Melissa & Doug Abacus Classic Wooden Developmental Toy, Brightly-Coloured Wooden Beads, 8 Extension Activities, for Girls and Boys ages 3 and Up

Product is a nice chunky size for young children to hold and use, yet not too big and bulky that it can't be easily stored away when not in use. Very sturdy and practical, i bought it to help my 5-year old with adding and subtracting, and will hopefully help her with homework as she is now going into year one at school. It is a good visual tool to help children to understand working with numbers. So far she is getting the jist of how to use it for adding, taking away and counting, and im sure as she learns more math it will become even more useful for her, as can also be used to help understand multiplication and times-tables etc. Additionally my baby also finds this abacus fun, he likes the bright colours and sounds that the beads make when they move from side to side. It is robust and is definitely built to withstand being dropped and bashed about. Good value for money. I have no doubt that this will be a timeless, useful learning toy in our home for years to come. Glad i bought it.

Had this for a couple of years now. Kids have thrown it around and it's been under other toys at the bottom of the toy box etc. Still in one piece though. Quality build and hardwearing.I have used this to help kids with the concept of adding and subtraction. Can't say that this is their favourite toy. They'd rather play with their NDS than with this. But has an educational value and they get a concept of addition and subtraction for their maths through this. Would recommend it for 4+yrs in my opinion, but others may have different experiences.Update May 2014Have had several kids use it (bigger than average family!!) and my 3 year old is using it now. Still as good as new. Very hardwearing and solid toy. The colours of the beads and the appearence of the wood still good. It has been a very good purchase.These days things you buy don't last long. But nice to have something all my kids have used and still almost as good as when the first child received it. If I get around to it I will upload a picture.I hope these ones they ship now are as good as the one that I received many years ago (saw this on Amazon for £6 recently, which is cheaper than I paid years ago and represent good value).

Extremely well made quality Abacus. Solid wood frame very securely put together. Thick shiny metal rods and sturdy wooden beads.Height approx ~ 12" (30cm).Width at the widest base point approx ~ 12" (30cm).10 rows of 10 beads ~ Navy Blue, Dark Red, Natural Wood, Dark Green and Yellow.As a baby, my little one loved to bash the beads as they are beautifully tactile. They offer no resistance gliding effortlessly across the sturdy metal rods, creating a lovely noise as they crash into each other. Hands and feet would be moved up and down enjoying the smooth rolling sensation of the beads, moving them side to side to make the noise.As a toddler, holding the frame and tilting it side to side to create LOUD crashes. We count the beads, moving each in turn. I find this helps to slow down and touch count, improving hand eye co ordination. This helps with colour learning and reinforcement as the beads are lovely and bright. When older we will use this as a numeracy aide but for now this more a sensory toy and percussion instrument.We find this to be a multi use abacus, relevant from baby upwards. This will be in our family for many years to come, God willing.

The media could not be loaded. I didn't expect to get such a sturdy piece but i love it. I expect to last very long compared to the last one we had 🙏definitely recommend 👌

Definitely better than what I was expecting. Pretty solid.Only issue is that it the paint / plastic chipped a few minutes after receiving it.

Perfect to help my little girl with her maths as she was struggling

Pleased with this purchase. I looked at loads of options online and instore (and there are quite a few!) before buying this one. More expensive compared to may others but went by the reviews posted here and happy with my decision. As far as functionality / usefulness go, its an Abacus and I guess every kid should have one (enough said). Took a few days for my daughter to get interested in it but it is now part of her selection of favourite toys. The reason I would recommend this is that it is very sturdy and has withstood quiet a bit of bashing. It feels solid and is heavy compared to other I have seen in stores. It is not very big but is handy for transportation and I can't see why one needs a giant abacus.

I decided to buy two sets of letters and two sets of numbers and the abacus too but for some reason I could only buy one set of numbers and letters. I get the whole rationing thing with food but with letters and numbers!? Strange but with no school at the moment wouldn't we want to teach our children more and get them to eat less. What a world we live in. Anyway, I'm sure its a stocking issue but it still seems odd to me. Anyway, on to the products. We bought a set of letters previously and thought we would get a couple of sets of each numbers and letters, an abacus and a magnetic whiteboard to "teach" our 3 year old at "school" as she doesn't go currently due to the pandemic. It worked, was fun and as she already had a small table and chair we set up a classroom and we got her to interact with the whiteboard. This is now a daily thing and she loves "school!!" We like Melissa and Doug's toys but my one frustration is "Made in China" why!! You have a UK brand, children, learning and fun. I'd rather pay more and buy British so I was a bit disappointed as there are cheaper out there obviously from the Far East. If we keep making this about money we won't have any industry left in the UK, this is nothing against China but we are being swamped and are in real danger of being run from afar. We need to be less obsessed with cost and care more about where we buy our goods from otherwise there are countries that will have all our money and we will be looking for landfill abroad too.