Learning Resources Design And Drill Take-Apart T-Rex Review

Reviewed by Helen O

Christmas is just around the corner and it’s always difficult to know something a little different to get my son (particularly when he changes his mind every 5 minutes), so I was so excited to have the opportunity to review the Learning Resources Design & Drill T-Rex. Seemingly my 4 year old son was equally as excited when the package arrived and couldn’t wait to get the box open to have a go.

The package was well wrapped in a cardboard box with brown paper to stop it moving around, so all fully recyclable. The box and contents were in great condition when it arrived. My first impression was that the box was a nice size – not too big to make it difficult to store when not in use. It was also clear from the box as to what was inside: 4 pieces to assemble, 9 bolts, screwdriver and stickers. It also showed the completed T-Rex from different angles. This was important, as there were no actual instructions inside, so you could visually see which bit needed to go where.

I tipped the contents of the box out of onto the dining room table and left my son to it. Just to see how straightforward it was to put the dinosaur together. Other than needing a bit of help to point out which side to attach one of the legs, he managed to use the picture on the box to put the T-Rex together, without any further assistance and quite quickly too. The product is marketed as suitable from 3+. I would imagine that some younger children would be able to manage it with a little gentle supervision, as there weren’t that many pieces needing to be put together.

The product is marketed as an Early STEM kit, so is perfect for children who show an interest in developing their science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills. From experience, with my son, it’s never too early to pique their interest in developing these fine motor skills.

There was a sticker sheet in the pack, to give the T-Rex some decoration. Most of the stickers were pretty self-explanatory and my son got them on himself (albeit they needed to be straightened up a little), although it was a little difficult to see where some of the stickers were meant to be placed, so my son randomly stuck them on. Unlike the rest of the pack, once the stickers are on, they should stay on. Whereas children can repeatedly build and take apart the T-Rex to their heart’s content.

I think the T-Rex is just the right size, for little hands, as is the screwdriver which is supplied with the pack. Although I was a little confused by the name ‘Design & Drill’ when the tool supplied is a screwdriver. However, I think this relates to the brand name, as on the website there are other kits which use a drill.

I can see from the Learning Resources website that there are several Design & Drill kits available, including a Robot, Toolbox, My First Workbench and Bolt-it Bucket, all seem to be along similar lines. I have not tried any other Learning Resources kits.

The RRP for the Design & Drill Take-Apart T-Rex is £17, which I think is quite high for the size and what you get in the pack. If it had a lower RRP, I would recommend it to my friends with children aged 2-3 years as a Christmas or birthday gift. My son loved playing with it, but I wonder how often he would take build it in reality.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

RRP: £17

The product can be purchased from Learning Resources directly, using this link: Design & Drill | Take-Apart T-Rex | Learning Resources UK