I brought these for my eldest son 2 years back although the age recommendation was 3 years plus I knew we could make use of them before then as my niece has the same ones. They retail at £4.99 but Amazon always have them on special offer and I think we paid £2 for ours which is great value.


In the box you receive a selection of 20 solid plastic cotton reels 5 of each colour available and also a strong thick thread for use with them which is a good size for little ones hands and as it is thick it does not wear down even after years of use.As the cotton reels are made from plastic they are durable which is essential for toys designed for toddlers and these are also rather chunky so little one can hold and play with them easily and very light.


What I love most about these is there are so many ways to play with them so as child grows they can be used over again and yet do not become boring. They can grow with the child and as they reach different development stages the toy can be changed in the way that we play to suit that.

Stacking - As they are round yet have a flat top and bottom they can be used just like building blocks and little ones get to practise their balancing skills which helps give them a steady hand while they are having fun.


Rolling- Simple fun for little one they just need to put the reels on their side and watch them roll although I did not realise how interesting this could be my children think it is amazing.

Colours and counting- Although they only come in yellow, blue green and red this is a great starting tool for teaching little ones their colours. As they are playing you can introduce the colours to them and this helps them learn them in a fun way. As the child is playing with the reels simple counting can be used to introduce numbers. Also my 4 year old boy uses these for low level sums. Although there are only 20 so it does limit the sums available we have used these to introduce him to adding and taking away simply by settle puzzles out with the reels. It has been a big hit and has helped him actually concentrate and want to learn.

Threading _with the thread that comes in the set it helps children with their fine motor skills as they need to concentrate and think carefully about getting the thread through the holes in the cotton reels my children love to do this over and over again.


Last but not least my children love to bang them together and make some noise and just examine these reels. We would carry these around with us in our changing bag in a sandwich bag and half the time they would not need to take them out the bag but simply use it as a rattle instead and examine ways they could move the reels around in the bag. As they are so small they are easy to carry around and they will not break from the rough and tumble of shaking around on the pushchair.


My only downside is the thread is rather long and although this is good in one way as it can fit most of the reels on to it even for my 4 year old it scares me him playing with something that can act as a rope. This is simple to solve and we play together with them and I think I may just be a paranoid mummy.


We love these and so far they have lasted for 3 of my children with no signs of wear and they have provided hours of fun. There are so many ways to play and it helps little ones imagination soars. The age recommendation is correct for independent play but my 18 month old son also finds ways to play with these and under adult supervision I see no reason to spoil his fun.