It's incredibly difficult/nearly impossible for me to shave the ice with my current upper body strength, so far all I can do is scrape a few flakes here and there which is definitely not nearly enough for me to make even a single serving of kakigori for a mouse. When I asked my Dad for help, he was able to get more shaved ice out of it than I could. However, the ice that was shaved wasn't nearly as soft nor as fluffy as I had hoped it would be... My mom can't get enough shaved ice from this either, and that's cause my Mom is a strong enough to lift a pot bellied pig/is a beast at opening pickle jars, it's odd that she couldn't get it to make enough shaved ice for a single treat. As such, I hardly doubt that a child would be able to maneuver something like this and overall it feels like I'll have to look for an electric model instead of a hands on crank type.P.S: Since this is made out of plastic it feels really flimsy and whenever my Dad used to put his strength into it I was always nervous that the little contraption would end up breaking under his strength. As for myself, well I'm not as abled bodied as someone my age typically is (so I can be a tad bit helpless when it comes to things like this) so as things stand now it's been placed overhead out of the way by my parents since they said it was a waste of money and was taking up too much space on the counters in the kitchen. So for now I'm planning on eventually donating it to one of the local thrift stores around here sometime towards the end of this year, but until then it's a lack luster paper weight. ???❔?When I think back to my childhood I think of my grandpa visiting from Japan, cold somen noodles, watermelon, chasing fireflys, and shaved ice! Now growing up in the states, I enjoyed American food and American desserts but my mom made sure to feed us Japanese meals and desserts as we grew up too. This dessert is nostalgic to me and there's nothing like a shaved ice - Japanese style to quench your thirst and hit that sweet tooth when it's hot outside.Here's a more detailed rundown of the features of this product.Appearance. This is exactly as pictured on the product page. I ordered the pink but ended up getting a blue one. Which to me it doesnt matter much as long as it works, which it does. This is a manual turn style shaver. There are electronic ones out there for much more but as long as the blade is super sharp, the ice will shave beautifully. There's a compartment for the ice block to go into, and comes with a container to freeze the ice. The bottom legs have rubber on them to help keep it in place as you turn the top to shave the ice.Function. It's very easy to use and intuitive to figure out. You place the frozen ice round into the well and lock the top with the handle into place and you start turning the handle and out pours this beautifully delicate shaved ice. I think that's what sets this apart from other snow cone/ice machines is the fineness of the ice. It's like powder. It's easy to turn, doesnt take much force and there are four little nails that essentially drive themselves into the ice chunk to give it extra strength when turning inside. It doesnt take a lot of strength to turn like I said but I did find that it makes it easier to shave when you apply a little pressure on the top when turning. One ice chunk produces quite a bit of shaved ice, I was surprised to find. I started a freezer collection of ice rounds so that I could quickly make shaved ice whenever I want. The blade is super sharp you can tell so be careful when handling. There's really no reason for your hand to ever be anywhere near the blade though the way this is designed.Construction. Everything is plastic except for the blade and the nail pieces that hold the ice chunk but so far it's held up well and as it is a Japanese made product, I know it will last.Price point. The list price has gone up to 32 but I paid 25.00. I actually bought one for myself and one for my sister as a birthday gift. I believe this to be fair and competitively priced.Overall this is a great tool for making really fine shaved ice and is easy to use.I paid full price for this product.Made some Bing soo for my mom in mother's day this year since there's nowhere close by to get some where we live. Everyone enjoyed it! We made a milk/condensed milk mixture for the molds and it came out like snow! It worked exactly as I was hoping it would, everyone loved it.I would recommend making the ice blocks ahead of time in you're feeding a crowd since the mold is fairly small. I made four ahead of time and wrapped them in plastic and it feed six adults and two small kids.This comes with a single ice mold, so if you want to make high quality shaved ice for a crowd, you’ll need to do some hunting for additional molds. I bought 16 of these and now pack them in a cooler and bring them to the beach, now I can make piña coladas for everyone! Check these out: 3.5 inch Round Cake Pans - Set of 4 - SILIVO Silicone Molds for Baking, Nonstick & Quick Release Baking Pans for Muffin,Cupcake,Layer Cake, Cheese Cake, Chocolate and Rainbow Cake - 3.5 inch Cake Pan https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L928FPK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_J2S65AHM18RX5G172A3J?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1Works great!I purchased this for my mother for her birthday. Every time we've gone to Disney World, all she really wants is a snowcone, or kakigori from Japan in Epcot! That is the only place we've been able to find a snow cone that has a snow-like texture, isn't icy, and is super refreshing!I looked for a long time for an ice shaver that wasn't industrial sized (or priced), and I finally settled on this one.When she opened the package, she immediately wanted to try it. So we froze the water in the included mold, and once it was frozen, tested it out.At first, it didn't seem to want to shave the ice. But I tried harder. After a few tries, it started to work. The first pieces that came out were pretty chunky, but after a few turns, it started to look like kakigori!I made a bowl for both of us to try, and we both enjoyed it thoroughly. It wasn't EXACTLY the same, but hey, it was as close as I think we can come.This is exactly what I was expecting - an ice shaver, not an ice crusher. It isn't much to look at - kind of tacky-looking plastic, but it does the job.You use the tub included to freeze a block of water the right size, then put it in the machine and turn the handle. It is manual - so no batteries or dodgy motors to worry about. You turn the handle, and it moves the block of ice over a small blade at the bottom. Put a bowl underneath and there is your shaved ice. It needs a bit of elbow grease, but isn't difficult.You just need to remember to refill and re-freeze the bowl so it's ready next time you need it.Not suitable for small children due to the blade, and you also need to buy your syrups separately as they're not included.However, this is the only thing I could find (except really expensive machines) that can produce real shaved ice (like they have in Hawaii), and not just a bunch of crushed ice cubes.The only thing preventing it from getting five stars is the fact that, because you have to press down at the same time as turning the handle, it kind of looks like the handle might not last long. You need to sort of press in the middle whilst turning the handle with the other hand.No electricity required ! Easy to use and makes fine shave ice. It would be nice if it comes with 2 ice containers instead of one because it doesn't work well with ice cubes. Over all, it is a great product and made in Japan with high quality !I like the robust design, very sturdy. Only disappointed with 1bowl, instead of 3 with pampered chef brand.its easy use,. i love itVery good item but would have been helpful to have at least two containers to store ice in.