Toys On The Brain

Posts Tagged ‘Fisher Price’

The Doodle Pro Travel is a handy toy for toddlers and preschoolers and an even handier tool for parents with long waits in lines or waiting rooms.

The Doodle Pro has an attached “pen” that kids can use to write and draw on a screen. Whether your child is in the scribbling stage, or already showing signs of becoming the next Picasso, markings are but temporary and easily whisked away with the slide of the lever at the bottom, creating a clean slate for the child to begin again.

Kudos for the little carrying handle, and a string just long enough to allow ease of writing and drawing, along with an easy space to clip the pen back in place.

Nothing to lose, no batteries to replace, no noise to deal with, and plenty of practice for little hands.

There are different sizes of the Doodle Pro, but I like this smaller travel version. It is the perfect size for little ones to use in their lap, and the ideal size to toss in a large purse or diaper bag, and travel with in the car.

• Doodle Pro Travel at the Fisher Price Website

Buy Doodle Pro Travel Online:

• at Amazon.com

We’ve actually had this toy for quite some time. And for some reason, unlike most of the other toys, it has never seemed to make its way up to the boys’ room in order to make room for other toys to come down. It’s not that it’s an absolute must-have for them (it can go days without being touched), but I think it’s just sort of become part of the decor of the living room. When you think about it, that’s actually kind of sad…. Anyway, on to the toy itself.

It’s a two-level playset that comes with a little ATV, helicopter, Diego figure, and five animals. Other pieces that come off include a jungle vine (long since lost), a “zip line” that never (nope, not even once) stayed attached to the little hut it was supposed to attach to, and a few sundry pieces of furniture like a telescope, food bowl, etc. None of these detachable pieces have survived to this point - undoubtedly they’re somewhere in the house, but they’re certainly not in any close vicinity to the play set.

The most interesting-sounding features, like the zip line, elevator, and helicopter end up being the most boring. The helicopter kind of swings around if you push down on the bird’s nest… but it also makes an annoying sound and doesn’t move very well. The elevator is nearly impossible to move. As for the zip line… well, that became Indiana Jones’ whip and got tossed in the garbage. It was a hard plastic thing with even harder bits on the ends and that just wasn’t going to stay in a house with two active (and somewhat evil) little boys. Plus, it never stayed attached to the little hut on the ground, and the harness Diego needs to zip down it is very difficult to get on. The boys don’t miss it, and neither do we.

So, with all the bad about the toy, is there really anything good? Well, yes. When you take out the silly (and incredibly annoying) electronic noises and ill conceived design ideas, it ends up being a fun play set to use for make-believe Diego stories. The helicopter (which comes off its little hook and can be used separately) and ATV are fun little vehicles in their own right, and your kids will probably end up conducting quite a few animal rescues with just these toys on their own.

Oh, one last thing. You see that little piece of the rescue center’s floor that sticks out from the rest in front of the annoying talking computer bit? For some unknown reason, it folds up and down. What does this mean for you? It means it will be coming off pretty much every five seconds while your child plays with the toy. Do yourself a favor and chuck it as soon as you get the thing out of the box. 3-year olds simply can’t remember not to lean on it - it’s just a fact of nature. I just wish one of the designers of this toy actually had a 3-year old at home. If they did, it might have been a really great toy instead of just a good-with-modifications toy.

Buy Diego’s Talking Rescue Center Online:

• at Amazon.com

It’s actually hard to express how much I hate this toy. Oh, sure, the kids both loved it when they were little, but come on, this is all about me now. Whoever came up with the bright idea that this thing should make the exact same noise every time one of the rings is put on the shaft (or, for that matter, whenever the two buttons at the top are pressed - over and over and over and over and over) should be put in a clean room with nothing else and forced to listen to that noise for a minimum of 6 hours. Seriously. Annoying.

That said, yeah, the kids really loved this. Each time they put one of the stars/rings on, it made the annoying noise and lit up. Put the star on the top and it played a little tune. While I’d much prefer something that doesn’t require batteries or earmuffs, I guess it does help teach fine motor skills. Another bonus was that the boys always put the stars back on in the wrong order, which drove their (slightly obsessive compulsive) mother crazy! I always got a good laugh out of that.

Overall, I guess if you have the patience for it, your infant will probably enjoy it. Ok, they’ll probably adore it. But I still plan on finding whoever it was who chose that sound effect… and if I do, watch out!

Buy the Fisher Price Classical Stacker Online:

• at Amazon.com

When we first saw Pat Pat Rocket advertised - as a Target exclusive - just before Christmas, we were determined to get one for the boys. Cue the montage of several visits to local (and not-so-local) Targets, sleepless nights spent online trying to track one down, and irate confrontations with store personnel who swore they didn’t have any, despite electronic inventory claims to the contrary. Well, suffice it to say that, through an out-of-state contact, we finally managed to procure one of the much-coveted toys just before Christmas. Now came the real test - how did it measure up in terms of fun factor?

Turns out, not so well. Yeah, it did everything it claimed: music gets louder as it’s rolled or flown through the air and the figures say phrases if they’re in their seats, but ultimately, it just isn’t that exciting. The music is repetitive, and Rocket itself is entirely too heavy for small hands - I’m 27 and my arm gets tired holding it to fly it through the air! For a toy I was sure would be adored, this has seen very little play time.

Every now and then it finds its way to the play arena, but it definitely wasn’t the hit I had expected (and hoped) it would be. Perhaps as the boys get older and develop stronger arm muscles they’ll want to make it “fly”… but by then they probably won’t be interested in the show any more! Until then, I’ll keep trying to encourage Small Person #2 (3 years old) to do some imaginative play with it, while continually reinforcing the fact that, no, you can’t put batteries in Leo to make him talk, he has to sit in his seat to do so, and yes, I’m sorry he isn’t real but there isn’t a lot I can do about that….

Buy Pat Pat Rocket Online:

• at Amazon.com

I’m horrified to admit it, but I have not one, not two, not even three, but four of these old school musical clocks haunting my days. Two are in fact vintage models (along with the expected chipped facings, peeled-off decorations and questionable tunes) and two are the recently released Fisher Price retro-nouveau offerings.

Both models are basically identical, though of course with chunks of wood falling off of the older versions, I hesitate to let kids play with them. The new versions are made of plastic, and so are more durable, if a little less charming. The basic idea behind the clocks/music boxes is that you wind them up with the knob on the back, and as they play the tune (supposedly “Grandfather’s Clock” - and yes, I looked that up) the pictures on the front rotate to show what a child would be doing at different times of the day.

Overall, it’s nice to see an older toy come back for a younger generation. It’s also awesome to find a toy that doesn’t rely on batteries to keep kids entertained. That said, however, it isn’t exactly a toy that will hold your child rapt for hours at a time. It also won’t miraculously teach them to tell time, though it’s a great tool for you to use together towards that end. The one gripe I have with this toy is that the hour hand doesn’t always move in proportionate time to the minute hand. Admittedly, I’m probably doing something wrong, but if you want to use this to help kids learn to tell time, it can be a little annoying.

Buy the Fisher Price Classic Clock Online:

• at Back to Basics Toys
• at Target