Melissa & Doug Chunky Number Puzzle Review

June 15, 2009 By Sarah Filed Under Cool Finds, Life

Always looking for fun ways to teach the keiki, I was excited to review Melissa & Doug’s Jumbo Numbers Wooden Chunky Puzzle. Here’s the description from the Melissa & Doug site…

“Counting fun begins with this extra thick wooden puzzle that includes 20 easy-grasp, chunky pieces (1-20). A full-color, matching number appears under each piece, and counting pictures equal to each numbered piece are shown on the puzzle board. Number pieces stand up. Encourages hand-eye, fine motor and early math skills.”

I wasn’t sure if the puzzle would be too juvenile for my son who is 4.5 years old or too advanced for my 20 month old daughter. My worries were put to rest right when we opened the puzzle. Immediately my daughter was drawn to the colorful chunky puzzle. And my son started using it to not only count to 20 in English but also in Spanish.

What I love about this puzzle…

I love that it’s vibrant pictures capture my daughter’s interests and that the corresponding number of animals with each number helps my son hone his math and counting skills.
I love that although the numbers only go up to 20, you can make bigger numbers out of the single digits; so my son will take the two and the four and make 24. Or we use them for math by putting the 2 and 4 together, counting the number of animals in the corresponding place on the puzzle and learning that together they make 6.
My son is able to recognize his numbers up to 20 in English pretty well. So to further challenge him, we put the numbers in order on the table and counted to 20 in Spanish. For both English and Spanish, I try and mix up the numbers to see if he can recognize and name them out of order…he’s getting there!
And although Cameron can recognize the numbers he still trying to get down just how to write them on his own. With the big chunky puzzle he can take his finger and trace the numbers, helping him understand how to write them. He writes a great 1, 3, 6 and 8, right now.
My daughter is only 20 months so she still mostly likes to gomb on the numbers or throw them around (not fun, they can hurt, being that they are made out of wood!) but I love that I can use this to work with her on beginning counting skills.
And of course this mama is loving that the paint on these wood numbers are non toxic and that the entire puzzle is made out of wood, not plastic!

TWO HULA SHAKES! Overall I love this puzzle. I love that there is so much to do with a seemingly no frills puzzle. I love that there are no bells and whistles to distract them (or annoy the heck out of mom & dad) and that it’s something that both my children can use.

Ohana Mama’s Touch…

The only thing I would do to make this puzzle better (and this actually goes for all puzzles)…I would love it if there was an attached pouch to the backside for storage. The pieces fit on top of the board but they can easily fall out and go lost. An attached pouch of some sort would save this mama a ton of time trying to keep all the pieces where they belong.

BUY!

WIN!
One Ohana Mama reader will win a chunky puzzle or jumbo knob puzzle from Melissa and Doug! They have a bunch to choose from!

How to enter:
Go check out the other Jumbo Knob Puzzles and Chunky Puzzles from Melissa & Doug and tell me which you’d like to win for your little one.

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