Rubbabu3D Shape Sorter Animal Puzzle - 18 Months & up

This Rubbaroo shapesorter is pretty neat. I think I love it as much or more than my 12Month old son. It is lightweight and soft. The pieces are flexible and brightly colored. It is a bit difficult for him to use but is a toy that will grow with him.

What a great toy!!! My grandson LOVES this puzzle!! I will continue to look for more of their products!!

Five stars for the puzzle itself - but look elsewhere before buying on amazon. A popular homeschooling website periodically has these on sale for much less. (Timberdoodle.)The quality of the materials in this puzzle is superb. It is made of soft, squishable rubber and both the board and the pieces are covered with a material that feels like very soft crushed velvet. We have enjoyed the variety of the pieces in the puzzle - as you can see in the picture, they include a monkey, a giraffe, a swan, a dolphin, a snake, an elephant, a bear, and a large bird like a toucan, as well as a tree. The pieces fit nicely into the holes and also the texture allows them to stay put when you pick the puzzle up and move it - even if the three year old picks it up and moves it! This is a plus over some of the wooden puzzles that slide around and let pieces fall out if they aren't carried perfectly flat.In addition to standard putting-the-pieces-in-the-holes-puzzle play, we have gotten a ton of use out of this puzzle with imaginative play. We flip the puzzle board over so the bottom is facing up and pretend it is a lake for the swan and the fish to swim in, while the other animals come and take drinks from the water. (Often times, our play silks come out with this puzzle as well and become grass, snow, hills and caves.) We try to hook the animals together and see how high of a stack we can make before they fall apart (again, the velvety texture gives them a bit of a grippiness factor against the same fabric). The monkey can be sandwiched onto the top of the tree so that it is like he is sitting in the tree (and if you put the base of the tree in one of the smaller parts of one of the puzzle holes, it will stand upright). The giraffe and the elephant can do this also although it is a bit silly for them to be in the tree, but they can do it. ;-)We've had this puzzle for over a year and it has not shown any signs of wear. If you had a teething baby I would withhold these for awhile as the fuzzies might come off if they got wet and were scraped/rubbed incessantly as happens in a baby's mouth, so it would be better suited for the over 1 crowd solely for that reason. There are no small parts though so I'd think it would be safe for infants otherwise. Our kids have not lost interest in this puzzle, but we also put it away periodically so they don't see it for a few months and then bring it out again so it stays special. My 4 year old enjoys it as much as my 2 year old. It is nice to have something different than the standard wood and cardboard puzzles that we have. It is a very soothing sensation to hold and squeeze the animals and to press them down into their holes, even for me. The ONLY con on this puzzle is the price. We got ours for twenty bucks on the above mentioned homeschooling website (if you google "Rubbabu 3D shape sorter" I think it is the first listing that comes up) during one of their sales. I recently saw it there for fifteen. I would spend up to $25 on it (it is very nice and excellent quality), but not more than that, unless price is not a concern in which case I would say go for it. ;-)