The Counting Ball by Wonderworld is a sturdy and chunky
wooden toy which aims to help toddlers learn about addition and subtraction.
It has five brightly coloured wooden balls inside, which ‘jump’
up onto the bridge when you pound the lever.
The Pickle finds this bit quite difficult to do at the moment as he’s
not hitting the lever quite hard enough.
I’m sure he will get there with a bit more practise, but for now I help
him and together we count the balls as they go up to the top. The numbers are also printed on the side so
the child can start to recognise what each number looks like. It's also a good toy for learning colours, as sometimes we say each colour instead of the numbers.
Once the balls are on
the bridge, the handle can be turned to bring them back down again, one by
one. The Pickle got the hang of this bit
straight away and found the handle very easy to turn by himself. Again, the numbers are printed at the bottom
so the balls can be counted as they drop back down to the ground.
The only thing I think could be improved is the base, as it
isn’t solid and has a gap of about 1 inch.
The Pickle enjoys turning the toy over and trying to post things into it…
he hasn’t managed to do this yet but if he did I imagine it wouldn’t be easy to
get back out again!
Overall, it is a well made, sturdy toy with a nice modern
design, a bit like a very simple abacus.
It’s a nice, basic toy that encourages learning and interaction.
We received the Counting Ball to review from DKL Toys and it
is currently available to buy from Play Merrily Toys at £17.95 (normally
£19.95)
