BeginAgain Animal Parade A to Z Puzzle and Playset - Educational Wooden Alphabet Puzzle - 2 and Up

Got it as a gift for a friend and have gotten a few updates raving about it being a favorite! Very good quality and grows with the kid, good for learning various things and very versatile

My 3 year old received this for Christmas. She loved the animals and loved to take them out and play with them. She couldnt really put it together on her own at that age. Now she is 4, and can do it on her own. The puzzle has great colors and a cute variety of animals. Each animal represents a letter, uppercase on one side, lower on the other. This means there are two ways you can solve the puzzle, using all upper or all lowercase letters. The pieces are wood and have taken a beating for almost a year now. They have been dropped many times on our tile floor. I did have 2 animals break, but was able to glue them back together with no problem. It is helpful to keep the paper that comes with it that shows you how to solve it.

X is for xray fish and N is for nightingale, except the nightingale is painted yellow like a duck. I can excuse the lack of an X family of animal, but at least paint the nightingale with the right colors. Or use a newt instead. Also, the pig looks more like a pink dog. Still, the puzzle is cute, and well made.

Bought this for my almost two year old nephew and he loves it.

Pro: My toddler can play with this toy for many months to come. The first challenge is to solve the problem. The second one is to stack and balance the pieces. The third one, my toddler tried to fit the pieces into a shape sorter cube (such as this: https://www.amazon.com/Building-Preschool-Educational-Learning-Christmas/dp/B00GYUZLKY). Cons: 1. The pieces are not intuitively fit together. There is a better BeginAgain product called Animal Parade which is similar to this puzzle. Animal Parade is much more intuitive. The designer of Farm A-Z puzzle seemed to have run out of ideas how to fit some of the puzzles. 2. My toddler loves to play the pieces with her bath. The colors fade. Slowly. But they fade.

My 4 year old grandson loves animals and puzzles so this was a perfect gift for him. It is probably better suited for an older child as the pieces can be a challenge for an adult sometimes. One side is capital letters and the other side is lower case letters. It takes some getting used to in order to get the pieces to fit. It is cute when its put together!

Bought this for my niece and I absolutely love it! Larger than I expected it would be---but the detail is incredible and the interlocking, 3D design is so cute. I think it will last a very long time. It doesnt however have a great storage lid. The puzzle comes in a nice wooden box--but there is no cover/lid so the pieces arent contained.

One of the best toys purchased this Christmas. Pros: Its a puzzle for older kids - 4 and up could probably manage to put this together. Ive seen several other puzzles similar to this where you try to put the pieces together in a box and you have to rely on the picture they give you. Here you can use the alphabet as a guide so it teaches or reinforces the alphabet. I put this puzzle together and it was fun for an adult as well. Two puzzles in one - one side is puzzle for upper case and the other side is a puzzle for lower case alphabet. Its a stand up toy for playing make believe. My kids have used these puzzle pieces to act out different things - being a vet, living on a farm, being a teacher and showing the kids things on a farm. The pieces are made from wood. Wood is sanded down so there are no rough edges. Paint does not chip off. Pieces are brightly colored. There is a storage container. Although the container itself is this long box that doesnt really fit anywhere so we have to slide it under the sofa for now. Cons: A few of the pieces are small enough that I would not feel comfortable leaving my toddler alone with this. The toy isnt for him but hes in the house.

The photos and the actual item shows color and shapes differences.

I love this puzzle and so do my kids. It is beautifully carved out of wood and could easily just be artwork. But, it really is educational with the upper and lower case alphabet on the front and back. Plus, each is an animal of the same letter. It is challenging to put together but thats what makes it such a great puzzle. My younger kids just like using the animals in creative play while my older daughter actually uses it as it is intended as a puzzle.