We have been sent the super cool Gears! Gears! Gears! Machines in Motion set from Learning Resources to review in the lead up to Christmas.  So we got in some pre Christmas play time to see if this would make a good Christmas gift (spoiler alert: we think it would!)

The set comes with over 100 pieces that can be linked together in a variety of ways to make moving machines.  There are a few suggested builds with easy to follow instructions, or you can choose to create your own machine using your imagination.  The suggested age for the set is 5 and up, and we did find this to be quite true.  I was able to sit with Ivy (age 4) and follow along with the instructions with her and build together, but it isn't something that she would have been able to do independently.  Whereas Ethan (age 7) was able to just dive right in and start building his own creations straight away.


There are plenty of other Gears! Gears! Gears! sets (we have the monkey one already) so Ethan was familiar with the way that the gears work and how to fit them together to make the others move, so he got started straight away with setting up some interlocking gears and adding a few other pieces.  


There are a few pieces that are unique to this set, and I think that's why it is great to have the instructions for a few builds to get you started.  Then after the children have seen how to link together the new pieces to make the wheels and pulleys they will definitely be inspired to include these in their own structures.


I love that both children can play with this set in their own way and that it can lead to hours and hours of open ended play time.  The only downside I would say is that once we get started we need more pieces to keep going and going (and not fight over the wheels!) so I would recommend having a look at the other Gears! Gears! Gears! sets to maybe buy an add on of extra pieces.


We should be releasing our educational toys gift guides in the next month or so, keep your eyes peeled to see the other toys that we've discovered for Christmas gifts!

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* This is a review post, we were sent the Machines in Motion set from Learning Resources in order to play with it and write our honest opinions.*