Melissa & Doug Review

I have always admired talented people, especially the ones that love kids, not that I don’t (I have a bunch of them) but I don’t think of myself as a kid person. They are the ones that get down on the floor and PLAY, they lose track of time, they truly have fun pretending they are a horse, a doctor, a princess etc. That’s just not me. Believe me, I try, but I am always thinking that there is something that I need to be doing so I spend that quality time trying to get my little angels to play on their own. I have found a solution in toys from Melissa and Doug. Because we are very busy, have a lot of kids and are constantly on the move, we like toys that are fun and engaging, educational and sometimes more important, something they can do on their own, whatever age they may be.

We currently own many Melissa and Doug floor puzzles, which are durable and doable for both our littlest and oldest (like the human body floor puzzle)…depending on the puzzle. AND, they keep my 4 year old busy on the kitchen floor (check out the giant fire truck puzzle), while I make dinner because she can do it herself and is thrilled that she doesn’t need mom’s help. We have been so impressed with these puzzles that we give them as birthday gifts.

We are also huge fans of Melissa and Doug’s travel games. We have worn out our Flip to Win Bingo, that we keep in a seat pocket in the car. There are no pens to lose, no mess to be made. It has been durable, doable and fun! Again, this is something that keeps all age groups in the car happy and I don’t need to schlep pens and paper for fun, it’s already in the car. As they get a bit older, there is the license plate game, as well as hang man, which we plan to purchase for our summer road trip for our 6 and 8 year old.

I cringe when I see my kids dragging out the arts and crafts. Just say “paint” and my blood pressure starts to go up. I like the idea of all the crafts, but four kids can pack a punch in the mess department, if you know what I mean. As a solution, we have taken to stamping. Melissa and Doug have fabulous stamping kits that are big enough for little hands to hold and use to make a picture they are proud of, with a mom that stays sane during the process.

We have never once been disappointed with anything we have purchased from Melissa and Doug. It’s become my personal ‘go to’ brand for gifts and what I recommend to new parents looking for great toys. One last confession, I don’t send Melissa and Doug products to anyone who ever sent us loud or messy toys. Instead, I get revenge with even louder toys.