Space Explorers Galaxy Puzzle

As usual Melissa and Doug deliver. We’ve had the 12,24, and now 48 puzzles. All are worth this price. This one is a great floor puzzle. My 3 year absolutely loves it. Pieces are durable and easy to handle. We will be buying a second design.

Our kiddo is on the Autism spectrum, and is VERY particular about his puzzles. That being said, he ADORES his Melissa and Doug kits!! They have enough pieces to keep him interested, and they are big enough to keep him engaged. The kit is very sturdy and the pieces are made of a very thick cardboard.

I love this puzzle for my almost 4 year old daughter we do them together. The piece are big which I like. I have been teaching her about the planets so work perfect for us. I Miss Pluto..lol

Pros: My 3-year-old son absolutely loves it. He's put it together approximately 57 times since I took it out of the mailing box yesterday with no end in sight. The backing cardboard seems sturdy and the pieces fit together well. The picture is colorful and reasonably sharp considering how large the puzzle is.Cons: The actual dimensions of mine are 24 ¼ x 36 5/16", so slightly larger than the stated nominal 2x3'. Factor this in if you live in a Japanese micro-hotel room or refrigerator box with limited floor space. The image is an artist conception with arbitrary scaling and illumination between major features, so not suitable for precise celestial navigation. There's also some random spiral galaxy and a comet with the tail pointing the wrong direction. The nebula seems a bit tacked on.Addressing points brought up in some of the more critical reviews1-star by Ellen Cohen "You need a lot of space for this puzzle. The puzzle is not good for a small apartment or house."Thing is, Ellen: "Product Description From the ManufacturerYou'll need lots of "space" to assemble this beautifully illustrated 48-piece puzzle of our solar system. This extra-large cardboard jigsaw is 2' x 3' when assembled! An easy-clean surface keeps it looking like new." I suggestas an accessory to assist in planning your next purchase.1-star Where is pluto?, K. Choma "Happy Mama" (Snoqualmie, WA)"This is a very lame puzzle. Many people reject the IAU definition of planet and still include Pluto as the ninth planet in our solar system. I will never buy a puzzle without Pluto being included."Oh Mama... where to start with this one. So, without getting into a subjective discussion on the authority of the IAU to license and regulate the planetary content of children's toys, I think you're factually incorrect on this point. Pluto IS MOST DEFINITELY INCLUDED IN THIS PUZZLE!!! Look closely, just beyond Neptune... little bluish circle with while blotches. Could it be? Really? Clyde Tombaugh nearly went blind staring at dots for months on end and you and like 40 other people can't be bothered to look two inches beyond Neptune? Heck, I'm even pretty sure that's Charon above and to the right of Pluto. It looks just freaking like the Hubble images of Pluto/Charon, which is like the first image result if you Google "Pluto Charon Hubble." Again, Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto without the benefit digital image processing or a heated observatory and you can't be bothered to Google something from the comfort of your Snuggie? You know what? You people don't deserve a puzzle with Pluto on it, planet or not. If your powers of observation are limited to objects toy makers explicitly label, astronomy may not be your strongest subject anyway.2-star, Prakash"I brought this puzzle for my 4 yr old son who showed lot of interest in the solar system when I showed it in a book. He had memorized the order of the planets away from the Sun. All that understanding is gone with this model which shows the solar system as a picture from behind the moon. It is tough to make a 4 yr old understand that the moon is smaller than the earth when the moon occupies the entire model. Also, the order is not based on distance of planets from the Sun, and the asteroids are not helping."Your child may not have the spatial reasoning skills you think he does. Look, I get you're trying to be purely educational, but I found an actual correctly-scaled overhead perspective solar system puzzle and it's really boring: [...] If he's not able to understand the image perspective from the moon, DO NOT attempt to discuss the precession of the perihelion of Mercury with him. It involves 3-dimensional spatial understanding and tensors and stuff. Most concepts in astronomy require an innate understanding of perspective, and if he's blown away by an artist's conception, he's not going much beyond memorizing planet order anyway.

We always loved toys and puzzles from Melissa and Doug since they are well thought and well constructed. This puzzle has been favorite to my boys, my sister's kids and cousins whom I gifted over time. It's fun to build the puzzle over and over and it teaches them about our solar system and its planets.