Melissa Doug Examine Children Develop Reviews Summary

Quality and Durability

Pros:

• "It seems pretty sturdy and should stand up to the twins semi rough play for a while."
• "The plastic bottles and accessories are of good quality hard plastic and will hold up to some rough play."
• "Great quality products, made to last."
• "The pieces have all held up over time."
• "The quality is amazing and I can already tell that the products are going to last quite a while."
• "All the pieces are strong, durable, and I love that it comes with 2 stuffed animals so that my twins don't fight over it!"
• "The set is durable and made to last."

Cons:

• "The stick broke, and I wish the bag was more study, but overall it is a well loved toy, great for imaginative play!"
• "One thing negative - a seam burst on one of the little stuffy animals within the first day out of the package."
• "After a week of light use the stitching has started to come unraveled slightly in 1 area."
• "The 'cone of shame' and little cast has been taken on and off again many times."
• "The set is cute. But it’s missing the lids to the nutritious nibbles and the quick cure bottles."
• "I immediately returned this set, as it is very cheap plastic."
• "The bag is cheap and flimsy and small."

Design and Accessories

Pros:

• "The set also includes a velcro bandage, a cast and a cone to protect the animal from itself."
• "The thermometer twists to show various 'temperatures', the shot has springs so it feels like you can vaccinate your pet stuffed animals."
• "The cone of shame for the stuffed dog and cat are worth buying the entire set for."
• "It even comes with a cone and cast."
• "The attention to detail is amazing."
• "Everything is durable and all of the containers can open, just like real bottles, etc which makes it even more fun since you can add your own things inside."
• "The various vet supplies are good skill-builders - velcro, openable containers, a clamp that's a good precursor to using scissors, fitting things into the little bag, keeping track of items, etc."

Cons:

• "The little scissor things also easily come undone but not hard to put back together."
• "I wish there were more vet tools instead of empty pretend jars."
• "I just wish it was more life like. My son was asking why he couldn’t hear a heartbeat through the stethoscope."
• "The stethoscope isn’t a working one, which is the only thing that I find disappointing about the set."
• "Only thing I did not like were the caps coming off the bottles."
• "The sticky neck cone broke very quickly. Within a week probably."
• "I wish the set offered less plastic pieces and more wooden pieces."

Storage and Packaging

Pros:

• "I like that it comes with its own little bag for storage."
• "The little carrying case is great for cleanup."
• "There's a cute little bag that everything (except the cat/dog) fits into for easy travel and clean-up."
• "The vet bag that came with it was great quality too."
• "It's made by Melissa and Doug so quality is assured."
• "It came nicely packaged and exactly as pictured."
• "This kit includes several different instruments."

Cons:

• "I have a slight pet peeve with ALL Melissa and Doug products. They never come with proper storage."
• "I’m only giving it four stars because I just don’t understand why they can’t make a carry bag that actually fits all the pieces that come with it!"
• "The bag that comes with it is way too small to be useful so it gets stored in a plastic tote."
• "The bag could be a bit bigger because my kids have trouble getting their supplies back inside."
• "The bag it comes with is quite small and doesn't fit all the pieces so we store it in a bin since bag is flimsy and mostly useless."
• "The bag doesn’t fit all the pieces and doesn’t close so I’ll still shopping for an alternative which is disappointing."
• "I just wish the little medical bag was big enough to hold all the tools."

Play Experience and Educational Value

Pros:

• "Purchased for my 4 year old granddaughter for her birthday! She absolutely LOVED it."
• "It’s a great price and comes with a good number of pieces for hours of fun."
• "It encourages children to use their imagination!"
• "Even my older 9 year old grandson was eager to play with this toy."
• "An absolute hit with my 3 year old grandson!"
• "It has inspired so much imagination in such a short period of time, and I can imagine will continue to do so for a long time."
• "The vet check list was constantly used and helped with imagination - mine as I had to keep coming up with ailments for her to treat."

Cons:

• "Very disappointed in Melissa & Doug's quality control system."
• "So much for it being for Christmas, way to go Amazon."
• "The only issue is it was supposed to come with a cat and a dog but I got 2 of the same exact dog and I'm a bit disappointed with that."
• "The item I paid for was supposed to be brand new. I was sent a used product."
• "Toys come in good condition but look like they are used."
• "There were several pieces missing...21 not 24 pieces were included."
• "Given the nature of these toys, it’s gazillion pieces so we’ve lost several pieces."