I love giving this item as a gift! Recently, I purchased this for my friend's 4 year old child. She loved being able to "cut" the fruits and veggies. She immediately grabbed the play knife and started slicing. The sound and the slicing action made her smile and giggle. In addition to the motor skill activities we did, it also gave us the opportunity to do some basic math, patterning / sorting plus some good old fashioned play. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a unique gift for a birthday or holiday.