Hape Super Cityscape Transport Bucket Set

We knew this was a Wowee! kind of present for preschoolers as soon as we opened the box. At first glance, it looks like the 2020 Platinum Seal winner, Hape Railway Construction fifty-piece set, which is still a great choice at half the price. That said, this cleverly designed 80-piece wooden train set has added play power. It’s not just the added battery powered locomotive with working headlight, but the way kids can add tracks to run trains in, under and around the city. The buckets that store the pieces become the city with wooden panels and stickers to create a train station, shops, construction site, fire station, and airport, and even a plane that opens. You don’t need a table to pin things down. In fact, this is far more open-ended, inviting kids to use the same tracks and pieces in multiple ways, so the toy invites more creative thinking and construction opportunities to be inventive. Think of this as an investment in creative thinking, problem solving, and dramatic play. It can be enjoyed solo or in cooperative play with others. It’s the kind of gift that is used in ever more complex ways, with storytelling as well as construction growing as your child’s language and imagination do. 3 and up.