Melissa and Doug, Let’s Explore Flower Gardening Playset Review

Reviewed by H Chan

Firstly I have to say, this set is super cute! Even in the box you can see how beautiful the pieces are, the colours, the textures, you just can’t wait to open it. You know that feeling when you’re just as excited to open it as the child? It is totally that feeling!

Melissa and Doug have always been a staple in my house, with my own children and the children I care for. The quality and reputation have been second to none and I will always look into their new releases. They’re also looking into being a more sustainable company by planting ten million trees by 2030, and only using FSC certified paper and wood products.

From the outside of the box you can see most of the pieces. They are two plastic plant pots, two pieces of sponge soil, two gorgeous flowers covered in a felt type fabric and with fabric petals, a spray bottle that holds real water, two seed packets and the seed/bulb to go in them. There is also a cute little medal, a plant food shaker, two plant labels and a nice colourful planting guide with easy to follow steps for the child to follow to plant their plants.

The idea is that the seeds or bulb can be planted in the fabric soil, in a small gap. Then watered and fed, until then replaced with the fully grown plant. Which has a soft foamy inside. The flowers are light and easy to carry in little hands. My little one spent half an hour just pretending to smell them.

This set doesn’t just nurture a love for gardening, it helps with fine motor skills, instruction following, it’s variety of textures help with those sensory needs and it is just pure fun! The water bottle was a favourite with the children as they could full it with real water and spray the plants. The sponge dries quickly and the fabric petals on the flowers actually change colour. The children were delighted! It soon dries and can be sprayed again.  It encourages imaginative play, we had a garden centre with flower shop and then even played Peter Rabbit and they were Mr McGregors flowers!

The age range is 3-6, which I totally agree with although if you took away the smaller parts (the seeds and the labels etc) then a younger child could just play with the pots and the flowers – depending on the child, and supervised. My eight year old son who is outside the age range also loved playing with these too.

Rating: We absolutely loved this set, rating it at 5 out of 5 stars.

You can find it here at an RRP of £38.99. Usually I’d think this too high a price point for this type of toy, however the quality is excellent and it will last a long time. The hours of play already and the hours ahead have made it worth that already in my opinion. The only thing I would add if possible were more flowers or even sell an add on pack, although I have seen they have a vegetable garden set we now have our eye on.