Orchard Toys are a wonderful British company who specialise in games and jigsaw puzzles for children. They are well made and always have an educational aspect to them. I am very fond of the brand, and actually if I hadn’t started following them on Twitter I would never have started this blog! We’ve been lucky enough to have reviewed a number of Orchard Toys games and puzzles over the last 12 months and today I’m bringing you a double whammy of Jigsaws! Firstly, The Giant Town Jigsaw, which was launched recently.
The Giant Town Jigsaw and the On the Farm Jigsaw Puzzle can both be linked with the Giant Road Jigsaw, which I will be reviewing next. I got to see the new Giant Town Jigsaw for myself when I visited the Toy Fair in London. It has so much detail and I knew Monkey would love it as a stand alone item. Knowing that we could have add-on play possibilities too, just adds to the pleasure.
When we reviewed the On the Farm Jigsaw Puzzle about a year ago, we only had one little niggle. We’d played with it in the living room, on carpet. The board is not as thick as other floor puzzles from Orchard Toys. Monkey got frustrated when the puzzle came apart easily. We’ve since played with it in the kitchen, and it’s stayed together with no problems at all.
So, with that in mind, Monkey got to work in the kitchen, what was inside the box? There is a 15 piece jigsaw playmat that depicts a typical town centre. There are 15 play pieces and plastic stands, and 3 ‘exits’ so you can link the puzzle with the Giant Road Jigsaw.
The play pieces are all made of thick card, Monkey popped them out of the card and I fixed them in the plastic stands. As with all Orchard Toys products, the details are wonderful, the colours are eye-catching and the graphics in general are just superb.
There was so much to talk about, even before Monkey had made the main puzzle up. The set is aimed at children aged 3-10 years. It’s perfect for a 4 year old Monkey and his vivid imagination.
I can remember this time last year, when we received On the Farm, Monkey needed help putting the main board together, this year with the Giant Town Jigsaw, he was away. Lovely to see the improvement with his manual dexterity.
When the Giant Town Jigsaw is made up you have so much discussion potential – what shall we buy from the market stalls, can you find the petrol station. Observation skills are tested and imagination allowed to go wild. As you can see from the photos below, the Giant Town Jigsaw is a set in itself. You can move the play pieces around the roads, without needing anything else. Monkey uses his own cars and tractors too.
We’re teaching Monkey all about road safety, both at home and at school. This puzzle is great for working that through. Stop at the traffic lights and pelican crossing. Do your looking and listening, is it safe to cross? Which way is the traffic coming? Look, the cyclist has her helmet on, just like I do Mummy!
You can also see the 3 ‘exit’ sections giving you connection possibilities to the Giant Road Jigsaw.
Monkey has had lots of playtime with this set by itself, he especially likes the Fruit and Veg stall as that’s Daddy P’s background.
The overall size of the Giant Town Jigsaw is 85.5cms x 69.5cms. It’s priced at £13.95 which I think is reasonable. There is a lot of play potential. Factor in the add-on Giant Road Jigsaw, and On the Farm puzzle. As you can see, we’ve linked all three here. Hours worth of fun to be had.
disclaimer: we were sent this set for the purpose of review, our comments remain our own honest thoughts.
We’re trying this out at the moment too, the only difficulty is finding the space to get all three set up together. It’s so much fun when we do though!
Yes, we just squeezed them into the space available in the kitchen!
Oh that looks fantastic! I love how the little people add an extra dimension to the jigsaw and a whole new level of play x
It’s very clever, you could also play with the characters separately – genius idea
Wow they are huge! What a lot of fun. I love the little people you get with it too.
It’s great, we’ve had a lot of fun
Another cool set!
Great isn’t it.