BELOW IS MY FOLLOW-UP REVIEW… we’ve had magna-tiles, motorized dexlue duplo trains, and magformers for at least 3 or 4 years now. So I know what I am talking about! (At least with my kids! 😉 Sorry Lego, Magna-tiles are better. They just are… better than legos! ( – You have multiple kids including a toddler who you don’t want eating or chewing legos or pulling off ALL the arms off minifigs. (And I do mean all.) – You want to build a structure of some sort QUICKLY that will be playable with other toys (like dolls, stuffed animals, little cars, planes, etc) – And Dad has fun too! I One can also do pretty well if you buy a TON of Duplo (Sorry again Lego, Duplo is totally interesting to kids MUCH older than 5, the age you put on the packages). DUPLO CONS vs MAGNATILES: – Not quite as easy to get big/tall creations going. (It still takes a long time with duplos) – And not as easy for the little ones. The magnets work magic (and don’t worry… it’s safe… they are embedded in the big plastic pieces so no risk)
ou will be amazed at the stuff your 7 year old will build if given a mountain of duplo. And his little siblings won’t choke on the pieces. is an invaluable resource for gettings lots of long/bigger pieces that are in short supply in some of the standard sets one can buy thru normal stores. So, for instance, our 8 year old and 4 year old can play together with our huge electric motorized lego duplo train collection for quite a long time. I bought a bunch of extra switches, and a bridge, and along with all the generic big/long duplo pieces, they can build some pretty cool tunnels and layouts. Magformers are very good too. But I see that more as fun for older kids (and parents) interested in building buckyballs and Archimedian solids and other 3-d shapes. The issue being that they are a little “mushier” in terms of how their magnets hold and they are hollow (both useful for building shapes, but not for building playable structures). e have 2 of the “Magna-Tiles Clear Colors 100 Piece Set”. T
hat’s really the way to go. Then with 2+ kids there will be limited frustration. Building & Construction Toys Lego Building & Construction Toys Lego Duplo 10558 Number Train Building & Construction Toy - Duplo - For ages: 24 Months + > Show product information 7 reviews from the community bright colours, helps with numeracy and colour recognition, nice details all the numbers don't fit on the train, should include an adult Duplo figure "Lego Duplo 10558 Number Train - 123 choo choo!" Lego Duplo 10558 Number TrainPrice: RRP £9.99Availability: Tesco, Amazon, Argos, and Toys R UsSuitable: recommended for children aged 2 to 5 years old (however, I can see online that some boxes of this set state 1.5 years as the lower age limit)Offers: Tesco are currently offering a free Lego reindeer with selected sets (but I expect this offer will expire soon as it seems quite seasonal)The Lego Duplo Numbers Train was one of the first Duplo sets my daughter was given, when she was around two years old, but I’m only now getting round to writing a review about it for Ciao.
We have owned the set for over a year, and it’s now mixed in with other sets, but I’ve removed the pieces from our Duplo box to photograph them separately. My daughter owned this set with just one other for a while, so I’ve seen how she plays with it when it’s not mixed in with other blocks and pieces.First appearances: packagingThe Lego Duplo 10588 Numbers Train comes in a standard cardboard box, rather than the plastic storage case other Duplo sets come in. I remember my daughter reacting to the front of the box, and naming the numbers she could see on the blocks pictured! The front of the box has a clear photograph of the blocks included inside, set out as a train with an engine and three carriages, carrying the numbered blocks, stacked on top like cargo. The Lego Duplo branding and age recommendations are clearly set out to the top left of the front of the box. The blocks were stored inside the box in a plastic bag, along with a simple booklet of building instructions and ideas, so there wasn’t too much packaging to throw away.
What’s inside the set?The Lego Duplo 10558 Numbers train set contains 31 pieces, and these are: Train pieces: four wheeled bases; a steam train chimney Numbers: ten numbered blocks (all two blocks in height) of different colour combinations People: one boy (wearing a blue outfit and a red cap) Animals: one dog (who is white with black spots, so looks a bit like a Dalmatian) Other blocks: a handful of additional building blocks The colours used in this set are nice and bright, and mostly primary colours, although there are two shades of green and blue (and I think that variation makes it look higher quality). The numbered blocks have the number written on one long side in a large, bold font, and all have a different colour combination of block and number, which seemed to appeal to my daughter. The little boy figure has a little red cap and details printed on his T-shirt, which makes me think that, even with little details such as this, Lego Duplo have taken care over the design.
Playing with itWhen my daughter was first given this set, she would mostly building a high tower of the number bricks, or line the bricks up along the train carriages in numerical order. She found the train carriages fairly easy to clip together to pull it along, and liked making train noises as she pushed it along the floor. If you use the numbered blocks, there are (just!) enough pieces in this set to build a little tunnel or bridge for the train to go under. It’s quite hard to build anything else as the style of blocks is a bit limited, with most being the two-block height numbered pieces.As she has gotten older, my daughter has preferred to explore imaginative and role play games with her Duplo sets, so with this one she would act out the boy being a passenger on the train. I think the set would have been enhanced by including a driver or ticket collector figure. This would make more sense than including a solitary child… I wonder if he a little Duplo stow-away, riding alone on the train with his dog?!
We mix this set in with other ones, so we aren’t short of people, but playing with this as a stand-along set, I think the play is limited by there being only one person.I think I should mention that, when putting the numbered blocks on the train carriages in a row, there isn’t quite enough space to fit the number “10” block on in sequence. You can build the blocks in a tower to fit them all on, but I found that my daughter often built them in a row, in numerical order, and the 10 wasn’t able to fit on.Educational valueIn my opinion, all construction toys, such as Lego Duplo, are great for supporting young children in learning a whole host of skills, such as planning and envisioning, and experimenting with laws of physics like gravity and balancing. Using blocks helps develop fine motor skills, and spacial awareness. This set is great for early numeracy, mostly number recognition, sequencing, and counting. I think that it helps learn and remember basic colours as well. Quality and DurabilityIn my opinion, Lego Duplo has produced another high quality, high durability product here.
As with other Lego Duplo sets we have, this set has remained in good condition, without showing bumps and scrapes, and the colours have remained vibrant.What would I change?I think this set is good value for £9.99, but there are a few minor alterations which would potentially improve it: Include an adult driver for the train! Include a piece with a ticket printed on the side to allow for role play around buying a ticket, getting on the train, giving it to the ticket collector, and so on Include a few more basic blocks so there are enough to build a small tunnel or bridge without using up all the number blocks Somehow make enough space on the train for all of the number blocks – either by making one of the carriages longer or adding an additional trailer carriage I suppose that these changes may push this little set into a higher price bracket, but in my opinion, it would be worth paying an extra couple of pounds to make an improvement, especially including an adult driver for the train and/or adding in some additional simple blocks to allow for more actual building.
Value for moneyAt a price tag of £9.99, this Lego Duplo set is at the lower end of the price scale, and I think it represents good value for money for the number of blocks included. There are some things I would prefer to change about the set (as detailed above), but in my opinion it’s a great option as a starter set for younger builders, around 18 months to 2 years old.Further playing on this themeIf your child enjoys playing with this Duplo set, there are plenty more to choose from to put together a little collection. If your child’s interest is trains, I can see that there are lots of Duplo train sets available, some of which include pieces of track. Other Duplo train sets are character-based, featuring Mickey Mouse or Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. I think my daughter would probably like the ones with track included!OverallOverall, this was a nice, simple Lego Duplo set for when my daughter was around two years old, had one little set already, and was showing a growing interest in building and creating.