Guidecraft 3-D Feel & Find World Icons {Review & Giveaway}

{This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations, Lisa M!}

Oftentimes one of my daughters will be talking (nonstop, most likely) and I find myself getting a little bit entranced by their eyes.

There is something about the wonder and curiosity of children that comes through in the twinkle in their eyes and the excitement over the picture that they've found in a book or the bug they see crawling on the window.

For me, it has always been important to encourage that inquisitiveness and imagination, whether through a walk in nature, singing a song, playing with a sensory toy, and more. And I can't think of a company that has made that more possible than the one and only Guidecraft and, most recently, their 3-D Feel & Find World Icons.

Containing 20 different shapes with matching tiles, the concept of this wooden toy is simple yet fun: match the tiles to the symbols. Whether for individual or group play, children reach into the bag (or, in our case, dump them all out into a pile) and find the multi-colored shape that matches the cutout on the tile.

Just from seeing the bright pictures on the box, Little Sister B was clamoring for a chance to try out the Feel & Find World Icons for herself. Although the recommended age is 3 and up, I knew that at 2½ she would have no problem manipulating the chunky pieces.

Made from eco-friendly rubberwood and stained with low VOC aniline dyes, the mix of colors caught our eye right away and Little Sister B seemed almost mesmerized as she looked at them.

As we began to talk about the easily recognizable icons (based on symbols found in cultures throughout the world) and how to find pieces with the same colors, she instantly went to work finding the tiles to match with the hippo, car, sun, apple, fish, rabbit, leaf, bird and more.

As more and more matches were made, Little Sister B got increasingly faster as well as more excited about her accomplishments. I loved seeing her succeed at pointing out which color was which and figuring out if the piece needed to be turned over or rotated to fit into the indented space on the tile.

After putting the final piece in place, we were both pretty happy about her feat!

We have since played with the Feel & Find World Icons after that initial afternoon and they have proven to continue to entertain and educate both of my girls.

Little Sister B has improved on her time for matching up all of the shapes with the coordinating tiles and Big Sister E has gotten in on the fun in a variety of ways. Working individually or together, we have stacked the pieces into a tower and then stacked them again while talking about patterns...

...we have sorted the icons by color and then sorted them again into piles with categories like Animals or Outdoors...

What initially struck me as a very simple toy proved to be much more! Just by pulling out this canvas bag and loosening the drawstring (I love that Guidecraft has made it so easy to store these tiles!) it has led to discussions about colors, size, differences and similarities, shape, the world and more and has encouraged practice, fine-motor skills, imagination, critical thinking and more!

Yet again Guidecraft has managed to take something classic and give it a twist to make their 3-D Feel & Find World Icons into something unique and entertaining. Each time that we have taken these out, my kids have been excited to put their creativity to work... and do some learning at the same time!

Plus, as I know that everything Guidecraft creates is safe and made of only the highest quality, this is an item that could be given as gifts for either boys or girls and last for years to come. Available directly from Guidecraft for $30 each (also found on Amazon for a little less) the Feel & Find World Icons are a classic sensory toy with a modern, fun twist.

And, thanks to the generosity of Guidecraft, one person will get to enjoy this great toy as well, because...

One lucky person will win 3-D Feel & Find World Icons from Guidecraft!

To enter to win: Visit Guidecraft and tell me another of their amazing products that you love.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted).

1 Extra Entry (per method) if you follow Guidecraft on Twitter, subscribe to the RSS feed of the Guidecraft blog and/or Like them on Facebook.
1 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the giveaways running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway.
1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

WIN Guidecraft's Feel & Find World Icons (ARV $30) - great wooden toy for all ages! http://bit.ly/n4PCh7 @thxmailcarrier #giveaway #win

2 Extra Entries (per follow method) if you follow me publicly with Google Friend Connect, subscribe to my RSS feed, subscribe to Thanks, Mail Carrier by email, become a fan on Facebook and/or add Thanks, Mail Carrier to your blogroll.
3 Extra Entries if you put my cute button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.
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Giveaway will end on September 7th at 11:59pm CST. Do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile, I have to have a way to contact the winner. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

A big thank you to Guidecraft for providing 3-D Feel & Find World Icons for me to review as part of my participation as a Guidecraft Mom and for one lucky giveaway winner. The opinions shared are my own and honest if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.