Monday 13 May 2013

The John Crane Tidlo Animal Sorting Cube Review




Over the summer months we have been presented with the most amazing opportunity to represent a company that we adore.

John Crane Ltd – A traditional toy company who specialise in wooden toys! I have mentioned them on occasion her on the blog and I am over the moon to represent them now.

After I got over the initial squeals of excitement, and managed to sit still without the flamboyant out of the blue air punches, I knew I should put pen to paper so to speak and tell you about our very first review.

For the month of May Leo has been sent the Tidlo Animal Sorting Cube, a sorting cube that is completely different to any other that we have ever played with. It is made out of wood, and you can instantly feel just how solid it is, from the cube itself to the animal slats.


 The quality of the wood and the toy itself means that little clumsy fingers won’t accidently break any of the pieces, it is as solid as they come.

The cube is quite weighty, so for younger toddlers you probably won’t have to contend with them picking it up and carrying it around, Leo on the other hand at 22 months can pick it up, and he DOES carry it around. I can feel my toes curling as I think about how he carries it around with him…re-calling in horror to the time he did drop it on my foot!

The set comes with 25 pieces that make up 8 individual animals in the sorting cube. What I really like is that it is comparable to an early level jigsaw puzzle in the sense that little hands are to make up the pictures by putting the two slats in the appropriate places to make up the correct image.


You can have 4 animals at a time on the cube and can change them as you wish, the additional slats are stored on the top of the cube out of the way but easily accessed for when you need them. This set up allows you to see if you are missing any of the pieces when you put it all away, and makes it really easy to spy a missing slat!

Once you have the 4 animals set up on your cube by posting them down the guides, you will notice that you have a food shaped hole that needs filling. The aim of the game is to locate the food item that fits into the hole. There are 8 pieces of food that go with each of the 8 different animals, and it is your toddlers job to find out which shape fits with each animal.

The Animal Sorting Cube grabbed Leo’s attention before I had even shown it to him, I was actually in the process of cooking up dinner when he decided to bring the box in to me where he insisted I open it there and then. I took him back into the lounge where I opened it all up for him and showed him what to do before popping back to finish dinner off.

It kept Leo entertained while I was cooking and I could hear him making the noises for the animals that he could see, ‘Neigh’ ‘Woof’ and ‘cat’ because he refuses to ‘meow’ these days!

Over the time we have been playing with it together I have noticed that Leo has got frustrated with himself at times. If he can’t get the slats to do what he wants then he will lose his temper until I can fathom what he is trying to do. At the moment he just likes posting the slats here, there and everywhere and is not purposely problem solving. The more we play with it the more he seems to realise what he is supposed to be doing, so I am sure it won’t be long before he has completed every animal on the cube and fed it the appropriate food.


Leo loves the Tidlo Animal Sorting Cube and seems to especially like it after I have just tidied it all away after the last game, as it is so much more fun to get it all out again straight after! He can sit on the floor inspecting all of the pieces and images for ages, posting them and seeing what fits where.

Leo has already demonstrated that this toy can take a rough playing with, I have watched him trying to make slats fit where they just won’t go, and over all playing very excitedly with it. It really is a sound toy that will stand the test of time, and the bright colours combined with the assortment of different animals has provided Leo lots of enjoyment.

The Tidlo Animal Sorting Cube is recommended for toddlers 18 months and over, and I agree that this would be the perfect time to introduce it. You can purchase theJohn Crane Tidlo Animal Sorting Cube from many reputable online toy shops, and you can even visit John Crane directly to find a full list of retailers who stock this fun sorting cube.

Disclaimer: I was sent the Tidlo Animal Sorting Cube as a John Crane Ambassador as asked to share my views with you all. All views that have been expressed in this review are completely honest and my own.

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  3. Happy new year Laura! That sorting cube is very apt this year as it is the year of the monkey!

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