Bigjigs Figure of Eight Roadway

 Freddy has had a very busy week.  With birthdays, parties, family visits and nursery picnics going on, his schedule has been fully booked.  So today, it was lovely to finally relax and introduce him to his latest Bigjigs Play Patrol Mission, to review the BIGJIGS ROAD Figure of Eight Roadway.  The 36 piece set is suitable for children aged 3 and over and is part of the Bigjigs Road range.  The set comprises of roadway pieces that interconnect to form a figure of eight road, part of which goes under a bridge, along with cars, trees, traffic lights, a road sign, buildings and pedestrians.  Children can make a busy little town and play imaginative games to bring it to life!

Freddy got stuck in straight away, delighted to have a new Bigjigs toy to play with.  As ever, the quality of the wooden pieces is excellent and the pieces of the road fitted together easily.  I always love the feeling,  natural look and smell of the wood.  The traditional wooden toys are just so aesthetically pleasing!

Freddy needed a little help to make the figure of eight shape, but was equally happy making his own road layouts as he explored the set, putting the pieces together.  

The pieces and accessories are perfect for little hands, being chunky and robust.  The cars are freewheeling and Freddy loved whizzing them around, rolling them over the bridge and making them have races.

I loved listening to his ongoing dialogue as he played, narrating the story of the three cars.  At times the cars were naughty and bashed over the trees and buildings!  At other times they came to the rescue of one of the people in a race against time.  I love how Bigjigs toys fire his imagination and give rise to some wonderful role play opportunities.

A child's dexterity and co-ordination is developed as they play, manipulating the pieces and building the tracks.  There are opportunities for further learning as children count objects and recognise shapes and colours.  I was particularly impressed with Freddy who put two roof triangles together and said "Look Mummy, it's a diamond!"

I really like the idea of having a roadway range that is compatible with other Bigjigs roadway sets and also the train sets through additional Road and Rail link items.  Other accessories such as roadsigns, vehicles and parking spaces add to the play value. A child's collection can be built up over birthdays and Christmases to create bigger city scenes and expand the fun.

Our only criticism is that the people are so much bigger than the cars, the buildings and even the bridge!  They seem a bit out of place when everything else is more or less scaled. That said, they were still fun as Freddy pretended they were giants!

The Roadway set costs £31.99 and is available on the Bigjigs website here.

A brand new  Bigjigs Roadway website is coming soon.  If you want to be notified when it's up and ready, register here:  www.bigjigsroad.com.