Hape Your Body 5-Layer Wooden Puzzle Girl

I bought this puzzle for my four year old daughter. I thought the way it was designed in layers was unusual and since my kiddo claims she wants to be a doctor, I felt this would be an interesting way for her to explore anatomy.When we opened the package, I sat down with her and showed her how each level of the puzzle represented the structure of her body -- starting with the skeletal structure, then organs, then muscle and ligaments, then skin and finally clothes. This is all stuff she and I have discussed before, and she's pretty fascinated with her body and the inner workings of it. Since then, she's played with it off and on all day, and at one point I overheard her telling one of her groovy girls dolls all about each level...so cute!I was worried based on the picture that it would be too basic to be of any interest to my smart little girl. The picture doesn't show that each level of the puzzle is made up of seven smaller pieces (arms, legs, abdomen, chest and head). At four, of course she has the motor skills to "complete" the puzzle very quickly, but assembling it isn't really what she finds interesting about this puzzle. Her fascination with each level and her growing understanding of her anatomy makes this far more interesting to her than a traditional jigsaw. Traditional jigsaws are of limited interest after you've taken them apart and assembled them a few times. Not so with this one. She really loves it. I paid over twenty bucks for it and I don't regret doing so. This, along with Steve Alton's excellent book "Chewy Gooey Rumble Plop" has become one of my favorite ways of introducing anatomy to kids so far!For what it's worth, I found the puzzle to be well made, the illustration to be charming, and personally I don't find the pieces to be too sharp or small for a child aged 3 or older.

I had been planning to get this for my daughter's third birthday for ages - she loves puzzles and is becoming interested in how her body works so I thought it would be perfect. I especially wanted to get it because her baby sister is about to have major surgery on her leg, and I thought this would be a good teaching tool to explain what the surgery is for. However, there is a significant flaw in that the bottom two layers of the puzzle are the wrong way round. It goes clothes, skin, muscles, internal organs, bones. So the layer with the lungs and the brain is on top of the layer with the ribs and the skull. If you look at the boy version you can see all the layers and see what I mean. I actually realized this prior to ordering the puzzle but I really wanted it, so I planned to fix it myself by copying the pictures and gluing them on top so that the internal organs would be under the skeleton. However, now that i have the puzzle I see that adding even a thin layer of paper and varnish would mean that the pieces on the layers above would not fit in properly.I am about to email the company and ask them about it, because it is such a glaring error in what would otherwise be a very educational puzzle. For the age range it is geared to, this would be a first introduction to the inside structures of the body, and so to have that first introduction be wrong seems very unfair!Apart from that it is a nicely made puzzle. I haven't given it to my daughter yet but I am sure she will love it.

This is a great puzzle! We've had it for about a week now and my kids play with it multiple times a day. My 4 year old can do it entirely on her own. My 23 month old can do it with help. Overall, I'd definitely recommend this!Pros:It has a good amount of detail, enabling me to point out the different organs, bones, etc. to the kids.While it has that detail, it doesn't have too much. It's a very clear and simple picture.It's really well made and seems to stand up to being stomped on by my younger child :)Cons:It's wood, so there's a few splinters here and there. There's not a ton though, just a normal amount and something to be aware of so you can take them off when you first get it.We have two of these and I find it a bit annoying that the pieces are cut just slightly different, making them not easily interchangeable. I'm not sure if you can ask that of any puzzles though...I wish it came with a box or a snap on lid or something to make it easier to store.

I was actually hoping for an anatomy puzzle that would have the organs as separate pieces - you know, heart, brain, lungs, liver, etc - so my daughter would learn those, and perhaps the same for major bones (tibia, fibula, femur, ribs, hips, etc). This doesn't do that. It has one layer of bones, one layer of organs, then muscles, skin and clothes. All the pieces in each layer are the same - so each arm is always one piece, the torso is in two pieces, top and bottom, legs are one piece, head is one piece. There's no distinction between different organs or different bones. That said, my daughter likes the puzzle and has played with it quite a lot. However, I'm not sure she's really learning much anatomy from it, other than to distinguish muscles from bones and skin, which I suppose is a little bit useful. So I like it, but not as much as I'd hoped to.

Just got this puzzle today for my very curious 3 year old daughter. She LOVES it. I do too, my only complaints are1. Nothing is labeled.2. The mouth has no detail, just weird pink and purple stripes. I don't know why they didn't just draw a tongue.3. It's not in order, in my non-professional opinion I would have much rather seen the organs at the bottom, then skeleton, muscles, exc..... So I would be able to better explain to her that her ribs are over her heart and lungs to protect them and her skull is there to protect her brain. But ehh...It is a good size. It's tall and slender the pieces are also a good size so if one is dropped it is findable.So in conclusion if you are looking for a puzzle that is educational themed this is a good buy, if you are looking for something actually educational I recommend getting one of those 3D model kits you see in doctors offices in my non-professional opinion.