Ravensburger XXL Children's Globe 180 Piece Puzzleball

"Children's" Globe Puzzle Is Easy or Challenging, Depending on How You Approach It

too easy-anticipated more brain power to put together
This is a great toy once put together and it's really cool/unique that all the puzzle pieces curve together. I guess, the drawback is that you put it together by following the numbers on the back of each puzzle piece and the arrows. So, essentially if you can count and have the time and are willing to spend it tediously snapping piece after piece together than this is for you. I guess it can be split up between 2 kids to do together or a parent/child which would be a nice way to hang out and achieve something at the end. I just thought it would take more brain power than having to organize all the pieces by number. There are a LOT of pieces, so it would take FOREVER if they weren't numbered so I'm not offering an alternative method--just if you're thinking it's like other puzzles where you are trying to match the pieces to a photo--it's not. BUT they pieces are sturdy and the fact that they aren't flat but curve around to make the globe IS pretty cool. I would say age range is def...
frustrating assembly. falls apart.
Having put together two other Ravensburger Puzzle Balls (Times Square 270 Piece Puzzle Ball and Underwater World 40 Piece Puzzle Ball) with my 4.5 year old son, I thought this 180 piece Puzzle Ball would be a quick and easy build. Unfortunately, it was not so.

My son and I started assembling the puzzle ball using the same method we used to assemble two previous puzzle balls - I was sorting pieces and he was putting the puzzle together. However, the puzzle kept falling apart and we had to switch. My son sorted and laid out all pieces in front of me well ahead of me getting to them. The area that includes pieces 69 through 75 was especially frutrating as those pieces just would not stay together.

While some pieces won't stay together, others were difficult to attach. During the build, the ball would fall apart at a lightest application of force when attaching stubborn pieces. I spent well in excess of 15 minutes attaching the last piece. As I was applying...
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