Who doesn’t love bringing a picture to life? That’s exactly what you get to do with the AMOSTING Color Matching Mosaic, a popular toy for kids ages 3 and up. I invited my friend’s preschool-aged daughter, Nova, to give the button art set a try with me. Did the mosaic-making kit keep our 3-year-old tester entertained? Read on to find out.
Design: Cute as a button
This color mosaic pegboard toy reminded me of the Lite-Brite of my childhood. A lot like Lite-Brite, the toy combines colorful, engaging imagery with the action of putting the buttons into the proper holes to complete the pictures. The AMOSTING set includes 46 chunky buttons in seven bright colors: eight each in light blue, fuschia, yellow, and green; six each of orange and purple; and two white with black dots that look like eyes. The set comes with a candy red tray to hold all the pieces, a yellow game board with six-by-six holes that match up with the openings on the images, and 10 laminated templates featuring cheerful, preschool-appropriate images, including a bird, umbrella, train, house, and bug. I liked that all the pictures felt a bit like the pages from a storybook. All the pieces are sturdy, fit well together, and are easily manipulated by small children.
Entertainment Value: A+
When I first saw this toy, I wasn’t sure if it would be that entertaining. However, I quickly learned that there is something quite satisfying about matching the correct color button with the opening on each template and then popping it in place. My tester, Nova, loved that she could complete this activity all by herself. I think it really taps into focus in a meditative way. Nova, who is normally quite talkative, didn’t say a word while working on her pictures—until she was done, and then wanted to know what we thought. As noted in the cons section above, this game doesn’t come with instructions, but perhaps they just aren’t needed, as 3-year-old Nova intuitively figured out exactly what to do. She enjoyed picking out the images, and after finishing her favorites, she opted to redo the tree and frog designs with the button colors of her choosing.
Age Range: 3 and up (or even younger)
Button art sets let little kids get in on the fun of Lite-Brite-style toys, as those little pegs can be challenging for little fingers to control. Not so with these wide, smooth, circular buttons, which are perfectly shaped for smaller hands that are still developing those fine motor skills. This product’s box lists the recommended age as 3 and up. After testing it out, I’d say that younger kids may be able to enjoy this game, too—about 18 months and up with parental supervision. My 7- and 9-year-olds also got a kick out of this activity. Honestly, I enjoyed it as well, I think because it is very simple but also relaxing and satisfying to complete the images.
Ease of Cleaning: A snap
This set is a breeze to keep clean. The plastic buttons, as well as the smooth laminated templates, easily wipe down. The tray holds all the buttons and templates, and the yellow game board fits on top to hold everything together and organized. I also kept the box and use it to store the pieces.
Price: Mid-range
This toy retails for about $15. There are a lot of similar sets on the market; in fact, when you look at all the options, they look almost indistinguishable except for their packaging. Some have more or fewer buttons or project pages, but many have the same contents as the Amosting version (10 image pages and 46 buttons), including the two eye buttons. I imagine you can’t go wrong with any of the sets, and as they are priced from around $12 to $26 or more, the AMOSTING one is a good buy.
AMOSTING Color Matching Mosaic Pegboard vs. ALEX Toys Little Hands Button Art
These two activity sets both have 10 project pages with very similar pictorial scenes and 46 colorful buttons. The ALEX Toys set is designed for ages 18 months and up. According to the manufacturer site, the AMOSTING set is fine for 2-year-olds; it’s almost identical to the ALEX toy. Both sets are winners, but the ALEX set sometimes costs more, around $26. Note that I’ve frequently seen it for sale for much less (from just under $15 to as low as $8) online. Personally, I would buy whichever game costs less when purchasing. The AMOSTING Color Matching Mosaic is an engaging, quiet learning activity that keeps little hands and minds busy popping the bright-colored buttons into fun pictorial scenes.
