Great value toy with so much to offer (V tech first walker) (VTech First Step Plus)

Member Name: jenjade

Product:	VTech First Step Plus
Date:	14/12/08 (80 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Crammed full of things to explore. loads to help a child learn and great value

Disadvantages: Accent can get annoying, it is plastic goes to fast on some surfaces!

I have had a lot of experience with the vtech first step plus walker. Firstly as a parent my daughter had one of these when she was about 6 months old as secondly as someone was who works with children we have one of these at my workplace.

I think this gives me good grounds to write a review as I have seen various ages and different children using the walker.

Young babies can use the white part of the walker it detaches and can be placed in front of them. There are five flashing stars for them to focus on. The white part also plays three different nursery rhymes depending on which buttons are pressed.

The animals all make animal sound the monkey makes monkey noises than if you press it again he say, "I am a monkey" and makes the monkey noise again. This repetitive action will help children to identify and make a connection. There are also shapes, which are different colours and have different numbers on them. This is great from a mathematic point of view. The shapes with numbers and colours also say thing when they are pressed such as "red circle" "number 1" etc.

Another handy point about the base is the bear actually asks questions which is great for older children. He will say, "Find the red circle" etc this is useful to further a child's learning as they gat older.

So the white part can be detached and lead down in front of babies and rested against something for babies that can sit etc.

There is a blue phone with a dial underneath which children really enjoy. The phone can be detached from the toy, which some people might find useful, but I found this a pain as our phone got lost very quickly. Young children love imitating speech and this is an important milestone in there development. Toy phones are a good recourse to promote communication and language development.

On the front bottom of the walker is a simple roller with colourful pictures, which young children seem to really enjoy.

As a walker, I find the Vtech walker fantastic on a carpeted surface but it does way to fast for most children on a laminate or tiled surface. The walker has large wheels, which makes it smooth for children who are learning to walk. It is very difficult for children to steer as it is quite heavy but this weight helps control the speed.

This walker is a fun educational toy that adapts to cover a vast age range from 3 month up to 2 years. The walker is easy to clean, bright and colourful. I have seen this walker for sale for £20 and it can be purchased much cheaper if you shop around. I think the walker offers fantastic value and I love the way it adapts to meet the different ages and needs of a child.

The walker folds flat for storage is easy to clean with anti bacterial spray and it very well made and long lasting.

I would highly recommend this walker as it helps cover so many areas of development, covers a vast age range and is fantastic value for money. The only negative comments I can think of is that some of the accents are annoying and it is plastic.

Summary: A great all round toy for young children so much to explore!