Frost Magazine has never ever been disappointed with Hape’s products: well made toys that reach out to children, ‘Play with me, I’m bright, friendly and you’ll learn without knowing it’. And maybe thinking of my youngest granddaughter, even share, but that’s a bit of a stretch. I’ve been looking at Hape’s selection of puzzles, covering everything from the animal kingdom to learning the alphabet.
Puzzle Mania!
Ocean Lens Puzzle, £11.99 from Amazon.
This creative puzzle features four sea creatures, each with their own special lens to help you see what’s hiding under the deep blue sea. Use each animal as a looking glass to identify the shapes hiding underneath their resting place. As someone who snorkels when given a warm blue sea I found it an intriguing concept. As did the 20 month old I was sharing it with. It led to all sort of conversations, and books were brought to me to show me fish.
24M+ allegedly, but I found myself fiddling about with them, looking through them when i was stuck in Chapter 12 of my latest novel. Then even talking about them, saying what a fabulous idea. My own children played with similar but those weren’t so versatile, or chunky, or appealing.
Wild Animal Puzzle & Play, £12.99 from Amazon.
I was explaining to one of the grands that some wild animals like the water while others want to munch on trees. She was fascinated, and spent time creating scenarios, and noises before placing the pieces. She lives in a family with two dogs, and so this puzzle is an extension of her life. She is hugely interested, and there was lots to talk about. It’s just the old bugbear of lost puzzle pieces, but I did note that they were all put to bed, in their places, and then into the drawer. Again, they’re so chunky, and nice to handle, and none of those fiddly little pegs my own children had to try and grip. This one has a 2 in 1 design so there’s another play scene hiding on the flipside for even more fun.
24M+
There are more Hape puzzles to consider – which sound just the ticket.
Chunky Clock Puzzle, £13.99 from Amazon.. A fun introduction into how to tell the time.
3Y+
Chunky Alphabet Puzzle, £15.99 from Amazon. Sure to brighten up the toy box with a pop of pink, green, blue and yellow provides an introduction into capital letters and the first steps towards reading and writing. 3Y+
Numbers Peg Puzzle, £11.99 from Amazon. Using garden critters, fruit and vegetable designs to identify the different animals, try fitting the number pegs into their rightful space or add up the shapes hidden under each number for an alternative way to understand basic maths. 3Y+
Chunky Numbers Puzzle, £15.82 from Amazon, provides the perfect opportunity to find where each number fits in the board and understand basic mathematical sums of addition and subtraction. Using thick, chunky puzzle pieces makes it perfect for small hands to hold.
3Y+
Chunky Lowercase Puzzle, £15.99 from Amazon. This brightly coloured Chunky Lowercase Puzzle from Hape provides little ones with the perfect introduction into the lowercase alphabet, to help children take their first steps towards reading. Because of its chunky design the puzzle pieces stand up independently so you can put together your own words and phrases.
3Y+
Frost Magazine cannot recommend these puzzles too highly. Excellent.
