Melissa and Doug Upper & Lower Case Alphabet

Lights, Camera, Interaction makes wonderfully well-built toys with quality finish work and appealing colors. This alphabet set is no exception. It has the decided benefit of having upper- and lower-case letters. Little did I realize this benefit until my son was "interviewed" for pre-school. Because he could distinguish both sets he will now get to work with a classroom aid on pre-reading skills.

One caution: My son was never one to put toys in his mouth so I got him this toy WAY before he'll turn 3. While the letters aren't inordinately small, parents should call Lights, Camera, Interaction to get the dimensions of the smallest letters to ensure the toy is appropriate for their child. An ounce of prevention, you know.....


Great opportunities   August 29, 2002
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

In this puzzle and in reality, there are strong similarities in
a, p, q, b, and d. This puzzle gives great opportunities for fine tuning similarities differences skills. Since you only have one of each letter, trace or print the following. p p q p then b d b b and so forth. Let children practice noticing the differences and similarities. Learning Abilities Books is a cool website with free information about similarities and differences training. That's where I got this idea. You might want to buy more than one of this cool puzzle.


Almost perfect   August 26, 2005
Arlene (Western PA United States)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful

I started teaching my 3 1/2-year-old son the alphabet in April using Leapfrog products (DVD, CD w/ flashcards). He's been familiar with the letters and their sounds and I thought that it would be good to have this wooden puzzle too for him to get the 'feel' of the letters in preparation to writing them. Although he likes the puzzle, he gets confused with the pictures on the puzzle board (i.e., the letter shapes look cluttered). In HIS case, this puzzle would be perfect if instead of pictures, it's just a solid color for easier, straightforward letter identification. The Leapfrog products were very effective in teaching him the letters and their sounds. In our everyday life, I ask him what letter a particular thing begins with and he can tell me the correct letter (example: What letter does "paper" begin with? --- while I emphasize the beginning P sound).


Alphabet reinforcement   February 24, 2006
R. Sessoms
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is a great tool for bringing the Alphabet song to life! We sing the song while looking for that particular letter in the puzzle! We are learning the different colors as well as each of the object pictures...this puzzle also works well for older twos with supervision of couse! Highly recommended


Excellent teaching tool for lower and upper case letters!   November 18, 2008
z hayes (plano,texas)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I purchased this for my then toddler when she was about 2 years old and within a few weeks she was able to identify the upper and lower case letters of the alphabet. We still use it for reinforcing learning [she's 3.5 years old now]. This is a very effective teaching tool for letter recognition as well as identifying upper and lower case letters. Little ones get a sense of achievement when they are able to correctly identify letters of the alphabet and then moving on to mastering the more complex identifying of upper and lower case letters.

Final verdict: fun, engaging and very effective teaching tool [for toddlers-preschoolers].