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I had these for our kids. I bought a set for a grand-daughter, when she outgrew it at age 2 I shipped it to a younger grandson. Now that there are 2 more grand-daughters in town, I need another. The 20-month old has already figured it out and enjoys watching the rope come through the other side of the bead for her to grab. The beads are large, solid, colorful, the paint is bright and very smooth. In all the years I've had these I've never had beads fade or chip. The string itself is braided, thick enough for small hands and tiny fingers to grasp, and has been heat-sealed at each end so it does not unravel. I do suggest tying a knot in one end, or cause-and-effect will be 'I put them on, they fall on the floor?' Very well-made, good for learning colors,learning shapes, learning cause and effect, learning on / off concept, excellent for developing hand-to-eye coordination, and a sense of pride in accomplishment. You will not be sorry you have this around the house! Once the plastic box wore out, I used a small peanut-butter jar to keep beads and string together.

It's hard to find larger beads for younger children so I was excited to find these! They are nice, heavy duty, wooden beads with a rope for lacing. So far, my toddler isn't interested in lacing them but he does enjoy taking them off of the rope and I think in time he'll want to try lacing. The beads we received aren't the exact ones in the photo so I have included a picture of what we got (you can get an idea of the size compared to an almost 2-year old's hand in the photo as well.) I am happy with the selection of bead types and colors we were given. It's a nice variety of shapes and the colors are vibrant. The description currently says 9 beads but we received 10 (and the box they came in also said 10.) Overall, a great purchase for children who are still too young for other bead sets.

These beads are fantastic quality! They are made by the Holgate company in the USA -- I'm not sure why they don't mention that here, since it is such a strong selling point in childrens' toys. For now, I bought them for my 8 month old son to chew on. I strung them on the included rope and tied a knot at either end; he loves them! If I'd known about them, I definitely would have bought them for him much sooner because I think he would have enjoyed playing with them from as early as a few months old. As an added bonus, I'm sure he'll have fun lacing them when he's older. I love buying toys with "staying power"!It is worth noting that the set I received does not match the picture shown here. I got one each of the red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple beads that are shown. I also received 4 slightly smaller beads. Two of them are round and two are oblong (a scaled down version of the yellow bead slown). Also, these 4 beads appear to be stained, while the rest of the beads are painted. [As I was writing this, it occurred to me that this seemed a little fishy, and I was worried that the seller might be breaking up sets of genuine Holgate beads and filling in with cheaper beads. I contacted the company and they confirmed that the actual beads in each package may vary and that mine were all fine. No bead scandal here.]I knocked off one star since my beads don't match the photo. If they are going to include beads that are smaller, in not as interesting shapes and less vibrant colors, they should let you know. But, in all honesty, I'm still thrilled with this purchase.

This is a great product. I chose them because they are made in the USA . They are designed For babies 18 months and older. These beads are larger than your typical lacing beads, which I liked. We did get a 4 brown beads. 3 of the brown beads are much smaller than all the other beads. I didn't feel comfortable giving them to the baby. I put them aside for when he is older. They might be fine, just personal preference. All of the other beads are bright, well painted, and a great size. The 7 larger beads are perfect for practicing color identification and fine motor skills . Perfect.

These beads are nice and large and good for building dexterity in my toddler. I don't like one of the beads which is smaller than all the others but also unpainted and unvarnished. Ruins the look of the set and doesn't match the picture with two nice red spools (our set only had one). I think it's fine for colors to vary but not to include filler beads that don't match the look at all.

Excellent toy and excellent quality. I am really impressed with this toy. The beads are solid and great size for toddler hands. The paint is smooth and shiny. My 19-month-old daughter learned how to lace them in 3 days and now she loves to do it. We are using them to practice her counting and color recognition while stimulating her fine motor skills. It was important to me that they were wooden and not plastic and I was also very glad to see they are made in the USA. There was only 1 out of the 10 beads that I put up for her to use when she is older because it is slightly smaller and could potentially be a choking hazard. The other 9 are way too big to be concerns about choking. I am very happy with this purchase.

I received a small plastic container that says "Jumbo Lacing Shapes" on the front, and they look NOTHING like the photo (or even other reviewer's photos). They are flat disc-like colored shapes with holes in the middle, plus 1 colored rope. Plus all but 1 of the shapes have a rough feel to them. Definitely returning. From my experience, and from reading other reviews, it seems that this company often substitutes this product with similar items, so beware that you may not receive what is in the photo.

This is a good fine motor toy; however, it's not very interesting. The rope is also long enough to be a chocking hazard and needs to be kept up high.