Happy Animal Magnetic Puzzle

At first I was not impressed by the Happy Animal Magnetic Puzzle but now it is one of my favorite toys. Why? Because it is small and portable, you can hang it on the wall like a picture and best of all, the puzzle pieces are magnetic so they do not get lost so easily. It is also a great learning tool. At first my children’s surface feel gets trained by matching colors and shapes, later their cognitive skills get trained by matching the animal with the right thing. As a design professional I appreciate the clean execution, the characteristics of the wooden material, the vibrant color choice and the sculptural form of the individual puzzle pieces.

On the downside the colors are not as rich in contrast as shown on the Oompa page. For example the white bunny is not so white because the background green is shining through. Same is true for the bright yellow canary bird. The blue background is just too dark that the yellow is watered down and not as bright and shiny as it should be. Also I do not trust the paint and the laminated wood made in China to be free of harmful chemicals so I keep the toy away from my 6 months old baby. I do not want her to chew on any of painted and glued wood pieces. It’s fine for my toddler to play with it and he enjoys the puzzle.