I had a gears toy in a previous classroom and was excited to find this set at a garage sale and bring it into my new classroom. When I took the pieces out to test them I was so disappointed to find how difficult they were to put together. The old set I had was very easy to put together but I think it was from a different company. So it's not a total loss, I may put together the green base pieces and put them out with the gears only.