I love toys with no instructions. There’s nothing more exciting than opening a box and finding a gorgeous open-ended toy that allows the kiddos and I to get creative. For this reason, I love PlanToys.
While technically most of their toys do come with some sort of instruction {especially the ones requiring assembly}, you really don’t need them because sometimes it’s more fun to see what the kiddos come up with on their own. So, when we get new PlanToys packages, I simply set them on the coffee table and let the kiddos play.
When playing with their new PlanToys Balancing Scale, my son was certain it was a large, hanging car garage, the perfect place for all of his vrooms to rest their wheels. My daughter insisted it was for her
fairy dolls to travel up and down the fairy cove, simply by adding or removing the included blocks to the opposite basket. While technically they both were wrong, you can’t call this kind of fun, even if unintended, wrong.
After a bit of open play, my daughter began to figure out what exactly it was. While the idea of a balance scale is a bit abstract for her as all she knows is the digital kind, she seemed to get that it was to see the weight of an object in reference to another object. Watching her come to this conclusion was really exciting as I was biting my tongue but secretly cheering her on as she reasoned through the process.
Once she “got it” and figured out it would be a great way to weigh foods, she went all in and began collecting her wooden foods in preparation for what appeared to be a farmer’s market. And, that’s when I stepped in and explained how some foods have a barcode and they are a set cost, like jellies and cans of soup, and some foods are bought by weight, like fresh produce and bulk items.
Thus started many nights of “kiddo market” at our house where the food is all grown with love, weighed rather haphazardly, and sold for random amounts of money that almost always end in $.50.
For someone who has seen my children play for hours with a cardboard box, I knew they were going to love this scale, but even I was surprised by just how much love they have for it. Who knew they could create hours of elaborate pretend play from something as simple as a scale?
Not only is it great for markets and creative play, the scale is also great for science experiments as well. Whether we are wondering whether a feather weighs more than a stone or we are comparing different items using our blocks as a standard of measurement, science is awfully fun with in the inclusion of PlanToys.
With all the hours of play and learning, I’m thrilled that the balancing scale has the same high quality components and design that we expect from PlanToys and has withstood hours and hours of “kiddo market” and whatever else the kiddos dreamt up. The scale itself has no small parts that could break or bend and the hanging baskets are made with heavy-duty fabric and reinforced seams that completely cover the flexible internal frame.
Once again, we have proven to be huge fans of PlanToys and I see many more years of fun with our PlanToys wooden foods paired with the balancing scale. If you haven't already, I would highly recommend looking through the PlanToys site at some of the latest and greatest toys this holiday season. From baby on up, there's dozens of gifts for children of all ages that would wow this holiday season.
A big thank you to PlanToys for sending their balancing scale to facilitate this review. As always, all opinions are 100% ours.
What an awesome toy! I adore Plan Toys and this one looks awesome. My son would just love it. Thanks for sharing.