As the video shows, Tre does not operate this toy properly. Even still, he loves it. He’ll spend hours on hours playing in this ball pit. Even when the inflated spiral was punctured, he still enjoyed it. That’s the reason it gets 3 stars. There is a motion triggered music sensor included which provide some thrills and the fact that you can throw balls into the top and watch them spiral down and come out at the bottom is also pretty cool. However there are some unfortunate negatives to this toy that I’d like to discuss. The recommended age is 2-5yrs old, but Tre clearly had outgrown the ball pit at age 2. He was diving into it and hanging from the top rim after only a few days of cautions play. Since this isn’t the intended use, the product is prone to flip over in these situations, which can get quite frightening. Also, cleaning up the balls that often become scattered around the house can get to be a pain. For the most part, the item is fairly durable, but don’t be surprised if roughhousing causes you to spring a leak.
Tre really loves this toy, he plays with it in his room every night before heading to bed. Although he was too busy eating cookies to give you a robust demonstration, this toy is really packed with features. I think it’s a very good learning aid that covers multiple disciplines within its three play options: letters, numbers, and sounds. The sound category is what has impressed me the most, it offers multiple songs and a wide variety of animal sounds as well as everyday objects such as ball, pacifier, etc. Tre has learned to point out quite a few objects around the house soley from the information obtained from this toy. You can’t ask for better results than that.
As you can see from the two videos, there is a correct way to play with this toy and an incorrect way. Unfortunately, Tre prefers the incorrect way. I really enjoy this toy, but for some reason Tre has never really taken to it much. When we first got it, he’d stand next to it and play with the spinning handle because it played music, but would never want to get on and ride the zebra. As he got a bit older, he would occassionally get on and take it for a spin, but it never really held his attention very long. However, there is great potential for this toy if you kid actually likes it. The bouncing and spinning actions are great for coordination and muscle development. Hopefully your kid won’t create new unintended ways to enjoy this toy as Tre has.
This is an awesome toy, especially for younger toddlers. It helps in providing motivation for standing and eventually walking, since the table is a bit too tall to play with while sitting on the ground. Tre used to love playing with the toy for long periods of time, and would get a kick out of all the different musical instruments as well as the singing and counting. Once they get a little older and adventurous things change up a bit. They may become less interested in the lights and sounds and more intrigued by the thought of an in house jungle gym, and as Tre demonstrates in the video, his own personal push me toy. I’m hoping that as he grows a little older and begins actually learning colors, numbers, and letters that he will regain interest in the true functionality of the toy.
I gave this toy a 3 because it has some deficiencies. If I was rating solely on Tre’s satisfaction it would be a 5 definitely! Let’s start with the good things: Tre loves this toy, it is quite possible one of his favorite things to play with and has been for quite some time now. It’s also aided his walking and running abilities, with this toy the faster you go, the more bubbles come out. So it’s taken him from being a wobbly walker to a pretty fast runner. Okay so what’s wrong with this toy? The bubble blower can become clogged frequently, which will require cleaning. Also, straight out of the box you’ll hardly get any bubbles at all. We were all but ready to take this toy back until after about 30 minutes of play bubbles actually started coming out. The bubbles do not fly very high in the air, as the blower is facing horizontally. Finally, if it’s tipped over or raised off the ground the bubble liquid will spill out very rapidly, not the best thing if you have carpet.
My recommendation: Buy it; your kid will love it. Just be prepared to do a little extra work.
