I do not know what the situation is in those cities where there is no Ikea nearby, but in the city where I live, 30 minutes from one, the Ikea Mule Maze It is a classic in those stores that decide to reserve a space for children to play a little.
Where there is one, it is easy to see several children's hands trying to pass the balls from one place to another and given such success, and given its affordable price, we are several parents who have ended up taking us home.
For this reason, and because it is a very popular game (either this model, or other equivalents), we analyze today Ikea's Mule Maze.
Construction and dimensions
It is a simple toy, composed of wood and steel. To be more concrete, it is solid birch wood with solid shima, treated with pigmented lacquer and acrylic varnish. The metal part is made of steel.
Its dimensions are 31 cm long x 25 wide x 28 cm high, so it is not the smallest toys, but not the largest. It could be considered of medium size when placing them in a room.
Toy Objectives
According to Ikea it is a toy that "develop motor skills and logical thinking" and I agree that these two are the objectives of this toy. On the one hand children must pass the different pieces from one side to another of each "path", with three options available. Sometimes the piece will be released, it will go back, they will have to pick it up individually or they may prefer to try several at once and they will have to do it by raffling off other pieces and "paths" that cross in between.
All of it (like many other toys) makes children develop logic ("If I put my hand over here I will not be able to take it out," "If I try to pass 4 pieces I will finish before I do 2", etc.)
The recommended age is from 18 months, which is when they usually understand the operation and have the ability to move the pieces from one side to another.
In the hands of a child
As I said at the beginning it is one of the most viewed and used toys in stores (at least the ones I know) for children to entertain themselves a bit. Seeing that our children liked it and given that its price is only 9.95 euros, we bought it once we went to Ikea.
Once at home you realize that it is a "casual" toy (adding to the fashion of "casual games" type Wii), that is, It is a toy for a very short time and that usually entertains your friends' children more than your own.
This is logical, the toy does not offer in itself much play beyond passing pieces from one side to another. Children usually use it for a while, but they soon get tired of doing it.
Interestingly, if a child comes home and offers to play, the owner child, who can always access it and only uses it rarely, joins the game (well, maybe it is not something so curious, but simply the desire to share time and space with another child). It is also possible to realize that when he sees it in stores he gives more attention than when he is at home, perhaps because he knows that what is there is alien, or perhaps because he finds it in a different place than usual.
Summarizing
Is about a simple toy with a goal and a very specific use It is reasonably priced. It does not offer a lot of playtime and could be considered a "casual toy", as children outsiders tend to like it more than the owner of the toy itself.
It occupies a volume of intermediate space (this must be taken into account, that the rooms are not football fields) and is easy to assemble and disassemble (in case you want to save a season).
It is not one of those toys that are strongly recommended, but we do consider that it may be beneficial to have a toy of this type, to help develop the fine motor skills of children and for being different from most toys they usually have (it is always interesting that there is variety).
