the floor when she is done and then she will move onto the next one.
This is easily her absolute favorite toy! It is a fun toy that we can interact and play with her with and, after some time practicing, she can now do on her own as well. They are simple little puzzles (12 pieces each) and each puzzle has the same types of pieces so it’s pretty simple for a little one to catch on to the patterns. The puzzle says 3 and up but my daughter received this when she was 21 months and I didn’t feel like it was a choking hazard for my daughter (which is the reason given for the 3 and over recommendation). This toy gets a huge thumbs up from our family!
What is your toddler’s favorite toy these days?