BOUGHT FOR GRANDKIDS. THEY ARE 3 AND 4. IMMEDIATELY WAS ABLE TO PUT TOGETHER AND TAKE APART. THEY CAN LET THEIR IMAGINATION SOAR. THEY PUT IT TOGETHER LIKE THE PICTURE THEN THEY DIVIDED SO EACH COULD HAVE SOME AND FINALLY THE MADE A BOAT, WITH THE CONNECTORS AS THE SEAT AND LITTLE STICKS FOR OARS….THEY WENT TO AFRICA AND TOLD US OF THE ENCOUNTERS THEY HAD WITH THE LOCAL ANIMALS. THE MATERIAL USED IS A NICE STURDY WOOD, NOT FLIMSY.First, I will say that the wood beams are made of high quality wood - and we did not have any problems with splinters or breakage. However, the 3 stars given was a result of the lack of sturdiness. The pegs were not glued into the holes in the smaller wood connectors and that caused the beams to become unsteady and wiggly. Whenever my children tried walking on the beams, the actual beams would come off the pegs and hit the floor. I found this to be annoying since my children lost interest in this toy very quickly. With that said, once I went to Home Depot and bought wood glue to apply to the pegs, that made all the difference in the world. The balance beam became a favorite toy again and all it needed was a quick fix to make it more steady.We love this product. So versatile. We only wish they included a couple extra pegs.The kids like this a lot, they make it part of their obstacle course, and enjoy combining it with other things to make elaborate play grounds indoors.This idea is great... and it works after you have to fix it. Basically, had to glue pieces back together. In addition, the surface is prone to splinter, so you may want to sand it down.My kids love this thing. It keeps them occupied and is durable.Ok so this product is expensive for me to have to do work afterwards. The pegs in the wood pieces are not secure. I had to gorilla glue two that were not even attached. Then I find out that several of them are loose and have to gorilla glue them too. I would have returned it had I know this before I gorilla glued the first two. I should have received a discount for having to do what should have already been done. After gorilla the beam was fine. The wood is smooth and you can paint it yourself if you like.The wood is beautiful, smooth and fits together well, and the canvas storage bag is sturdy and attractive. My disappointment with this item is that many of the connector “knobs” on the planks have fallen out of the planks and must be reattached with wood glue. This is a problem because as children play, planks will inevitably need to be reattached. If the connector knobs are not secure, they can easily get lost making the set unusable as designed. I discovered this problem when I unboxed the set upon delivery. I do not know how use will affect the knobs that have not fallen out.