Melissa & Doug 52 Wooden Alphabet Magnets in a Box - Uppercase and Lowercase Letters - FSC Certified

I am going to be a bit of a contrarian here, and go out on a limb and say I'm pretty happy with these. We've had them for two and a half years right now.Some unavoidable truths about these are that they are wood, with a thin magnet on the back, and the colorful letter part is glued on cardstock. Which is a bummer if your kiddo is a chewer. Really, you should never leave a child who chews alone with anything with a magnet on it, period. So while I would prefer it if these were plastic, every brand of plastic alphabet magnets I've seen has a small magnet in it...the kind that if it were chewed out, or if the glue should not work so well and it should fall out, can do a whole lot of damage to intestines. They'd need to eat more then one to do that, but trust me, those kinds of things happen, and more then one small magnet can punch holes in a child's intestines. These magnets, are less likely to be doing that because they are week, flat, thin, and cover the entire thing, making them harder to swallow. So, as the mother of a child who is a serious chewer even headed into his fifth birthday, I prefer these because they don't come with the same kinds of risks plastic letters with smaller, more powerful magnets have.Having said all of that, it's been two and a half years, and the magnets still work. Now, these are items I do not leave on the fridge or alone with my son given he is a chewer, and in terms of their toys, they actually come with a case which has a side for the upper case letters, a side for the lower case letters, and a sliding plastic lid. At least, they did when I purchased that. HUGE fan of that. I am also a huge fan of the fact that they have lower case letters, because many systems do not, and yet, lower case letters are the ones most often used in writing and reading, therefore the most important when it comes to decoding.I love that these are different colors, but not too many to be distracting. Today when I was doing therapy with my son, I started with matching letter cards, and then moved on to "give me the red 'a' " with these. Having colors is very helpful in using these to teach kiddos with special needs or intellectual disabilities, both of which apply to my little man. And because they are magnets, I can be the queen of the multi-task with them, because how that went down today is he would request to play tickles on his computer, I would chase him, tickle his ribs, then put the red 'a' and yellow 'n' on the metal gate at the top of the stairs and say "give me..." Yah, so for me, I love these and find them a very useful, multifunctional teaching tool. They are cool part of my plan for helping my little man learn how to read and I'm happy with them. But definitely not one you should leave alone with your kiddos where they can chew on them. And perhaps having them wash their hands afterwards wouldn't hurt either, given that older versions may have contained some lead. So do Christmas lights for that matter, and I imagine most parents don't think a thing about letting their kids near those. So my advice would be, watch your kiddos, don't let them chew on these, and wash their hands afterwards, and these are a great teaching resource.

I bought these magnets because they seem to be a very nice quality for my kids. The biggest factor was that the magnet is across the entire back of the letters.I felt uncomfortable buying other types of magnet letters like the cheap plastic letters with tiny magnets that could potentially fall out, as I believe they are just glued into the letters.They also look fairly nice on my fridge. I mean as nice as a bunch of letters sprawled across a fridge can look. But they aren't too tacky and obvious. I feel my kitchen isn't over run by toys like other areas of my house. Also my kids can play on the fridge while I cook meals or do dishes. Its nice to be able to pause and talk about letters. We are able to multitask well while learning our letters.I began with only the capital letters and left the lowercase in the wooden box that it came with. The reason I chose to do this is that my kids are only 3 and while they do know their alphabet pretty well I think they are still a bit young to begin understanding uppercase vs. lowercase.This purchase was so worth it. Bonus: It comes with upper case AND lower case letters. This will be a great addition to our homeschooling and preschool area in our home.

As a SAHM, I'm always looking for educational yet fun ways to keep my little one engaged, and these alphabet magnets tick all the right boxes.First things first, the quality is just what you'd expect from Melissa & Doug. The wood is sturdy and smooth, no splinters or chipping paint here despite the rigorous "toddler testing" they’ve gone through. The magnets are strong enough to stick to our fridge without constantly sliding down, which is a relief because no one likes to play pick-up-the-letters ten times a day. Plus they aren’t the cheap foam letters we all end up regretting trying at some point (parents know..)The colors are bright and cheerful, catching my kiddo's eye and making them more appealing as playtime fodder. Each letter is a good size for tiny hands to grasp and manipulate, which is great for their fine motor skills. Plus, sorting them by color or lining them up to form simple words makes for great open ended learning and play. Overall- it’s a great buy and your kids will be able to utilize them for years..it’s a no-brainer in my book.

Overall, it's a good-quality set, though it comes with a few minor drawbacks. First off, the colors are absolutely adorable and bright, which makes learning numbers even more fun for little ones. The paint job is well done, adding to the overall appeal of the set.The numbers are made of wood, but they’re quite thin—almost flimsy—which may not hold up to rough play over time. The magnets are also thin, so they aren't as strong as I would have liked. They hold fine on the fridge or magnetic board but can slide off easily if bumped.The set includes numbers ranging from 0 to 20, but it's important to note that the numbers from 10-19 are made up of separate pieces (e.g., the number 10 is a "1" and a "0" rather than a single piece). This results in a lot of "1"s being included in the box to create these two-digit numbers.One nice touch is the inclusion of math symbols like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and the equal sign. This allows for more fun and educational activities beyond just number recognition, and kids can practice basic math problems.Overall, the set is visually appealing and useful for learning, but the thin wood and weak magnet strength are worth considering if you’re looking for durability.