The words used to describe this toy, "Educational" and "shape sorter". Four shapes come with this toy, square blocks, cylinders, triangles and discs. THE CYLINDER, AND DISC FITI N THE SQUARE HOLE!!!! How educational is that??!! I bought this for a gift for a friends 18 month old son. I was so embarrassed!! (Hi, here's an educational toy for your son, oh by the way it can teach him to be stupid by letting him put the wrong shapes in the wrong hole!!!

I'm sorry but I do not agree with a previous reviewer who wrote;
"Some of the other pieces can fit through multiple holes, for
instance, the yellow cilinders can go through the round hole
or the square hole. This drives my husband nuts, but I like
it because it means my son can be successful in putting a
piece through a hole even though he is not perfect."

I am not berating the previous reviewer, but I do not agree with the philosophy that we need to praise everyone, even if they do something wrong. This absolutely does not happen in industry. The toy is rated for 18 months and up.

The toy is well constructed and pleasing to the eye.

But, given the obvious defect I am planning on returning it as soon as I replace it with an educational shape sorter that actually does what it was intended to do, teach shape sorting. The ONLY reason I rated it as 1 star for educational value and overall rating was because the Amazon site would not let me enter 0 stars.

John
Barrington, RI

P.S. Yes I am an engineer. (electrical)Mailbox Sorter

The one thing I would have to say negative about this toy is the door on the mail box has to be opened upward. On the older mail box sorters the door opens down not up and is easier to get the shapes out. Other than that the toy is a very good toy for kids and is easy to clean due to the material that is made from.

We bought this toy for our nine-month-old son. First, it comes with two green coin-shaped sortable pieces that are right on the ragged edge of chokable, so we put those up. Some of the other pieces can fit through multiple holes, for instance, the yellow cilinders can go through the round hole or the square hole. This drives my husband nuts, but I like it because it means my son can be successful in putting a piece through a hole even though he is not perfect. When he's a little older he'll get the concept of round-through-round, but for now he's not frustrated. (We also stick clothespins through the holes.) It also has a mail slot for pretend play when he gets even older. It's a very sturdy little all-wood mailbox, and very cute.

My daughter loves this mailbox. It's constructed very well. We also use it to put flashcards in when we're going through the pack of them.