In the Night Garden was a very popular television series when it first launched back in 2007. It became a big hit with toddlers, as its targeted audience was children aged one to four. In the Night Garden is a magical place that exists between waking and sleeping imaginations of children. Many In the Night Garden products have spawned from the hit TV series, the characters have been emblazoned on a multitude of various merchandise.


One such item is the, In the Night Garden Playtray which is produced by Ravensburger. I generally avoid buying products that are endorsed by television shows, as they can be more expensive and the quality isn't always as good, however, on this occasion I succumbed, as the wooden playtray was similarly priced to its counterparts, and my son adored the show at the time, so I thought he would like this puzzle.


Peg puzzles are the first stage of puzzles that introduce little ones to puzzling. There are various different peg puzzles that feature different themes, along with the character based puzzles. Peg puzzles are perfect for early puzzlers, not only are they great fun; they are educational too, as the manipulation of the pieces improves fine motor skills, as well as developing dexterity and hand-eye coordination. They stimulate thinking, increase concentration and focus skills, as well as giving a child a sense of accomplishment when they complete the puzzle, which boosts their self confidence.


The Night Garden playtray is constructed from a high quality solid wood, the board measures 29.5cm x 21cm. This particular puzzle is recommended for children aged 18 months and up. The puzzle comprises of six chunky pieces that are supported with a plastic peg, that are an ideal size for little hands to grasp. The pieces represent some of the favourite Night Garden characters, featuring, Igglepiggle, Upsy Daisy, Makka Pakka, The Tombliboos, The Pontipines, and The Pinky Ponk. The main character names are printed onto the board alongside the images; possibly to help us parents identify the strangely named creatures. The pieces are thick and durable and they can easily be wiped clean. The illustrations are very bright and colourful, with the pictures representing the characters perfectly. The play tray is packaged in a card and cellophane wrapper, which is easy to remove and discard.


The puzzle provides a challenge for toddlers and it can take some practice and determination for them to slot the pieces into the corresponding slots. The chunky pieces slot into the board with ease once they have been aligned, and they are easily lifted out. The pieces are an ideal size and they are spaced out on the board to give enough space for a piece to be turned around to be aligned, once a toddler places it onto the board.


My son was delighted when I presented him this puzzle, as he recognized his favourite T.V characters. It took some practice for him to grasp the pegs in order to lift them out, this improved his pincer grasp and it required a great level of concentration, once he had mastered lifting the pieces out he would happily repeat this process, as I would place them back in for him to practice. After he had been shown several times he attempted placing the pieces back onto the board, this required more patience and skill as the pieces are not simple shapes, it did take quite some time and a lot of assistance to begin with, as I would push the piece over to the corresponding slot so he could place it in. After he had managed to identify, and match up the pieces to the corresponding slots he had more success with the puzzle, although it did take a lot of practice to align them perfectly before they would slot in place. The puzzle provided a great challenge, and once my son had mastered the skill of placing the pieces into the board, he would continue to practice and complete the puzzle time and time again.


Although I think the show is a bit bonkers, toddlers seem to love it, and the playtray was a big hit with my son. He really enjoys puzzles and this was the perfect puzzle, that was age appropriate and it provided a challenge. The puzzle proved to be good value for money, as it had plenty of play value, and it was durable and hard wearing. As this is a high quality wooden puzzle it will last and be good enough for subsequent children.


This In the Night Garden wooden playtray puzzle retails at £7.99, and is available from on-line retailers such as Amazon, and it can be found in good toy stores.


In the Night Garden Official Website: www.inthenightgarden.co.uk