Design & Drill Activity Center

We already own a design & drill set so I knew my kids would love this activity center and I was right! My girls who are 4.5 years old and 2.5 years old loved creating different designs and I loved seeing them take turns using the power drill and screwdriver. This set comes with 20 activity cards so my 4.5 year old enjoyed picking an activity card and creating it on the board. I love this is helping both of them to work on their fine motor skills and it is also teaching them to share, count, practice their colors and be creative! All the pieces are durable and high quality and even when my 2.5 year old is a little rough with it, it still works perfectly! This is the perfect indoor toy and I love that it can be played with by both of my kids in different ways. Also it is a great toy that kids can grow with and play with for many years! Highly recommend!

This is hours of fun. I bought it for an 18month old who was able to start playing with it right away, although he had to use both hands on the drill. This toy is great for hand eye coordination. It's. Fun to practice drilling in and removing the screws. It also comes with pattern cards - you cannot lose any of the screws though. In your set, you have just enough to complete the pattern cards and no extras. Included on my review is a picture of how to get everything back in the box. The screw board has to be upside down.

Everyone thinks this toy is great. Even my toddler took the box out, sat down and played with it ... correctly too! What I like: - The concept is great. Good for coordination and fine motor skills. Safe alternative to real tools and great practice for little helpers anxious to assist on household repairs and projects. Our children have been exposed to tools from an early age; the motorized screw driver is out regularly to replace batteries in toys. So they were thrilled to have their own. - I like the size of the pieces. This is one older-child toy that I'm comfortable leaving out with little ones around. - The forward and reverse (to take the bolts out quickly). What I dislike: - The drill stopped working on the forth use! And, though a loved-toy, my kids did not spend hours playing with it. They put a handful of bolts in each use. On the forth use, reverse stopped functioning, and a little later when I went to clean up, forward stopped working too. I've contacted Educational Insights and hope that they will resolve the issue. I assume that we received a defective drill. - The forward and reverse are mixed up -- Might be related to the defective drill? - The shape cards are not held in place and are difficult to see unless you are looking directly down. Personally, I prefer the kids to be creative in their own designs anyway. So this does not bother me too much. I will update this review when I have a response from Educational Insights. UPDATE: Educational Insights sent a replacement drill immediately upon receipt of my feedback, which I submitted online. They have a one year warranty, which I had not realized. The new drill works perfectly and has yet to have an issue. Also forward is forward, and reverse is reverse.

I ordered this fit my son for his third birthday. He really wanted a drill to pay with, just like daddy, and I came across this and thought it would be great to have something to go along with it. Upon opening it, . I did feel a little silly spending as much as I did for a simple, plastic toy...but oh well that's the day we live in ;) but it is nice enough, and sure enough, it has provided hours of play over the last month or so since we got it, and I anticipate it will be played with a lot over the years. There is a lot of options for open ended play, besides the included picture cards. It's just fun to drill and undrill, with different drill heads, or put the drill head on the manual best and screw it in by hand. Great toy for building fine motor skills. The one complaint I do have is that the drill that came with this mysteriously reversed the forward and reverse search after less than an hour of play, then got stuck on whenever it was in reverse, then got hit and smelled like burnt plastic. We actually ordered an extra drill, because I knew both my kids, age three and five, would want to play at the same time and since the board is big enough, I thought ten bucks was worth the possibility of shared and enjoyed play time. Which I can tell you now it is worth it!! Buy another drill if you have more than one young child. Anyway, the o other full was higher quality, it was slightly different, looked a little newer. It worked fine. But if course Amazon sent me an exchange, easy and painless, so buy a big deal. Just makes me wonder how long the drill will last...? Hope the replacement, which was just the singular drill and the newer model compared to the one that comes with the kit, will last longer. Either way, I do highly recommend this toy. It's a little expensive for what it physically consists of, but for a toy kids love that is"educational", and will appeal to a wide range of young kids, I think it's worth it.

I bought this toy for my 5-year-old. He has autism and loves tool type of toys. As soon as we opened this he got a HUGE grin on his face. Totally a hit with him! My 3-year-old daughter was DYING for a turn, and she loves to use it as well. Surprisingly, even my 19-month-old daughter can join in with her older siblings...she puts the pegs into the holes for them. It's great for their fine motor skills...getting the drill bit in the right spot is a little tricky for small hands. There are also hand tools which are good practice for the little ones, too. I also use it to practice turn-taking with the 3 and 5 year olds...each gets to drill a certain number of pegs and then has to trade the drill with their sibling. And it is FUN! My kids like just filling up the whole board, but I think after we've had it for awhile (it's only been 2 weeks) we can start using some of the patterns. Great idea to extend the life of the toy. This toy seems really durable, has lots of play options (pattern or freestyle, different drill bits, power tool or hand tool), is educational AND fun. And rarely do I find a toy that all three of my kids can sit around at the same time and play with...but they do with this one! Highly recommended! UPDATE 9/11: We have had this toy for three years and it is STILL one of the most popular toys in our house. My kids are now 7, 6, and 4, and all will still play with this one. I do rotate it so they don't see it for a couple months and then when it comes back out they are all fighting over who gets it next. One thing I find interesting is that none of them have ever been interested in making the pictures...they just love to use the drill and get those pegs in!

I bought this after reading about it on blog by the stay at home moms. Find them on pinterest. Excellent ideas for playing with your little ones and buying toys that grow with them, On to my review. My husband wasn't sure about buying this toy for our four year daughter. The price was reasonable but he just wasn't sure it was anything she would get real interested in. Boy was he wrong. Out of all the stuff she got for Christmas this was the item she played with most of the day and will return to on a weekly basis. Keep in mind that my little love has the attention span of a gnat and constantly jumps from one activity to another but I have seen her working with this little toy for 15-20 minutes at a time. For us that is a big deal. There are many options for play and after the general lesson on the various parts and how to use them she was off and running. For now she likes to choose a pattern from the dozen or so that are provided and follow it. She will use the drill and screw in each of the colored screws to create the pattern and then show it off and proceed to remove the screws to put it all away. So far we have not had to replace any batteries which I am surpised about since it has been used pretty regular. It is made of sturdy plastic and has been stepped on a couple of times with no breakage. Over all I would say this is the perfect addition to your child's store of toys. Excellent for ages 4 and up. Helps with dexterity, pattern recognition and color distinction.

This toy is spectacular, my son loves it. It is also great to have something he likes well enough and plays with long enough that when he is bad I tell him, but if you aren't good, I will take your drill toy and it usually works! It is also good as a single mom to prep him for putting stuff together, now he knows how to work a drill! :-) Update: My son still plays with this toy and the batteries in the drill have lasted this whole time. Not a battery sucker and engaging even for older kids.

Bought as a present for my son who just turned 4. He enjoys creating the different designs, but gets frustrated with the hand tools and loses interest. Which brings me to the drill...what an asinine design! We tried to install the batteries, but one of the compartments was too narrow for the AA battery. So the spring mechanism that is supposed to keep pressure with the plate and complete the circuit could not function properly and the drill would not work. If I can keep him interested, it is a good educational toy...but I would recommend redesigning the drill.