Review: Haba Tack Zap On Duty

I’m not big on DIY.  Thankfully the OH’s pretty handy around the house if required and it appears that N might take after him.  Or at least he’s currently enjoying any opportunity to wield a hammer or screwdriver (our recent IKEA experience and flatpack building from the other day – post coming soon).

His nursery school did some woodworking activities in his first week there and he’ll always notice if there’s a hammer or screwdriver hanging around.  So when I was shopping on The Toadstool for some birthday ideas, I spotted the Haba tack zap sets and decided he’d love to try one of those.  I opted for the vehicle one, then just had to wait until his birthday so we could get it out and play.

Although the box lid was in German (Haba are a German company), all the instructions and information about Haba on the leaflets include English.  It’s really interesting to read about Haba’s perspective on toys – very much on quality, creative play, and long term use and enjoyment.  The toys are also made from sustainable sources, so your children can play with educational, green and fun toys.

N was in the box like a shot trying to open the bags with the pieces in.  The nails are quite small so I’m worrying that’s N’s quite careless about losing little pieces.  It’s definitely an activity I want to hang around for so we don’t find him knocking bits all over the shop.

He was in his element playing with it.  In the box is a corkboard, nails, wooden hammer, and the various wooden shapes to make different pictures.  We’ve not yet grasped that there’s a little guide booklet that you can follow to make the different vehicles.  At the moment, N’s just enjoying the novelty of being able to bash away lots of little wooden pieces into a piece of cork!

I’m surprised at how controlled and accurate he can be (no hitting fingers etc), and how when he wanted to remove them all, he knew that the opposite end of the hammer should be able to unpick the item.  (Not quite in this case, as the wooden hammer isn’t made for that task, but interesting how quickly he learnt)

As for the set.  There’s lots of variety amongst the vehicles – ambulance, tractor, digger, truck etc, plus faces so you can add people to drive the vehicles.  I think N will have lots of enjoyment out of this, especially once he’s got over the ‘I want to just bang as much and as hard as possible for as long as I can’ phase.  I have to admit I was a bit OCD and really wanted to make up some accurate, correct pictures, instead of him just nailing every single shape onto the corkboard.  Maybe I’ll have to get it out after he’s gone to bed one night and have a go myself as he wouldn’t let me have the hammer when he was playing with the set!

What’re the details?

Haba Tack Zap On Duty from The Toadstool (Also available – Springtime Butterflies, and Moo and Baa sets)

Suitable for age 3-9 (although much older if parents get their hands on it!)

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Disclosure: I’m a Toadtester for The Toadstool, but I chose and purchased this item myself, and chose to write a review of it