Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards

I bought this toy because my children loved to play with pattern blocks at science and art museums. This was the only toy I found with real wood blocks that were the size and feel of the toys they had played with earlier. Using the blocks alone, my children loved to create an endless number of beautiful geometric patterns. The toy encourages creativity and promotes mathematical thinking.

Melissa & Doug Friendship Stamp Set

We gave this to our 3-year-old for Christmas. She LOVES it. She spends a lot of time stamping paper and then coloring in the pictures she makes. It’s made of wood and very sturdy. It also comes with colored pencils and two stamp pads of different colors, which is nice. We are very pleased with this stamp set.

Melissa & Doug Food Groups

We bought this set of play food for our 2 yr old to go with her new kitchen after being disappointed with the low quality of plastic food sets. We all love this set. The pros: very sturdy and made to last, takes a beating/frequent use, set includes a little bit of everything, comes with handy wooden baskets to store them in (or your child’s rock collection, which our child now uses them for!). Cons = foods are a little old school – certainly not realistic, they are much louder than plastic (esp. when dropped on hardwood floors). Overall, we recommend these as a nice alternative to plastic foods and cardboard boxes that will be dented and destroyed quickly.