Pretend & Play School Set, Frustration Free Packaging

I bought the Learning Resources Pretend and Play School for my granddaughters who love, love playing school, and it has been a hit. The girls range in age from 4 yrs to 11 yrs old, and though the younger child will play with it for a while, it is the older children who really use it in depth. Still in frequent use after owning it for an entire year, not an abandoned toy. I appreciate how it all packs away compactly and is portable. The cover is washable nylon, there are carrying handles when it is folded up, and it secures shut with a Velcro tab. There are several inner pockets which store all the accessories. The children frequently bring it out for other play besides school - they love to play movie theater, post office, grocery.The school is quite large when unfolded - it stands 16" high and stretches 38" across. There is a large enclosed pocket for loose accessories, and slot pockets that hold the miniature papers. The dry erase board is constantly used and comes with a little eraser, though I did have to provide my own markers (I believe crayons were intended to be used on the erase board, but they are not very effective). The school also comes with 5 short pencils and 5 crayons. There is a plastic pointer with no sharp edges so it is safe for younger users. It also comes with a small tin bell on a wooden handle, but it is somewhat fragile and was crushed when accidentally kneeled on and now misshapen from attempts to repair it's shape. The calendar and map are reversible and are also write on/wipe off surfaces. Included are a small pad of paper, some worksheets, hall passes, and achievement certificates, as well as quite a few stickers. The older children really enjoy the paper accessories, but they are wasted on younger children who don't understand their particular use and use them as scribble pads. The whole thing folds down to just a couple inches thick and is not a bother to store.I know that there are accessories and add-ons that can be purchased to go along with this set, but the children use it so often that I have saved a fortune by purchasing educator items at the dollar store - I have found achievement certificates, small workbooks for every grade level, dry erase markers, stickers, etc. The girls also love to collect blank forms of every sort, and then play office with the school, or turn it into a movie theater, with show times written across the board and tiny paper tickets to hand out. This has been a great toy for stimulating imagination and creativity, and has remained a go-to favorite.I have given the Learning Resources Pretend and Play School 5 stars for the following reasons:Ease of storageEase of cleaningPortabilityHas held interest for the children over a long period of timeReally encourages pretend play and imaginationCan easily and affordably restock the supplies

Really cute toy . I pitched it for my daughter years ago then repurchased for my great niece . My daughter played with it for hours now my niece does the same .

A lot included and for a kid this has endless possibilities. There is so much included in a very compact set up and easy to travel or pack up

This toy was bought for my 6 yr old granddaughter. She immediately after opening began to setup and play with the toy. She loved the pointer and the bell and the map of the United States of America. She was so excited about the toy that she helped me write this review. The fold up case is convenient and easy for her to carry and store. The durability could be better, but it is alright for a child that is not to rough on toys. The minimum age for the product is a little low since younger children that are not in school will not understand the material and purpose of the toy. Since my granddaughter is in school, she can relate to the toy very well. She likes being in charge and making up instructions. There were no dry erase markers but I read other reviews and ordered some along with the toy so that she would have some. All in all I think this was a good purchase if not only because she actually plays with it.

I bought this as a birthday gift for my 7 year old niece who loves to play school. She absolutely loves this school set and plays with it multiple times every day. Definitely worth it!A few things I did not like about this toy:1) It did not come with any dry erase markers. I was aware of this when I made the purchase, so I went out and bought my own ahead of time. But if you didn't read the description of the product close enough to be made aware of this, it would be somewhat of a downer if you gifted this to a child since they wouldn't be able to play with the dry erase boards immediately.2) The bell included is somewhat cheap. The handle isn't securely attached to the metal part of the bell, so it's very easy to bend the handle at where it is connected to the metal part of the bell.3) The dry erase board or the eraser isn't that great. The board wouldn't wipe cleanly with the eraser after writing on the board. It left streaks in certain areas of the board. This isn't to say that the board is just a mess that can't be cleaned because I was able to clean it with alcohol, but it's not as smooth a writing experience as a full scale dry erase board.These were just little things that I think the product could improve on. Despite these issues, I still think it's a great product! 5 stars!

Our girls first started using this when the oldest was 6 and youngest 3...it is now a couple of years later and they still adore it! I knew they would quickly burn through the consumables and, although there is a refill packet available, I didn't want us to have to constantly purchase refills. I decided to take 20 minutes and laminate the paper components and just have them use dry erase crayons for them. It is perfect! The girls play school with each other for hours on end and when their friends come over they immediately gravitate toward the set, too.With little worksheets laminated, the kids get to practice their writing over and over and the reverse has been used as a mini dry erase board for other types of lessons. The stickers are easy to stick and re-stick on the laminated surfaces, too, so the kids can use them as part of their "grading" process. They love every part of this kit and it is so much fun to listen to them while they play with it!