This really is such a lovely set. I liked the idea when I saw them online, and they're even better in reality. The numbers are chunky and super-sized. Just to give you a rough idea, they're four fingers tall and as thick (or deep) as my thumb. Because they're so large, you could probably let even an infant play with them. Under adult supervision, they could enjoy grasping the numbers and feeling the smooth bamboo texture, or practicing taking them from your hand or picking them up from the floor when they're able to do so. I would recommend keeping the 1 away from them because its straight, slim shape could fit in a curious baby's mouth, but the other digits are more complex, interesting shapes anyway, and would be too wide to pose a choking hazard. As the child grows, they could learn to identify the numbers, to line them up in order or reverse order, they could separate out odds from evens, or use them to label pictures of items or groups of things in your home. Now the set has become a hands-on tool for learning early math skills. The set has excellent construction, with no splits, splinters, gouges, or dinged edges. The inside surfaces of some of the numbers, for instance inside the curl of the five, or the loops of the eight, exhibit a noticeable texture where the carving was done, but it's nothing that should be able to cause an injury. In other words it is noticeable that that texture is different from the top and bottom surfaces, but not in a problematic way. I did notice an odor when I first opened the package, but it seems to have dissipated. Perhaps it was just a holdover from the pieces being shrink wrapped in plastic, because once they were out in the air, they were fine.The set comes in a drawstring cloth bag. The fabric isn't heavy like canvas; I would say it's more like muslin or broadcloth. If you intend to give this as a gift, I think it would be tricky to wrap that irregular shape, so you may need to provide your own box, or use a gift bag. That's just a small detail to keep in mind if this is intended to be a present.I really haven't found a huge downside to these, although it would have been nice to have another zero and another one in order to be able to make a 10. As the set comes, you can do zero through nine, or two through ten, but not zero or one to ten, which seems like a missed opportunity. Nevertheless, I'm glad to have these numbers, and I'm looking forward to incorporating them for early childhood education. Recommended for homes, daycare programs, or preschool and kindergarten classrooms.