Melissa and Doug Band in a Box

Customer Rating:
Summary: great
Comment: We love this Melissa and Doug music set! Our toddler loves playing them to his favorite songs. Every instrument is so well made, and smooth, and they make pleasing sounds. However we're a little puzzled at why the maracas have a muffled sound to them. When you shake them, You can tell there are beads inside the maracas, but it sounds as though they're filled with cotton and beads. One maraca is more muffled then the other. It was a little dissapointing and frustrating to not hear the beautiful pebble sounds that maracas usually make. We've owned cheaper made maracas that sound a lot better, that's why we can only give it 4 stars.

Customer Rating:
Summary: The Band's all here!!
Comment: This was a Christmas gift for my little cousin. Her mom called me to say "Thanks for the gift. She loves it. I hate it!"(lol). Her mom said she plays all the instruments, and gets upset when it is time to put the instruments away.

Customer Rating:
Summary: LOts of fun but low quality
Comment: I bought this toy for my 4 year old & 20 month old -- they love making music with it, but I was surprised by the low quality. The tambourine broke on the second bang (its paper! for children! hello!?!) and the cymbals make such a dull tinny sound the kids don't want to use them. Melissa & Doug usually has higher standards.Look for another brand if you are considering such an item.

Customer Rating:
Summary: So-so; some items are fine, others are poor quality
Comment: We got this as a Christmas present for our nearly 3-year old. He is really into musical instruments, and we thought he'd love this.

While he does like the triangle, the weak sounding maracas do not interest him (by weak I mean they make very little noise), nor does the clacker. Even worse, the cymbals, an instrument he loves to bang at his pre-school, are too small to make any real noise! The sound of the cymbals is flat and dull, which prompts our little boy to complain "too small, daddy, too small."

Even worse, as many (too many -- are you listening, M&D?) reviewers have noted over the years here, the tambourine head broke immediately.

I probably would not get this again if I had to do it over.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Fun to play with.
Comment: My 2 year old son loves the Melissa and Doug Band in a Box. He immediately played with the items when we first bought it. It is now a year later and he still picks up the instruments and plays. The items are sturdy and he has fun with it.