I love the Wonder Makers Design System. They've just come out with a new variation that adds a craft-element to the system - the fabric is white with black markings, and can be colored with the included markers, and then washed and colored again! I tried the new coloring fabric, and it washed more thoroughly and easily than I expected - I figured there would be some residue, but actually it came out very clean after less than a minute with rinsing it under cold water while rubbing it a little with my fingers. The four markers included are nice and bright with good rich colors - blue, pink, green, and yellow. It's recommended to only use the included markers, so I did not try other markers to see if they would wash out. The colors bled just slightly into each other, but the resulting look was still nice and was attractive. They show that you can also color the white wall panels, but they note that those are not washable. While the walls themselves are made from plastic, the color-able parts are paper-covered, so they can't be washed. About the rest of the playset - the new design system is really cool. Wonder Makers was introduced in 2019 and I have been impressed with the playability and quality of the sets. The pieces are easy to connect, they stay connected for playing, and then when you're ready to take them apart, they come apart with a gentle tug. The Treehouse is fun to build and has plenty of accessories to play with, including some elements specifically for this set, like colorable walls and fabric. The instructions are clear and mostly pictures, with some tips in words. There are small pieces, so the set is intended for ages 3+. The instructions start out showing how to create a simpler shrubbery, then moves on to building the treehouse.. The instruction sheet includes two additional ideas for what you can build. Whether you play with this set on its own or together with others, there are plenty of ways to use the pieces to build different things. The boy and girl figures and the track pieces are natural wood. Some pieces are rubber or plastic. The pieces are all well-made. I like that many of the pieces can be used in multiple ways. For example, even the treehouse floor piece, which could have been very single-purpose, looks equally reasonable as a wall, floor, ceiling, roof, and more. I think it's cool how the people figures are painted with the person facing forward on one side, and facing sideways on the other side, so that they can be used in different ways. Some of the vehicles available in this system have the slot for the figure facing forward and some in profile, so it's cool that they thought of this. The boy is painted with a orange and yellow shirt with a squirrel in his shirt pocket. One side of the wooden boy figure shows him facing forward and the other side in profile. The girl is painted with a bouquet of flowers in her hand. The primary theming is on the accessories, so that the fundamental building blocks are essentially theme-neutral, and can be easily combined with other sets for larger building possibilities. Overall, this new design system is well thought out and a great new way to build. I really like it. It brings to mind the great toys of my youth that were very open-ended - Tinker Toys, Erector Sets, etc. I think this will be a classic.
