My school recently had a school fair, and I was browsing the toy stall for things for my nine month old daughter to play with. I noticed this Early Learning Centre Activity Giggle Ball sitting on one of the tables looking hardly used. I knew it was an early learning centre product because I had seen my oldest nephew with this toy in the past. However, I don't actually think this product is available to buy in the Early Learning Centre brand new, but you can pick it up fairly easily online new or second hand. I ended up paying £1.25 for the product, which I thought was a very cheap price given the good condition.

This product, after looking up online, has actually be designed for children of 6 months plus, and my daughter is currently nine months. This ball offers a combination of different textures, sounds and shapes for baby to interact with. Along some of the arms of the ball, there are beads that can be pushed about so baby can work on their motor skills as well.

This ball is very colourful, as well as being flexible as most of the arms of the ball can be moved. The fact that some of the arms are textured, also means a baby can use this as a teether. If shaken hard enough, you can hear a funny kind of noise, however, my daughter isn't able to do this herself, it needs to be me shaking it fairly hard to get the sound, and so I wouldn't say that noise is a big feature of this toy.

When I brought this toy home, I expected my daughter who now loves holding things with both hands to be excited by it, and she was for about 10 minutes. Since that time she has hardly looked at this toy and it now sits at the bottom of her toy box, and everytime I bring it out, she glances at it then goes for some of her favourite toys. THere are several reasons why I think she hasn't shown much interest. Firstly, despite her still teething and putting everything in her mouth, she has outgrown teething toys at 9 months and doesn't seem to get any joy in the teething textured toys anymore. I would say if I had given her this two or three months ago she would have attempted to chew on it more. Secondly, despite her being able to hold toys with two hands, I still think this is quite a big heavy product for a baby to hold and play with, until they are much older.

All in all, I think if I had got this for my daughter when she was in and around the 6 months mark she might have got more enjoyment from it, because she certainly has shown little to no interest in this toy since I got it for her, no matter how many times I have reintroduced it. I am so glad that I didn't purchase this toy new as it would have been a complete waste of money.