Hape Stacking Music Set Review
I was recently stuck for a birthday present for my soon to be two year old niece. She is particularly difficult to buy for because she is the third child in the family, so has pretty much every toy known to man, as she has her older siblings’ toys, plus lots handed down from my kids. The brief that I was given by my brother was that she liked music, they didn’t need any battery-operated electronic toys, and definitely nothing with lots of small parts as the house is a bit chaotic with three young kids, and sets have a habit of ending up without vital component parts!
I was really struggling to come up with anything that fitted the brief perfectly, until Hape asked if we would like to try out their Stacking Music Box. It seemed to be a perfect fit – it includes five musical instruments, is wooden so is solid and would stand up to being used by three children, was a traditional toy so didn’t use batteries and it all stacks together into a self-contained box, with not small parts to get lost. Perfect!
The Hape Stacking Music Box arrived well packaged and the box is good quality – it looks like a nice gift to give. The toy is basically five wooden stacking boxes, all of which fit inside each other, and each with a musical instrument built in, alongside a wooden drum stick. The largest box is a drum, followed by a xylophone, a gong, a scratch board and a shaker. Each of the boxes is painted in a different colour and the paint has a high quality and durable finish. We were particularly impressed by the quality of the instruments and the sounds they made. The drum makes a satisfyingly loud noise and because it is constructed like a proper drum with a skin it sounds like a drum – it isn’t just knocking on wood. The gong is a metal gong, so again, it sounds like it should sound, and my niece absolutely loved it.
As well as being used for the musical instruments, the set can also be used as a set of stacking boxes to build a tower. The instrument elements are all located on the sides of the boxes, so they do not get in the way when used as a stacking set. My niece loved using the set in this way just as much as she enjoyed playing the instruments.
This is a high-quality wooden toy – all of the kids in the household have been playing with it and I have absolutely no doubt that it will stand up to daily use in a busy household. It’s a wonderful toy – high quality, engagingly painted and is brilliant for encouraging both their musical talents and also their fine and gross motor skills. It packs away fantastically and is completely self-contained which is always a massive bonus in a house with lots of toys!
This is an ideal birthday or Christmas gift and is something just that little bit different – basically two toys in one.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £29.99
For more information visit www.hape.com. Available to buy from Amazon here.
