Let me just start off by saying that I can't speak to the product safety other than the obvious. I don't get overly sensitive about toys' being made in China because, let's face it, pretty much all of my son's toys are made in China. I don't know about the whole "California says this toy might contain carcinogens" thing, either. I have no idea what California's standards are versus other states, and I don't know if the fact that this toy apparently used to have that warning but for some unknown reason doesn't anymore should be worrisome. According to another reviewer, a Fisher Price customer service representative confirmed that no changes had been made to its manufacturing in the interim, which implies that they just removed the warning for whatever reason. I have no idea whether this toy was "safe" the whole time or wasn't "safe" but now is or the standards changed now no longer declaring this toy "unsafe;" I simply can't bring myself to lose sleep over it.
Anyway, about the toy... Overall, we have had a great time with it! First of all, it's a great price. Comparable toys made by other companies are almost always more expensive. I bought it when my son was only a few months old, and there was very little he could do with it. Now he's 10 months old and plays with it probably more than anything else. He likes to take the lid off, dump the shapes, pick up the shapes, put them back, smack them together, and he even matches them up. I'll see him, say, looking for the other blue circle to match the one in his hand.
Some complain that the cover opens too easily. I see that as a plus, actually, since my son is clearly too young to be using a shape sorter. He can easily open, dump, and put back the shapes. I'm teaching him colors and shapes with it, and he finds it interesting when I put the lid on it and drop the shapes in their respective slots. I'm sure when the time comes for him to be actually using it as a shape sorter that I will continue to appreciate the lid's opening easily because he will be able to sort the shapes, then dump them and start over. My sister, for example, has a screw-on lid one with wooden shapes, which is nice, but when her boys are done sorting the shapes, they need an adult to open it back up and re-dump them.
I guess it depends on the kid, but even if your child doesn't like it as a shape sorter, it's a good way to teach colors and shapes, as well as taking things out and putting them back in their place.
My niece has the Fisher Price shape sorter with the little elephant on the front (
Fisher-Price Growing Baby Elephant Shape Sorter
), and I played with it over Thanksgiving with my son. At first I was sorry I didn't buy that one because (1) it was cute and (2) it had the elephant that spun on the front, but after playing with it for a little bit, I'm glad I bought this one for two reasons: (a) it has more shapes; and (b) the colors match - meaning both circles are blue, both squares are green, etc. The elephant shape sorter had, say, a red circle and a green circle. Like I said above, my son likes to find the matching pieces, and I think their having the same color helps him out with that, e.g., he can easily find the two orange stars. It's not a big deal, but it made me feel less bad about not buying the cute elephant shape sorter.
Honestly I really have no complaints about this toy. If you're not sure about its origins and safety, then go ahead and buy something else. I'm not saying you don't have a point, but at this price I didn't expect this toy to be made in the USA with post-consumer recycled materials that I can compost down the line. There are definitely other options if you're worried about product safety.
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Reviews with images
Too small for me
For some reason this was much smaller than I anticipated. I'm returning it because it just wasn't what I was looking for and looking for something a little bigger. I still give it 4 stars because for someone looking for small blocks for their kids it's perfect.
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Great educational toy for toddlers!
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