Lakeshore Learning Super Fun Marble Run Review

This Christmas I changed my priorities on gifts.  With four children we have tons of toys, most of which dont get played with after the first flush of excitement.  This really bothers me because with how tight our budget is I cant afford to throw money away on things my children wont use.

So this year all our gifts were very carefully chosen to not only be something fun, but something they would really enjoy using over and over and would also be educational.

One of the items we bought for our four year old son was the  Super Fun Marble Run from Lakeshore Learning

http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/product/productDet.jsp?productItemID=1%2C689%2C949%2C371%2C917%2C157&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181113&bmUID=1358863647296

I bought it because I noticed that my little guy loves to watch things roll down through different courses and I thought it would keep him pretty busy.  I ordered it online and got it within 5 days which is very fast. Also it was pretty affordable at only $30.00 for the big set.  On Christmas morning after all the presents were opened I was surprised to note that not only my youngest son was fascinated by the marble roll, but so was my 8 year old, 9 year old, 15 year old daughter, and my husband!  They had a great time setting it up and trying to make cool courses for the marbles to go down.  And this trend has not faded with time like other toys we have bought.  Every time the marble roll is set up (which is most of the time, we keep it downstairs) the kids love playing with it. I even enjoy setting it up.  It can be a lot of fun figuring out the best ways to do it.  I think the biggest surprise is that my 15 year old daughter loves setting it up for her siblings!

We recently had some little boys over at our house to play ranging in ages 7 to 12 and they loved playing with it as well.

I also liked that the pieces are made of heavy duty plastic.  These were not cheap and do not break like other marble rolls I have seen.  This is a big plus because my kids can be hard on toys.

The only drawback I noted with this set is that it comes apart.  But I will say not excessively easy.  Just if my four year old gets too excited or hits it on accident.  However that can bring the whole thing down!

Also when they say for ages four and up I think that goes more for the ages of the people able to actually set it up.  My four year old cannot yet set it up on his own and needs help but even one to two year olds would love to watch this. But if you were going to have kids under four around it you would have to really watch them because there are small parts and marbles they could choke on.  If your are going to buy this and have more than one child I would also recommend going out and buying extra marbles because it only comes with 20.  We bought an extra bag and now I think I'm going to get another one because all three of my little ones likes to play with it at the same time.

THE PROS:  

fast delivery from the company

really large set of over 120 pieces

made of heavy duty hard to break pieces

appeals to a wide variety of ages

is educational

very affordable

gives hours of enjoyment

my kids are still wanting to play with it every day

THE CONS:

some children under 6 would not be able to build it with out lots of help

falls apart easy

needs more marbles