Happy Days London

This is a nice large jigsaw. It has nice vibrant colours and an interesting theme.  I really enjoyed this one.  It was quite challenging, especially when you get to the large tree parts but after a few wrong turns I got there in the end. Definitely a great family puzzle, enjoyed this one and would do it again.

Review by Amanda

Happy Days London

Quite understandably we have been following a London theme with the Ravensburger Puzzle Club, and why not? With the Olympics so close now, London is the foremost venue this Summer.

If you like a puzzle that will challenge you then the Happy Days London jigsaw is my suggestion.  It is a 1000 piece puzzle that depicts a scene of a London street from, I would say the 60's or70's judging from the peoples outfits, filled with red London buses, black cabs and bridges of the capital city.

With the main feature of the puzzle being two buses I thought this puzzle would be finished in no time but I was very wrong.  Starting as always with the edges the outside of the puzzle was finished quite quickly but the next part we undertook - the road - seemed to take ages as the puzzle picture itself had a 'hessian fabric' effect as part of it and this made it a lot harder to put together adjacent puzzle pieces.

The Ravensburger Puzzle Store with its tray inserts came in very useful for sorting similarly coloured puzzle pieces and as this puzzle took us some considerable time to complete it also meant we could store our puzzle in progress for the next time.

Apart from the effect (mentioned above) to the puzzle picture I really liked the inclusion of Big Ben and the greenery that is so often missed in art depicting the Capital.  This Ravensburger Happy Days London puzzle has kept our family busy for days on end and is one of those puzzles that you do a little then as you are walking past draws you back in to have another try at it. 

Not a jigsaw that you can do in an hour but one that will have you determined to complete it.  

I did find that the pieces seemed to bend a lot more easily than previous Ravensburger puzzles which was a little disappointing so we had to take care with making sure each piece was slotted in properly.  In the end finding the last few pieces became of a case of finding the shape of piece that fitted rather than looking for the  picture - certainly worked for us!

Entertaining and time consuming puzzle that will keep you coming back for more.

Review by Louise at Bloggomy

Ravensburger Puzzle Club review London Children's Map

Sophie loved discovering last month's Ravensburger Puzzle Club puzzle of the month called I Love London, because it featured some of the iconic sights and monuments of the capital, even including an informative fact sheet to tell you about them. Well, this month's offering - the 100 XXL piece London Children's Map - has a similar theme and got an equally warm reception.

Sophie told me she didn't want my help thank you, she wanted to make this one all by herself (!), and started off by finding all the edge bits. This was actually very simple because the map coordinates instantly show you which piece goes where. This is a great way of getting younger kids to practise their basic numbers and letters without even realising it too !

Filling in the inside of the puzzle is a bit more complicated but is also great fun, as well as educational, because you have to match up the monuments you find on the pieces with the picture on the lid to find their location. Sophie started with the river Thames ("oh, it looks like the start of Eastenders" !!) then looked out for places she'd heard of (and that she longs to visit) such as the London Eye and Tower Bridge. It took a while to find them all but Sophie loved every minute and said that it was like doing a treasure hunt.

When you've finished, you can again continue your learning experience by looking up all the things of interest to spot on the puzzle on the enclosed information sheet. What with the Jubilee and the Olympics, Sophie is besotted with anything related to London so she has declared that this is her favourite all-time puzzle. (Until the next one arrives !!)

star rating : 5/5

RRP : £7.99

Review by Cheryl at Madhouse Family Reviews

Animals of the world from Ravensburger

We recently received the Animals of the Word Giant floor puzzle from Ravensburger to review as part of the Ravensburger Puzzle club. This puzzle is fantastic, not only is it a fun puzzle to do its also very educational. It teaches children about animals and places around the world where they are most likely to be found. This map shows the world beautifully drawn not only is it fab to see the countries but its lovely to see the animals of the land and sea in their native habitat. Little Bird loves puzzles and couldn’t wait to start it.

This giant floor puzzle is designed for children aged 4 years old + although I think younger children could do it. It has 60 pieces that are made of strong, sturdy card the pieces fit together really well and do not lift up and pop out like some puzzles we have done in the past. Little Bird really enjoyed doing this puzzle, it kept him amused for around 45minutes. He enjoyed finding the animals and I enjoyed telling him a little bit about the countries that he was finding on the map. I also found that the labelling of the oceans was very clever. Geography is not my strong point so I learnt a lot about the names of the seas over the world.

I love the fact that this puzzle is made from recycled board. We are very keen to recycle everything at home so I think its great that Ravensburger have manufactured their puzzles with recycled board. When this puzzle is complete it measures 70cm x 50cm, it is a floor puzzle but its not massive its a great size for little fingers.
Ravensburger definitely make the best puzzles, you can not beat the quality. You can buy this puzzle for around £8.99 but prices may vary depending on where you shop.

Review by Donna at Mummy Bird 

London Children’s Map 100 piece jigsaw

As our next puzzle as part of Ravensburger Puzzle Club, we were sent the 100 piece London Children’s Map Puzzle to complete.

Now my kids love London, and especially with all the upcoming celebrations for the Queens Jubilee and the Olympics, they have become really interested in the sights and landmarks. This puzzle comes complete with an information leaflet, which is perfect for the kids.

Building the actual jigsaw, as with all Ravensburger Puzzles, this is made with Ravensburger love. Handmade cutting tools ensure that no two pieces are alike, the pieces are made from grained material which provides a glare free picture. The pieces are made form special recycled board but they are so sturdy and strong and despite my boisterous 9 year old who has autism and adhd, we haven’t had one broken piece yet on all the puzzles we have bought or reviewed.

Starting the Puzzle, the kids were keen to match up the numbers and letters on the side of the puzzle, a great way to get the kids using some maths and english skills without even realising! These coordinates make the outline to the puzzle.

Then was the task of filling the puzzle in. The kids were keen to do with by landmarks they first recognised and have visited.  So first up was Regents Park and Hyde Park. Then came London Eye and Tower Bridge.

The puzzle is adorned with beautiful illustrations by Guy Fox. These include some little details which if you look closely at will take you ages as you keep finding something new!

The kids took a good hour completing this, and were happy to work together. They have mentally created a list of where to visit next time we go to London! The leaflet included has provided a great way for the kids to match up the different illustrations as well as provide us some bonding time as they ask about my experiences of the City.

This has been our favourite Ravensburger Puzzle so far, we LOVE it!

Review by Danielle at Blog By Baby

Ravensburger Puzzle Club: London Children's Map

Last month we were sent the I Love London puzzle to review which the children thought was 'one of their favourite puzzles to date'. Well, Ravensburger have surpassed themselves with this month's offering.

Continuing with the London theme we received the 100 XXL piece London Children's Map.

The image is based upon from Guy Fox's ordnance survey children's map of London with added embellishment. There are famous landmarks aplenty, whimsical drawings of people and a fun little picture of the Queen to spot near to Buckingham Palace.

There are lots to spot and a sheet included inside the box has a few suggestions of what to look out for. This is a fab puzzle, particularly if your child is as interested in London as my eldest two are!

As they were putting the puzzle together Girl and Middle had great fun seeing how many places we'd visited on our trips to London and picking out landmarks and places they want to go to on future trips to the city.

The puzzle is recommended for age 6+ but Middle (5) did most of this without help and with ease.

Each purchase of the London Children's map puzzle supports the Guy Fox History Project Limited which creates activities to empower children to explore the world around them.

Review by Heidi at Him, me & three