Melissa & Doug Classic Wooden Abacus

I bought the abacus for my seven year old boy-girl twins to help them with their adding and subtracting.

This particular abacus has two faults:

1. the ten beads in each row are identical in color. The abacus I remember using as a kid had the five beads on the left side of one row one color and the five beads on the right of the same row a different color. This makes a world of difference when sliding over various amounts. For example, lets say you want to slide across seventeen beads in total. If each row had five beads on the left in one color and the other five beads in the same row a different color, then you would easily slide across a complete row of ten in the first row, an easily identifiable 5 beads in the second row (same color), and then an additional two more beads in the second row to make seventeen. With the Melissa and Doug Abacus, you would have to slide across a full row of ten beads in the top row, and then count up seven beads (all the same color)in the second row and slide them over.

2. The abacus is narrow. If you slide ten beads over to the opposite side, they don't all go past the last bead in the next row. This abacus would be so much better if it was about 5 inches wider.

The abacus that I prefer is Desktop Abacus by Learning Resources

Desktop Abacus

The desktop abacus by Learning Resources has the features that I wanted.

Before we got a chance to review the instructions, my 51/2 yr old had begun to use the abacus for counting, adding, subtraction and even making pictures!!!My 2 yr old also enjoys the beads for colors and counting.Exactly what we'd hoped for!It's sturdy and large enough to be fun yet easily handled by the youngest.

Buy Melissa & Doug Classic Wooden Abacus Now

The colors are bright and the frame is thick and durable.It is a nice way to add a little fun to math.Plus since it is so well made, when my 10 month old wants to play with it I don't worry about her or the toy.

Read Best Reviews of Melissa & Doug Classic Wooden Abacus Here

My 1st grader was having trouble learning how to add/subtract. Bought this abacus to help him understand simple math and he loves it! In just a couple of days he got the hang of it and is now doing math on his own! I would recommend this tool to anyone, it's easy to use and helps kids understand addition and subtraction much faster than any other method I've tried in the past.

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This product is a must for anyone who is beginning to learn math! My daughter is five and already learning her times tables and addition through this toy! They want to play with it. We do patterns and other type things with the abacus! Great construction and nice colors.

We love this toy!

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