PlanToys Log Puzzle (4651)

I bought this toy for my 2-year-old daughters thinking it would be left unopened for a while (it recommends ages 3+). When I received it, I had to open it and play with it myself. The girls were immediately drawn to it and on the first try, they were building with it. It took them some practice to figure out how to push the pieces in all the way and I had to hold the base still for them, but it didn't take long and they had created their own little "cacti". Since then (we've had it about a month now), they play with it every day. They sit together and stack pieces. They say "Uh oh" when it falls over and then start again. They bite on the pieces, throw them, step on them, and stuff them under the couch, but the Balancing Cactus still looks like new. I love it and think it's a great toy! I'm even considering getting them the Balancing Coral. Of course, there are 18 pieces to lose, so if digging around every few days in order to re-populate the box is not your thing, I'm not sure I'd get this toy.

I purchased this as a “just because” gift for my 3 year old son. He absolutely loves it and plays with it for hours.Note: This toy is NOT recommended for children ages 0-3. However, my son has an older sister and is a little bit advanced for his age. Also, my son is only allowed to play with this toy under the supervision of me or my wife.Keep in mind that this is an educational balancing/stability toy. So yes, this toy is stable when built like a cactus.In all, this is a great educational toy for teaching problem solving.

Love all of toys from this brand. We are steadily building a shelf of them. My son loves it very much and it really engages him. He started using this at roughly 1.5 - 2 years old and loves it. We found it through Genevieve’s Playhouse videos on YouTube.My son had no issues with the balancing challenge and quickly adapted

Really cute puzzle/game that has proven too simple for my 4 year-old it was gifted to, but my 2 year-old really enjoys it. She can do it with a bit of effort so it's perfect for her. It's well-made and the pieces are nice to look at. They also end up getting used creatively with the play kitchen and such, so overall it was a good purchase and works for our family.

Excellent toy! I bought it for my 20 month old daughter. She really enjoys putting the pieces together and tends to hold the base in her hand which stops it tipping over quickly because she's not interested in making it balance at this stage. It holds her attention for an average of 30 minutes. I can see this toy growing with her over the next few years as she learns to challenge herself in making the parts balance and then maybe even playing co-cooperatively with family members. I think this will be one toy we will keep an treasure maybe even for the grandkids! It makes a great display on her bedroom shelf or anywhere in the house for that matter.

My son is 2 and he really likes this toy, although he is too young to do it by himself. We are going to get a lot of use out of this toy over the next couple of years. At this age, I hold the base or quickly put in a balancing piece as he puts pieces in. Sometimes I hold the base so he doesn't knock it down as he puts his piece in and then I let go so he can see if it falls down. This is a great quality toy from a responsible company. I look forward to keeping it for my grandchildren. It is not very big, so the only thing that would make this better is if there was an expansion pack (older kids would prefer a lot more pieces). As far as I know, if you want more pieces, you have to buy another set. I will probably do that when my son gets older.Also, my 10 year old niece really enjoyed playing with this toy.

Most of the balance toys made by Plan Toys are fun and engaging for my kids when they’re 3 years or older, but these were really hard for any of my kids to balance and it just seemed like it wouldn’t be very engaging for them. They enjoy the cactus much more.

My daughter is a 18 months and I worried this might be to much for her, but she actually does really well with it. The holes in the base, and little cactus parts aren't to bulky or to small. She quickly figured out how to stack them after watching me do it. She cracked up when they fell over and seems to like playing with it. The parts are small, which is why this toy is only played with when supervised. Plus my daughter is mostly out of the putting everything in her mouth phase. The first thing she did with one of the cactus parts was stick the little notch in her nose, I guess it looks like her blue nose sucker. Haha. Overall, I think this is a fantastic learning toy and we love it!