For his first birthday Burton was given some Megabloks , so from a very young age both he, and then Jenson, have grown up with them amongst their toys. The building blocks we currently have are big and chunky which are ideal for little hands, and they are still popular with both boys in seeing who can build the biggest tower or make the best creature from them! Therefore, when I was recently asked if the boys would like to review some Megabloks products, I knew they would be well received.
With Burton at school I let Jenson test the products by himself (Burton has since played with them of course!), as he is really into building with different shaped wooden and plastic blocks at the moment. First up we played with the Megabloks First Builders Build ‘n Learn Assortment , designed to help with your child’s language and numbers development. The blocks come in an eco-friendly , re-usuable zip locked bag for keeping them in when they are not being used , and when you open the bag for the first time the blocks come with stickers featuring letters of the alphabet and some animals (cat, duck, fish and bear) which you need to add to the blocks yourself before any letter learning play can be done.
Play itself is pretty much self explanatory. I think these blocks are great for showing little ones how to spell some basic small words, because by using these blocks they literally are learning through play. Jenson is not able to spell yet but these have been good for letter recognition and spelling out the animals featured on the megablok stickers to show him visually the matching spelling with the corresponding image.
I think at just £9.99 this set is excellent value for money and both boys have enjoyed playing with it ( it is recommended for children aged 1-5). Burton has loved being able to show Jenson how to spell things! The other useful thing about this set is that it is compatible with the other set we already have so Burton and Jenson can build even bigger creations now!
The second playset we were sent was the Mega Bloks Thomas Percy At The Washdown which is aimed at older children (aged 3-6 years), and features much smaller pieces which requires assembling in order to replicate the image on the front of the box The useful storage bucket which the bloks arrive in is great for using as storage after play, and its lid doubles as a buildable pronged base. The pack also includes stickers and an assembly instruction booklet which I did have to refer to in order to make the washdown, as per the one featured.
I have to be honest, at aged 40 I stuggled to make the washdown set easily – it took me quite a while to make it and then annoyingly, once complete the pieces do collapse easily which is very unfuriating. The boys tried to make the set but they were not keen on following the instructions laid down in the manual,I don’t blame them as this is not something I enjoy doing myself. However, I would suspect that with time this will change for Burton at least and how will pay more attention to wanting to look at instructions on how to fit the pieces together, whereas for now he prefers Mummy to make it for him (badly I hasten to add!). It does not matter if you are unable to make the set as per the featured design, because these are Megabloks afterall, so you can just let your imagination run free and build whatever you like – which is what Burton and Jenson have tended to do since Mummy made such a bad job of following instructions (and took so long! lol)
The Megabloks Thomas Percy At The Washdown is normally priced at £29.99 which personally I feel is a lot for what it is, as I don’t think you get that much product for just shy of £30 (80 to be exact). The storage box is very useful mind, but I guess the price tag is because it has the Thomas & Friends association. However, at the moment it is on promotion at a special price of just £19.99, which I think is a much more realistic and better value for money price point.
Personally, I feel that the First Builders Set set is the best value for money and a lot less fiddly for my children, because the Washdown set pieces do not say together very well which does make it very frustrating for them and Mummy!!
I was sent these items for the purpose of a review. My opinions about them are honest and my own. I do only allow my children to reviewproducts which are age appropriate and relevant to them.
nick
Great little learning toy for young children. Love mega bloks, such nice play toys.