Hugg-A-Planet® Classic Political Earth

We use this globe all the time! It is the perfect size to store on my bed, we use it as a pillow or to learn about world events! It is detailed and the colors are bright and vibrant and easy to find different locations. It has been fun for my kids to find where the hurricane is going to hit or where an earthquake happened. It was a great price for how much learning and family time it has encouraged. My kids love it and I love it!

I purchased this globe three months ago and it has stood up to lots of play! As a toy it has been sat on, slept on, hugged, tossed around and it still has retained it's original shape beautifully! The fabric is tough and well stitched. As for cleaning all I've had to do is spot clean with a wet cloth. My favorite aspects about this globe is of coarse the educational aspects! It is very detailed and accurate as far as I can tell. It has greatly helped in exposing my two preschoolers (ages 2 and 3) to their world. We keep the globe nearby while we're reading and whenever we read about an animal or a person from another part of the world I make sure to show them on the globe where they live in comparison to that animal or person. Also, whenever my husband travels I explain to the kids where we are compared to him. Recently my husband went to North Carolina and after showing them where they live compared to NC my son (age 3) was able to show me on his own where we were and where daddy was! All things considered, this is really fun toy and an excellent teaching tool!

We've been teaching our four year old daughter and three year old son about geography, and we were concerned that learning everything from a flat map might not be the best way to conceptualize the layout of the planet. My wife and I looked at other globe options, and decided on this one as being something both fun and accessible for the little ones. Here are our thoughts after owning it for a few weeks: Pros: -Soft -Durable -Well made -Up-to-date country labels -Suitable for small children Cons: -Countries don't line-up correctly at seams (minor) -Could use more stuffing. Overall, pleased with the purchase. Would buy it again, or get it as a gift. You'd be hard pressed to find something with as much detail that you feel comfortable letting small children examine and play with. Given the reasonable price (roughly twenty on Amazon), I highly recommend picking this up. Go ahead... Give your children the world!

Why did you pick this product vs others?: I bought one of these years ago. This one was similar, brightly colored and well made except that it was not as full of stuffing as I think it should have been. Kids love them, though.

This has become our "go to" gift for new baby parents that we know. Soft, safe and interesting all at once - the Hugg-A-Planet is cherished for years by both giver and receiver!

When I was a teenager, I bought one of these to keep on my bed as both a handy globe and as a pillow. It got A LOT of use over the years as both. It isn't quite as accurate in its detail as a standard globe, but if you just need a handy reference to find Uzbekistan or the Falkland Islands, it does the job just fine. Plus, a Replogle twelve inch isn't very comfortable to put behind your head. Mine lasted for years without any damage whatsoever, although it did wear some due to its near-daily use as a head rest while reading. I wish I had never listened to my first wife's suggestions to get rid of it, because I suspect that whoever found it at the Goodwill got a lot of use out if it too. I had my pillow globe longer than I had that prudish shrew, and I so wish I had kept the globe instead. I bought one of these for my ten year old daughter, figuring that she will get as much use out of one as I did. It is beautifully colored and just as useful and comfy as I remembered, but there was one issue. Her globe didn't have nearly enough stuffing inside, and would not hold its shape. As a result, it looked caved in most of the time and was hard to see places on it. I ended up getting my mother to cut open the seam where the manufacturers put the stuffing into it (on my daughter's globe, that seam was located in the Southern Ocean down near Antarctica, and was easy to find as it looks a bit different from the rest of the seams). We put additional stuffing inside until it was the consistency of a firm pillow (as mine had been) and she hand sewed it back up. It was an easy fix to be sure, but it seems silly that they wouldn't stuff it correctly at the factory. Maybe I got one that was off, but if you get one, know that it can be remedied pretty easily. Otherwise, these soft globes are fantastic and she loves it.

My baby is 6 months old and loves this globe pillow. It helps her keep her balance while practicing independent sitting and loves to be rocked on top of it. It came exactly as advertised and I was surprised it how up to date it was (it had Sudan and South Sudan as separate countries)

The countries on the seams don't match up. It's also not stuffed to even make a sphere. For $35, it's a very disappointing product. Just because this was on the international space station doesn't mean it's worth $35. And it's a shame you call this an educational product because the Yukon is almost completely missing! If kids used this as a map, they'd have no idea where the borders are. The problems are all in the design. You need to use *spherical* dimensions. The distance from point A and to point B on a globe is NOT the same as the distance from point A to point B on a flat surface like a map. Two, you need to add an extra 1/4" on each side where the Velcro is. This way no distance is taken away from the countries that touch this area. Three, you need to add 3/8" on each side of every seam for the same reason. And for God's sake, make the countries line up!