My son was given this toy as a present on his first Christmas when he was 6 months old. It is a lovely looking toy that is brightly coloured. The toy is currently retailing on Amazon for £12.79 with free delivery (July 2012). The toy is suitable from 6 months upwards.

The toy consists of a classic hammering bench and a hammer, which are all made out of durable and sustainable rubberwood. The hammer has a red handle and a natural finish head which is strong but fairly light to pick up. The hammer bench base also has a natural finish, with each of the legs being a different primary colour. The pegs are fairly large and are held in the hammering base by holes with rubber bit in, there are 6 pegs in total, each one being a different primary colour.

The chunky pegs and hammer are easy to grasp and the toy encourages hand and eye co-ordination, as well as developing manual dexterity.

When my son first started playing with this toy is was around 10 months old, he was mainly interested in the hammer, and was not strong enough to hammer the pegs through to the other side of the hammering bench, as he grew he used to push the pegs through the hammering bench with his hands and was able to put the pegs back and repeat the whole process. The toy, in our house had a limited life span as by the time my son discovered what the hammer was supposed to do he was more interested in bashing things that hitting the pegs through the holes.

Overall the toy is well made, looks great and does encourage babies to hold things and it also encourages them to learn their colours and improve their overall hand and eye coordination. I will give the toy 3 stars overall as it has a limited life span and there are cheaper, just as effective similar products on the market.