Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Growing Tree Toys Review


We just learned about a new online source for great educational toys and I am excited to share them with you!

"GrowingTreeToys.com is more than just a toy website – it’s the perfect virtual representation of our store, offering customers the amazing service, wonderful toys and robust features they deserve while shopping online. Featuring a carefully chosen, well-rounded toy selection, unique product details and descriptions, great information on play, helpful suggestions for gift givers, the best gift finder available, and so much more, GrowingTreeToys.com is truly a specialty toy website with the health and happiness of children at heart."
They sent us a Transparent Marble Run set by Quercetti Toys to play with. ER was very excited because for quite some time she's been enthralled by marble set displays at local toy stores. She couldn't wait to start playing with this set!

We have been wanting to add a marble run to her collection because we knew that it's a challenging toys that stimulates creativity, problem solving skills, and intuitive reasoning. It also develops the eye tracking and observation skills as kids put together a multiple level marble run with countless configurations.
It comes in a sturdy handled box that is suitable for storing all the pieces together. The Transparent Marble Run has 45 pieces, including a good number of transparent, colored tubes for building exciting maze creations, bases for stability, wheels, ten marbles, and more.
There are no instructions included with the set, but several examples of structures you can build are shown on the box. We could see how a younger child might need more suggestions to get them started.
However, since the age recommendation is 4 and up and ER is 3, we knew that she'd be playing with it only under our direct supervision. So the ideas provided on the box were more than enough for us to get started with. By the time Brad had completed a couple, he'd already start getting ideas for his own designs.They got to work and made three different structures the first time they played with the set together. I liked how there is a little loading piece and one that catches them all at the bottom. It kept all the marbles from shooting out and going everywhere. It's very fun to see and watch the marble go through the transparent pieces all the way to the bottom. The wheels are also especially fun to see spin when the marbles hit them. ER was very excited and want to send her marbles through over and over.
Since my husband Brad is the one who actually tested this toy with our daughter I thought it was only right for him to give his feedback as well. Here's what he had to say:

"One caution on the product is that the plastic is a little thin so a energetic child might break the ramp pieces during assembly if they do not take their time. This might be a difference between the transparent and wooden marble runs.

I would also like some sort of path splitter that adds some randomness to the marble path. With this set the path of the marble is entirely determined by the starting location."
Overall, we thought the Transparent Marble Run was a great starter set and value for your money, less than $20! It's an inexpensive option to see if your child is interested in and would play with a larger more expensive marble run set. We also liked how the Marble Run with Motorized Elevator can be combined with it, so the set can grow with your child and become more complex and elaborate.
You can purchase a Transparent Marble Run at GrowingTreeToys for only $19.95. It would make a great holiday gift that will provide hours of hands-on cooperative and independent play for your child.

Stop by to see their wide range of educational toys and find out about their "Deal of the Day". One toy at a super discount price is offered every day, until it sells out. What a great way to save money on the upcoming holiday and be able to get all your shopping done at one stop without leaving the house.

This product was provided as a courtesy of Growing Tree Toys for me to review.

1 Friends Said:

Vickie said...

We have something similar but ours isn't transparent. The girls love it, but I had to use different marbles. They lost the originals:)

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