Letter Construction Activity Set - Alphabet Montessori Toys, Ages 3+

Haven't had a chance to try these with the kids yet, but wanted to comment on some previous review remarks that almost kept me from buying these. I don't know if the company changed things, but I separated the pieces on arrival with my hands, no tools needed. I'm a grandmother, not super strong. The only pieces at all difficult were the shortest straight ones, and I just had to change my starting point a couple of times. Once apart, they snap in and out easily in making letters. I think there will be a learning curve for my little ones on finding the insertion points, but they'll get it. Another positive is that these don't have to be used for just letters, which moves them into a more imaginative product. I created a Volkswagen Bug car while fooling around. They can become buildings, or pretty much anything you can represent with lines and curves. Alphabet cards are clear and color coded. I liked that the instructions also recommended having children pretend to write the letter in the air. Large muscle practice like this should occur before a child ever puts pencil to paper for letter writing. (I used to be a school OT who worked with children with writing difficulties.) Plan to start my grandkids with ribbon wands creating the basic "magic" writing strokes in the air.

I love this material! My five year old has been using them for the last year, and he loves putting together different letters. I have no concerns about the quality — they’ve held up very well for us. I’m an elementary teacher, and I think these have really helped him understand how to form the letters (without drilling and boring him), and they align really nicely to Handwriting without Tears. When he outgrows them, they’ll live a second life in my classroom for first graders to use at the beginning of the year. My only wish is that we could order a second supplemental set with just the extra pieces needed to make all of the letters at once. My son always seems to run out of the long blue pieces first.

These are a great alternative to the Handwriting Without Tears Wood Pieces/ Mat Man. The price is a bit less than purchasing them through HWT, so I went for it. So far my 3 year old son loves building Mat Man (from HWT) and likes to construct and deconstruct the pieces in many creative ways. The pieces have small divots and pegs that snap in to each other so that they don't fall apart, which is a bonus over the wood pieces offered y HWT. They were challenging to separate when I first opened the box, I had to use a butter knife. But once they were separated they work like a charm for my son. Can't wait to start building his letters!!

I got this for my daughter, who is starting preschool this fall, and she loved it. It kept her attention and focus, which is definitely a plus in my book! Pros: - Large and vibrant, so great for little hands that aren't too dextrous yet, as well as little eyes that get bored with dull colors. - They snap together pretty easily. - All pieces are the correct sizes and lengths to fit together very easily; there are no ill-fitting pieces. - The cards provided show the pieces required to make the letters and then the finished product, but they didn't show any steps along the way. This allows the children to problem solve and figure it out themselves, rather than just copycatting. Cons: - When I first took the pieces out of the box, they were snapped together and nearly impossible to separate! We had to get silverware to pry the pieces apart-- it was insane. Obviously, snapping the pieces back together and storing them that way is not a viable option unless we want to stick a fork in the container with them. I wish that the snaps weren't quite so ironclad, so that my daughter could separate two identical pieces. - I could see the lack of "how to" steps on the cards being difficult for children who don't have strong spatial reasoning skills yet; it's a pro for kids who are doing well in that area, but a con for kids who are not. Overall, I would definitely recommend this to a friend :) Not sure how we'll store these yet, but I'll figure out a trick so that we can unsnap them again afterwards.

Effective and fun activity

These are perfect for my 3 year old grandson. We've been building letters like F, E and T with his normal block set, but could never make any of the curved lettets. We were both delighted with this addition to his educational stockpile of toys and games. I noticed some of the other reviewer's mentioned that their children had difficulty with snapping these pieces together and/or taking them apart. I respect their experiences, however, my grandson who is 3 years and 1 month old, was able to use these on his own the first time we tried them. The only thing I have done to make this set better for us, is to repackage the plastic pieces in a plastic tub and boxed the example cards in amother smaller box which I also leave inside the plastic tub. This protects the cards better than leaving them loose.

I love the idea of these. I’m working on letters with my daughter and thought these would help. They are incredibly hard to get apart. She got these for Christmas and has used them maybe 4x. We have about 4 pieces now that the “nubs“ have broken off inside another piece leaving a hole which still works but the “nub” that broke off is impossible to get off which makes the piece so it doesn’t connect to others. I attached a picture. The orange middle hole is empty and the bottom is plugged. Green also lost a nub. They are good but I’m surprised how quickly they are breaking. My daughter is 4. And is gentle with toys. It’s purely from them being so tough to get apart. I wish they were cheaper for how quickly they are breaking.

My son loves learning so these were just perfect for him! He loves to spell so we are able to spell out his name and our last name. If you plan on spelling out the whole ABCs at once you'll need to buy maybe another set or 2. It does come with hot to cards to help your little one know which pieces they will need :)

Educativo

Están increíbles

J'ai utilisé ce matériel avec des GS pour une remédiation sur l'écriture des lettres et des chiffres. Je recommande. Ça a très bien fonctionné. Les enfants sont ravis de construire les lettres et les chiffres. Je vais continuer de travailler avec ce matériel pour l' acquisition des lettres scriptes car il n'y a rien de mieux que la manipulation pour mémoriser. Les fiches sont bien faites.

Bought and use these in a Kindergarten classroom and the children enjoy making letters and other creations with this pieces. Sturdy and solid, none have broken yet so durable which is a plus! Great for home use too!

Great resource for the classroom. My kids have enjoyed using these.