Hape Wooden Tool Box Kid’s Fix It Set | 2021 Toy Review
Description: Designed in Germany, and made with wood sourced from environmentally sustainable forests. This 14-piece Hape Wooden Tool Box set includes a vice, wrench, ruler, hammer, and screwdriver. It has plenty of screws and pieces to practice building skills. This set encourages kids to develop hand-eye coordination skills. It also teaches them about basic building and STEM. Kids love the active motions as the gears turn and the realistic role-play encouraged by this toy. The Hape Tool Box encourages little ones to practice fine motor skills and concentration.
The Baby Penguin’s Toy Review consists of 5 standardized criteria categories:
Sustainability, Playability, Durability, Longevity, and Versatility.
(Click each category for a detailed description of why it’s important)
Each criteria category has 3 subcategories and can score up to 5 Baby Penguins per category if it’s Outstanding!
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1. Sustainability:
A. Product:
- Made with wood from environmentally sustainable forests and water-based paints.
- All wooden components except for nails, screws, bolts, and hammerhead.
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B. Packaging:
- Cardboard recyclable box with zero plastic packagings.
- Most European toy companies do put plastic windows into packaging.
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C. Origin/Company:
- Hape is the largest wooden toy manufacturer in the world.
- It is committed to making sustainable wooden toys with limited plastic components.
- They operate their own factory to be responsible, ethical, and sustainable in their practices.
- To see Hape’s message on Environmental Responsibility, see their website HERE.
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2. Playability:
A. Open-ended:
- Encourages storytelling and imaginative role-play.
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B. Active Parent engagement:
- Parents can teach fine motor skills with how to tighten and loosen screws.
- Parents can give an intro to STEM with gears, levers by prying out nails with a hammer.
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C. Playtime:
- Promotes fine motor and building skills, concentration and imitative role-play which encourages storytelling.
- High child engagement time.
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Hape Fix It Kid’s Wooden Tool Box and Accessory Play Set3. Durability:
A. Craftmanship:
- Smooth, precision-crafted with beautiful water-based painted pieces.
- The toolbox itself is solidly constructed and perfect for nails and screws to be connected.
- Made of substantial and nicely crafted wooden tools, gears, plank pieces.
- This is a well-finished tool kit without wood splintering.
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B. Quality:
- A solid-made toy that will take the hammering, screwing, and undoing of components.
- No paint chipping.
- Plastic components are high-quality plastic.
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C. Price/Value:
- The price point is a great value as this is a solidly made toy.
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4. Longevity:
A. Landfill or Heirloom:
- Heirloom quality.
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B. Lifespan of Toy (Age Range):
- These are rated for ages 3+.
- Children ages 3 years to about 5 will enjoy this tool kit.
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C. Multi-age Families:
- Good for multi-aged families if everyone is aged 3+ due to small components as choking hazards
- This is a great toy for families of multi-aged children ages 3+ if the add-on set is purchased.
- The Basic Builder Play Set has additional planks, wheels, tools, and components to build cars and objects.
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Hape Fix It Kid’s Wooden Tool Box and Accessory Play Set5. Versatility:
A. Combined with other toys:
- This set can be combined with Hape’s Master Workbench and Hape’s Basic Builder Play Set.
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B. Creativity Function:
- Creative as it can promote fine motor skill development and imitative role play.
- It is two types of toys in one, a skill builder as well as role-play toy.
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C. Storage:
- Sits nicely on a shelf taking up minimal space, and stores all pieces nicely inside the Tool Box itself.
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Final Review for Hape Wooden Tool Box Kid’s Fix It Set
Overall, I recommend the Hape Tool Box because it is a simple, sustainable, and substantially made toy. First, it promotes fine motor and building development skills. Second, it is two toys in one promoting role play and fine motor skill learning. Third, the craftsmanship is high quality with nice non-chipping paint, smooth sanded wood, and no rough edging. This toolbox can grow with your child with additional sets such as the workbench and basic builder playsets. When your child is capable of building more complex things, this will add longevity. Toys that grow with your child have more longevity for stimulating your child’s development. To see my other Hape reviews, click HERE. If you enjoyed this review, please subscribe to my newsletter to review the latest sustainable toy reviews every week! Christina
