Elite Montessori Object Permanence Box with Tray and Ball

Very nice quality toy that I feel is worth the money and would make a nice gift for a 6 month old or older. The box is sturdy, with a nice finish, and smooth edges. The ball that comes with it is solid wood and I think is helpful for fine motor development. Yes, it makes a loud 'plunk' when it falls, but it's wood. Maybe if your baby is scared of the noise, you could put some felt on the ramp inside. So far the baby likes it even though she hasn't mastered the game yet. This would last for multiples or could be a nice hand-me-down.

We are trying to follow montessori principles at home with our daughter, so we first purchased this box to help teach her object permanence. While simple, this has been her absolute favorite toy since she was 6 months old. At first she loved watching us model it, then loved trying to do it herself, and now loves seeing if larger and smaller objects will fit in. This box keeps her entertained for very long periods of time and also helps give her exercise as she loves crawling after the balls when they don't quite make it in the hole. She has also been very curious about how the box works and looks at the box from all angles to explore. Also, the quality if very good on this. We also purchased the "next" level, which is the cylinder shape with a door and hole and she has not taken to that one (yet). One thing is that the ball that comes with it is very poor quality and its' slippery plastic features made the ball pop right our of her hand each time, so instead we use a ball that came with the Hape Geometric Rattle set, which has a little rubber grip to it and it is perfect for it!

My son is only 9 months old and he enjoys this toy! it's helped him build coordination with him holding the ball, and he's even learned to drop it in like he's supposed to. Maybe its not quite for his age - probably more appropriate for a 1 year old? But it works out. Do not leave your little ones alone with this toy though - the wood is very sturdy and hard - my son likes to lift the whole thing and bang it down so we try not to let him do that bc he could hurt himself. Also it does make a loud noise when you drop the ball but it doesn't scare him - he likes it. Overall a neat little toy and good quality. I would buy again for sure.

I am very satisfied with my purchase. It is built sturdy. The ball rolls out every time. My 11 month old is still in the stage of placing things in his mouth, so he licks it and then drops it in the hole. I sit with him while he uses it. After a while, I will leave him alone with it. I always point to the whole and say "in." I read some of the complaints from other viewers, but I have zero complaints. I am glad the other comments did not deter me. I read about this several times before deciding to give it a try since there were a lot of good reviews in spite of some bad ones. It was a prime item, so I received it in two days. I am a satisfied customer.

I was a bit worried after reading other reviews about a plastic ball, etc, but very pleased when a sturdy, well made wooden box AND wooden ball arrived this week. My smallest child is 7 months old, and upon showing him how to do this one time he did it as well. A huge success! He first used the ball to tap on the box, then put it in the hole, then tried other objects! He then tried to eat it all, so I'm relieved it is natural and safe for him to slober on. Lol. I recommend offering different size balls and or shapes once your baby has mastered the main work. I offered mine a wool dryer ball (too big), a rectangle wooden montessori tool (just right), and a squish ball (too big unless pushed hard). Happy baby here!

I demonstrated how this works to my 5-month-old every day for months. Just once a day. I left it where she could reach it. Eventually, she started showing interest. The challenges for her are to close her hand around the ball without it jumping away, and releasing it after it's already partly through the hole. The most she has ever done it is 5 times at one sitting. It's simply not that interesting to her. But, she has favored developing her gross motor skills, such as walking and crawling, so I should not be surprised. This works well with a wooden ball as well. It has a more satisfying sound. One tip: to get her interested in putting the ball in the hole instead of her mouth, I used to poke my fingers up through the hole. This called her attention to the hole. She enjoyed seeing my fingers move and feeling them. Until your baby is sitting up comfortably, they probably will not be able to use this toy. Even after they are sitting up, it's awkward to know what position to put them in so they can access the top hole and the exit hole easily. I found myself rotating the toy to give them easy access. Once they are bigger, then they figure it out for themselves. The product arrived with a small piece of wood/plastic loose. I threw it out, then I realized it was the piece that should be glued to the inside to deflect the ball to the exit hole. It works fine anyway. That's why it looses a star. But overall, I'm happy for the price vs. Neinhus product. It's really hard for me to tell if this product is made from wood or plastic that looks like wood. But for the price and how often it's used, that's fine with me. This is for home use. The Juliana Group has this product with a slightly modified design. You may want to check it out. It's about $60. If I was in the classroom, I'd choose Juliana. Because this is such a single-purpose toy, it's hard to know if it's a good buy, or if it's better to buy the ones with multiple hole shapes, or one for each shape. I decided to go for this one because it's the simples of these types of toys. Then for the next step up, I got the similar box that comes with different tops that slide in and out. Each top has different shapes. The shapes fall into a drawer that pulls out. It works OK. If money was no object, I would buy single-purpose boxes like this one for each shape. They are more sturdy and it's easier to concentrate on the task at hand.

I’m really happy I needed up buying this! My only regret was not buying it sooner! We got a gift card from a friend for my daughters 1st birthday and I decided to buy it. I have had my eye on this for a while, even though it it so simple there are many more benefits to this type of learning than a toy with buttons that makes sounds. The quality is great and feels so soft and smooth. Ideally I would have gotten this months ago to start teaching her the concept of placing the item where it needs to go. It is worth the money we paid for it for sure!

I bought this toy for my grand daughter when she was just under 7 months. It was interesting to observe that she showed no understanding of putting the all in the hole at first, but loved to watch me do it. As her brain developed further in just a few months I watched her suddenly know how to put the ball in the hole and look in to see where it went. It always delights her when it comes out in the tray, and she loves to repeat the process over and over. The toy is well made, sturdy, and attractive. Well worth the money, especially compared to all the toys for 6-12 months that requires very little in the way of brain development such as those thousands of toys that make noise and require little participation from the child.

Looking at it you straightaway know that it wasn't a cheap toy - the wood is solid, smooth around all the edges including the hole on top. It came with a wooden ball which I was delighted about (was worried it would come plastic) and had a good solid feel to it. However, my baby is only interested in it for about 3 minutes tops. She spends more time holding the wooden ball and feeling how weighty and smooth it is, rolls it around in her hands, than watching/using the ball drop feature. I like the Montessori method, but there might be better ways to teach the baby about object permanence.

Smells like TOXIC glue- I can't give it to my child. I would have returned it but it came from China and took forever to get here. Guess I should have shopped around a little more.