Anyone who knows me knows that I am map obsessed. Maps of all different shapes and sizes. New and old. One of the best gifts I was ever bought was a globe. I used to spend hours pouring over it, looking at the various countries, seas and oceans. Looking at places I had visited and lands I wanted to explore. We have a huge world map on our stairs at home and the kids and I spend ages looking at it and pointing out where different places are and talking about the ones that I have visited. It seemed fitting therefore to be sent a a Children’s World Map Globe Puzzle to review from Ravensburger.
We’ve reviewed some of Ravensburger’s 3D puzzles before (notably Big Ben and also a Union Jack Sneaker) and the kids are now pretty good at understanding exactly what you need to do to put them together. All 3D puzzle pieces are numbered on the reverse, and they also have a small allow on them pointing to which side the next puzzle piece has to connect.
The previous puzzles we’ve completed all had a base to them, but with a globe obviously being round I was intrigued to see how this fitted together and how they kids would find it. Six year old Master C and his 8 year old sister made swift work of it though.
We started off by doing some maths practice and splitting all the pieces up into numbered sets of ten, so that we could share out the building of the globe fairly between them.
The build starts off with the kids being able to hold it as they add the pieces, but then as it goes on there is a supplied stand that you can rest the globe on as you put the next pieces in place.
The only really tricky bit was the final two or three pieces where it is impossible to have fingers on both side of them, so a small slip means a piece can fall inside the hollow globe. It took her a couple of attempts, but LMC soon managed to click the final piece into place.
The completed globe has countries and capital cities marked on it and it is also illustrated with some famous landmarks, alongside various animals and birds. There are also a selection of boats and sea life covering the seas and oceans.
As well as the enjoyment and education value of building the globe puzzle, the finished globe makes an excellent decorative addition to a child’s bedroom or playroom. In the box are a plastic stand and the pins required to attach the globe to it. Once assembled this can then stand on a shelf or desk and children are able to spin it round to look at places on it. Once we’d finished building we spent quite a bit of time together looking up places and their landmarks as well as an against the clock challenge for the kids to find a list of countries that I gave them.
Educational as well as fun, this 3D Children’s World Map Globe Puzzle is perfect for any child who has an interest in travel and geography. With 180 numbered pieces it worked perfectly for my two children aged 6 and 8, and it has a suggested age range of 7 to 12 years.
The Ravensburger 3D Children’s World Map Globe Puzzle has an RRP of £19.99 and is available in toyshops as well as online here.
Disclaimer: We were sent the Ravensburger 3D Children’s World Map Globe Puzzle for the purposes of this review. All opinions remain my own. This post contains affiliate links.
