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Cuckoo Alex Rub A Dub Magnetic Boats In The Tub
by arleek
These were a gift for my daughter's recent 2nd birthday. She loves bath time so I wanted to get her a couple of bath toys to call her own at bath time (most bath toys in our house belong to her older sister, and she likes to keep tight hold). So rather than go down the old route of buying the typical squeezy bath toys, I thought I ... would get her something a bit different. And after trawling through Amazon, I found these, and although they were relatively simple, looked like a great toy.
The thing that attracted me most was that they are not the squeezy/squirty variety. The reason I have completely gone off squeezy bath toys is because the water festers inside the toy and turns to black slime, so my kids have often ended up covered in black filth while playfully squirting each other with bath toys. This not only scares the life out of my kids, but I also read on the internet that this black mouldy stuff can harbour all sorts of nasty germs (you look it up!!) so squeezy bath toys are off the list.
Anyway, back to the boats. You get 3 colourful little vinyl boats - a tug boat, fishing boat and a speeding boat - which attach to each other using magnet connectors at each end of the boat (a lot like those Early Learning Centre cars) so you can play with them all in a line stuck together, or you can play with them independently. You can also use the magnets to repel each other and use one boat to chase another around the bath.
I have found that these are a really good bath toy.
For starters they float really well, they are actually stable on the surface of the water, there's no capsizing or slow sinking, they just float - like real boats! Secondly, as I stated earlier, they don't take on water so there's no additional worries of black mould gathering inside the toys. And thirdly, they are a simple toy, no fancy bits or mechanics; they are just 3 boats that my kids love to play with at bath time.
A toy as simple as this encourages imaginative play in children, and they are actually the most played with toy in our bath at the moment. My children will join them together and parade them around the water, or 'wash' them with their flannels, cover them in bubbles, or make them 'talk' to each other. To be honest at the moment, the possibilities are endless with what my children do with these boats. They don't tend to 'expect' anything from them so just play to their heart's content.
Not only do my kids love them, but I think they are worth every penny. They are a good quality toy which I'm hoping will last until my kids grow out of playing with toys at bath time!
I would definately recommend these for any child at bath time.
Recommended for age 2 and upwards.
Currently available on Amazon for £7.99.
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Cuckoo Alex Ocean Bath Squirters
by jillycat
Why these bath toys
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We had already bought our son the farm animal set of these which he had enjoyed but as they were starting to look a bit worn and grubby we decided to treat him to a new set and choose the ocean set this time. These were one of the first types of bath toys that we bought our son when ... he started to enjoy baths rather than them being just us holding him to get him clean.
Who are they for
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Amazon market these as "Suitable from ages 6 months+ to 99 years! " and I have to say I wondered who enjoyed them at the beginning more my son or my husband!
What are they
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The Ocean set comes with a seahorse, a crab, an octopus, a starfish and a big bright clamshell bath squirter. The set comes complete with a sturdy, clear carry case with a draining mesh bottom to let them dry off when they're not swimming in the tub. Suitable for age 6 months upwards. The squirters typically measure 7 cm by 7 cm (height, width).
A squirter for the uninitiated is a toy that when squeezed takes on water and then when press squirts that water out at someone or something
The squirters are made form soft plastic that is "Phthalate free" Now those chemists among you may know what this is but for those of you less clued up and I included myself in that. A quick search of google and Wikipedia I found this about Phthalate's
"Phthalates are a group of chemicals primarily used in plastics to increase their flexibility. Their use is controversial because phthalates have caused hormonal activity in rodents when administered in high doses"
So I guess Phthalate free is a good idea given how much little ones seem to chew their toys and my son has often had these in his mouth
Our experience
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For a long time my son has enjoyed playing with these creatures in the bath mainly chewing them and putting them into things or walking them down the side of the bath. As they float to they will often be pushed up and down the bath or if we take them swimming they act as an incentive for him to kick his legs and try to swim to get them.
He uses them with either my husband or I in the bath to play chase with them too.
Now at 22 months old the idea of using them as a squirt has suddenly taken off and he uses them to squirt anyone and anything in the region of the bath. Depending on the pressure he places on these they can squirt to the end of the bath without any problem at all.
He loves animals so these creatures really appeal to him. They have lovely friendly faces and are a wonderful bright primary color so they are great to help little ones focus too.
The plastic is wonderfully soft and pliable to the touch too. I wish we had bought this set first as they are slightly chunky and easier to be held and manipulated than the farm set. They are chunky and soft to the touch which is great for little hands to hold. The fact that they are chunky makes it easy for him now to squeeze them to take on board the water and squirt it at me!
The squirters come in a handy see through carry case. This is handy if you are taking the toys on holiday or to the swimming pool as we sometimes do.
I do like these as a bath toy but I have one big gripe. They seem to accumulates on the inside soap scum very easily and not matter how much I rinse them in clean water rather than the bubble bath my son has the soap scum always accumulates on the inside and you need to take water into the squirter shake it and then squirt the brown/ black built up soap scum out. A tip I received from someone was to soak them in Milton for half and hour and this reduces the scum build up. This does seem to work to a degree but we still had to get rid of 2 bath toys from the farm set as they just had become too discolored on the inside from soap scum.
It is because of this that I have down rated the toys from what would have been a 5 starts to 4 stars
Overall
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A great fun bath toy that can be used as a squirter or just for imaginative play for little ones the only negative is the build up of soap scum on the inside.
Where from
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These are currently on sale on Amazon for £7.94
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Cuckoo Alex Transportation Squirters
by zerub
Cars for in the bath! If, like me, you have small children who are obsessed with cars and try to take the small metal ones into the bath, then these are for you.
** The packaging **
You get five bath toys in a pvc bag with 2 fabric handles and a zip. The bag is about 15cm wide and not quite as tall.
The bottom ... of the bag is made of mesh. In theory this is so that you can put the cars back inside after the bath, and let the water drain out. In practice, the water doesn't drain out unless you squeeze the toys. When I first saw the bag, I thought it would be useful to put the toys in when packing to go away - we'd be able to put the wet toys back in it and pack them in the suitcase. Then I noticed all the helpful holes in the bottom of the bag - so that doesn't work!
The bag is nice if you are giving the toys as a present though.
** The product **
I've been saying "cars" - actually you get a little red car, a blue and white police car, a red tow truck (which my son insists is a fire engine), a yellow aeroplane and a blue and yellow boat. Funnily enough for bath toys, the boat is the least popular. I guess we have other boats. The plane flies around in the bath but tends to fly out of the bath quite a lot, and after a while the traffic controller gets fed up of putting it back... The three cars are great though. One of the most popular games is "car wash" and involves a lot of bubble bath.
They are brightly coloured, feel soft, and are the right size for small hands - about 7cm.
They squirt pretty well, once the child has understood the technique (squeeze the air out, immerse, let go, bring up, squirt). I dissuade them from too much squirting though - I like to be vaguely dry at the end of their bath.
** The price **
You can buy these for somewhere between £6 and £9 - it is worth shopping around online. That isn't bad for five bath toys - they'd be a pound each for cheap ones in Tescos and these are good quality, detailed toys.
** Continued Use **
After a while some of the coloured surface detail starts to wear off. The black on the wheels wears thin and the bumpers start to fade. When I say "a while" I mean a couple of years, and these do get used most nights.
The main issue is keeping the mould out of them. This is true for all bath toys with a hole. You need to squeeze almost all of the water out of each toy at the end of the bath. If you do start to get mould inside them, you can soak them in diluted bleach - just make sure you wash them very thoroughly afterwards before giving them back to the children.
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