I bought this for my son when he was 2 years old. He is now almost three, and plays with this toy very rarely (not even once a month). I expected that the toy would work differently than it does. Each cookie has a number on one side and correlating candy chips on the other side. The side with the number has a raised circle. The circle gets wider as the number gets higher (the number 10 cookie has the widest circle). When you place the cookie in the jar a lever inside the jar is pushed a certain distance, depending on how wide the circle is. That is how the jar 'reads' what number cookie your child is putting into the jar. The only problem is, when my son puts in a cookie too quickly, the jar thinks it is a different number. The toy plays in two modes. For the first mode, your child can put cookies randomly into the jar and it counts the cookies, up to 10. In the second mode, the toy asks you for a certain number. For example, if it asks for number 3, your child would put in the number 3 cookie. However if they put it in too quickly the toy will say they put in number 2. It is confusing to my son. He put in the correct number, but the jar misread the cookie. It has a pretty cute voice, not too annoying. It does not have a shut-off switch, so we hear it occassionally talking by itself. If the toy was designed better, it would be a great learning toy. I would not purchase this toy again.

I bought this for my four year old for Christmas. The only problem is he and my two year old fight over it. I am not sure how much they are learning from it, but they love the size, shape, and colors. The pieces are right for chubby little hands.