The Original Classic Colorforms -- Fun Retro Re-stickable Vinyl Design Toy Kids Have Loved for 60 Years, for Ages 5+, Multi

This is a fabulous set and would make a great gift for kids ages 3.5 - 7 or 8. There are hundreds of pieces in multiple shapes (circle, triangle, rectangle, square, line) in five different colors. All are stored inside a thick, sturdy spiral bound book. The set comes with a panel to make pictures on (you can use both sides -- black and white) and there are additional panels inside the box and in the pages of the book. It's easier for kids to peel the stickers if you remove the background first...which can take a little bit of time. Both my 4 and 6 year old like this a lot. They like to build different scenes with the shapes and make up stories about them, and this set gets incorporated into other pretend play as well (yesterday it was a pretend website and then they made a traffic light with it for their trucks). There are probably at least a hundred small pieces, so you if you have a younger child who is not super well organized...I'd used this with supervision or hold off until they're older. But it's a fabulous open-ended toy and I'm amazed by how much use it gets and how much my kids learn from it. It's great for fine motor development, learning shapes and colors, geometry, and language development. My kids enjoy the Charlie's Colorform City show as well which actually really modeled well for them how to make pictures out of shapes and how to use pictures to make up stories.

Colorforms were first marketed in 1951 and I was probably a bit too old for them. I frankly don't remember if we got them for our son or not. That too was a long time ago. Now I have grandchildren whom I indulge. Of course, nearly everything I get them is something thst I think I'd enjoy. On that point, Colorforms rate high. They are ideal for a young imagination - or an old one. The concept is elegantly simple: die-cut vinyl pieces that adhere to glossy surfaces, like the two cardboard sheets they provide, windows or each other. The child can try for representational images (i.e., faces), patterns or whatever they want. (I feel certain artists like Piet Mondrian and Frank Stella would have loved Colorforms.) No adult supervision is required, other than keeping the kids from hogging all of one color or shape. And, depending on their mood, it can keep children occupied for some time. All in all, a lot of fun for kids and grownups. Gotta enforce the rule that they play with the Colorforms in one place and not carry them around the house, though. Things are murderous to pick up when they're spread out. Overall, a fun, durable toy that provides many hours of fun to the young ones - and the old ones, as well. Jerry

If you are creative and have a child whom you love, this is an ideal toy! The shapes allow one to create numerous pictures, the colors are bright, and the book in which the pieces are housed makes an ideal carrying case. I purchased this for my daughter's niece who is four years old and very active. She rarely sits still and, like many children today, is more enthralled by video games and movies than creative playthings. However, when I sat down to play Colorforms with her, we created things for over an hour without her losing interest. I do not think she will play with this toy alone as she is not spatially oriented or someone who thinks creatively. This toy is best for someone who is more design oriented or for parents/grandparents to engage with a child in a play activity. The pieces are originally in sheet form and attached to individual pages in the storage book. One must peel them carefully to avoid losing pieces which have not been fully cut in the manufacturing process. The scrap has many large sections that can be used to cut additional shapes - hearts, leaves, etc. to provide additional flexibility of design. We had no difficulty with the pieces sticking to the two boards provided for designing, and were also able to stick them on windows and the refrigerator. One warning, I was the only adult in a group of six (one 60, three 50-somethings, and two parents in their 20's) who had ever heard of or played with Colorforms. If you have any doubts, you might want to be sure someone knows what to do with this wonderfully creative toy.

Not as good as I had remembered. This set is geometric and great if you are creative, but not if you are not very artistic on your own. You can make beautiful Frank Lloyd Wright style designs.

My son loves the new Charlie's Colorforms City and loves his new (circa 1951) Colorforms toy. This toy works great. It's just vinyl cling. But actually decent quality because they haven't messed with the formula that much in the last 68 years. I also love that my son who was born in 2016 is playing with a toy that his grandfather's older sister played with in 1951 (not sure if she had one). It was really experimental at the time. (My father, my son's grandfather, was born in the summer of '59). I never had one, but I wish I did. This is really cool and my son is teaching me spatial geometry because he has loved UMIZOOMI and Charlie's Colorforms City. (Believe me, I know what's going on, too. There is only one season of Charlie's Colorforms City, and I think he has watched each episode AT LEAST FIVE TIMES. BTW, if a NETFLIX exec is reading this, please greenlight the second season.) The only real problem with this is you need to poke out the shapes one at a time. It IS time consuming. It's like a sheet of the vinyl sticking surface, which is kind of like a dry erase board. You can also just rip off the whole thing at once, like my son did with the blue... CAUTION! DO NOT EVER RIP OFF THE WHOLE THING AT ONCE. This multiples the time it takes for this tedious task. Adults, you may just want to get it fixed yourself. And BTW, the beginning ages on RISK, BATTLESHIP, and SCRABBLE are there for a reason! Buy this. It's a great deal. Enjoy and stream Charlie's Colorforms City with your 2-36? year old son, daughter, or transgender person. This is truly an everybody, everywhere, all ages toy!

It is a Christmas present so it hasn't been fully opened to see if the quality of the product has lessened over the years. I'm excited to share it with my Granddaughter. She's enjoying the Netflix show very much and I think it helps her understand shapes better and how they apply to everyday things and how she can use them in her drawings too.

for creatives, young & old