Melissa and Doug Latches Board Puzzle
It’s hard to find a gift that is the right mix of fun, educational, interesting and that will keep the little one occupied and out of mom and dad’s hair isn’t it? Most any Melissa and Doug puzzle will do the trick, but the Melissa & Doug Latches Board Puzzle
I gave this present to a little girl a few months older than my girl thinking, “Sadie will love this!” The locks are big and shiny, easy to manuver and make the greatest click clacking sound. Plus, they are attached to doors that swing opened when unlocked and reveal little animals like one pony or three fish or six kittens. I could imagine little hands unlocking and locking, swinging open doors then swinging them shut.
Then I realized…I’m giving that little girl a toy to teach her how to unlock things…like doors. Not smart. I was certain her parents would flog me and, worse, never invite us over to play again. Shunned.
Luckily, Sadie LOVED the toy and her parents had a great sense of humor about what she was learning. Then, in a turn about of fair play, at MY little girl’s birthday party guess what puzzle WE got?
That’s right. The latches board.
Needless to say my daughter played and played with that puzzle and still loves it. Not only can she now undo and redo all of the locks and latches, she can count the animals behind the doors! What fun.
The downside is that the puzzle is actually loud. The clanging gets to me, but at least it doesn’t get to my kiddo. She has pinched her finger on more than one occasion in the locks, so that’s not the greatest feature. That said, I kinda like the lesson that you have to be careful doing even the most ordinary things – so in my book the puzzle is still one of the greatest gifts we’ve gotten.
You should know, though, that Melissa and Doug don’t recommend it for under age 3…maybe because of the pinched finger thing, who knows? Oh, they also have a latch box that is the same thing on 3D:
I can just imagine the fun of opening up a door and locking something inside.
