Wednesday, March 25, 2015

In Praise of Melissa & Doug



We have a collection of Melissa & Doug toys as you can see from above. We also have this:



But when my son realized that the point was to pound the pegs through the hole, he went to level two by removing all the pegs, tossing them under the loveseat, and hammering the floor. We had bought the peg pounder on the recommendation of the pediatrician to hone his fine motor skills.

I have previously written about this puzzle, also not pictured:


I love Melissa & Doug toys. They can be pricey. I did not pay full price for any of our toys. Most were hand me down, and I bought some on sale. The rest came from Bluum boxes (http://bluum.me/16QJhAC).

I love them mostly because they are durable. They are made from wood and whatever paint is being used has lasted for years on the hand-me-down puzzles and almost two years on the turtle, giraffe, and penguin. The colors are very vivid and enticing. My son is not gentle on his toys. They get tossed everywhere and they lasted. The puzzles were gifts from his daycare so they have seen many years of rough play.

The other reason I like them is, they help with motor skills. So many toys now are electronic it is disheartening. All you have to do is push a button and the toy plays with itself. We even have an electronic toy that all you do is turn it on and it never shuts off and it  plays without being touched.  Having a child who needed help with motor skills it was hard to look for toys. The giraffe in particular is one of my favorite toys. It is easy to manipulate and you can move it into several different poses. My son has some problems with the lock puzzle, but it is helping him to move his hands correctly. Children like looking under things which make the lock puzzle, and the farm puzzle particularly fun.

The toys are pricey, so if you want to purchase them, I suggest sales and yard sales. Benny's often has the toys on sale and from time to time so does Toys R Us. They are worth the price and they will withstand anything your child puts them through.

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