Design and Drill Set from Learning Resources is a creative construction set where children can drill patterns and pictures onto a design board.  Aimed at children aged 3-7 years, I thought this would be perfect for my two children to try with Mister B being 3 and Miss M who is 6.  I particularly had Mister B in mind though as he’s quite fancied a drill for a while and I saw this as a great learning activity for him.

The set comes with an activity board, power drill (which requires 3AA batteries), 120 brightly coloured bolts, a wrench, manual screwdriver, 3 attachments for the drill/screwdriver and 20 activity cards.  The drill has 3 settings, forward, off and reverse, something Mister B grasped quickly and loved the abililty to change from drilling the bolts in, to removing them using the reverse option.

Mister B who is 3yrs old was immediately drawn to the Design and Drill Set when he saw the box, he couldn’t wait to get his hands on the drill and got to work straight away.  The set allows children to create any design or pattern they wish with coloured bolts on the board.  There are 20 laminated design cards to copy which I think gives a fantastic amount of ideas, they certainly can’t get bored with doing the same designs over and over.

After doing a few simple patterns, Mister B spotted an X shape.  His eyes lit up “I’ve found X marks the spot” and off he started.  He loves X marks the spot and is always drawing pirate maps so this he has declared is his favourite pattern to make.

The Design and Drill Set is not only fun but great for developing early skills such as colour recognition, counting, patterns and motor skills.  The concentration really showed on Mister B’s face as he put each bolt in place and counted along the design card to see where to place the next bolt.

I was surprised to see 6 yr old Miss M be just as keen to have a go and she had fun creating the bigger picture designs such as a house, rocket and boat.

I think this Design and Drill Set has a lot of play and learning value and I have to say that I can’t believe how much my two children have been playing with this.  They use it at every opportunity when they are home and it’s always a battle as to whose turn it is!  They have done some shared designs taking a turn each to put a bolt in.

The bolts are bright and colourful, really engaging for young children giving them endless possibilities of what to create.  My children have enjoyed following the design cards but also made up their own patterns and done letters in their names etc.   See below some of the great designs we have made following the design cards.

I’m really impressed with the Design and Drill set from Learning Resources, it’s provided hours of entertainment for my children already, it’s got some great learning aspects with it, from recognition to fine motor skills and is a very well built, durable toy.  I’d recommend to this anyone with a young child as something that will last and allow your child to gain some valuable skills but is also fun and enjoyable to play with.

I think this will get highly used in this house for sometime yet, they play with it before school, after school, after bathtime in their pyjamas, it really has proved a big hit with us and is definitely one of the top toys that we have at the moment.  Why not check it out for yourself over at Learning Resources ?

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and the Design & Drill Set was sent to us in order to write the review.