I frequently visit a local charity shop that very often sells brilliant second hand toys and I have picked up many great hardly used or never used toys since my daughter was born. One such toy I picked up a while ago is this ELC tambourine, which cost me 50p but costs £6 brand new, which I think is a little expensive. Although I don't have an Early Learning Centre in my town, I do like their toys and generally feel that I am getting a good value product.

My daughter likes making noise, and likes music and dancing, and since she already has a drum which she plays, I thought this would be something she would like. It isn't the biggest tambourine in the world, but for a child it is fine. It actually states on the Early Learning Centre website, which currently have it on offer for just under a fiver, that this is not suitable for children under 3 - well my daughter is now almost 17 months old and I think this is a fine toy for her to play with and I think 3 is a little over the top in age range.

This is a pretty durable product, and the skin of the tambourine is strong, which is vital when it is being battered by a young child, hitting it in any way, shape or form to get a noise. This tambourine is in a triangular shape as you can see from the picture above and has green sides, housing four sets of metal mini cymbal which create all the noise when it is shook.

This is a toy that my daughter does lift out of her toy box quite a lot, and it gets carried about the house, being shaken or thumped, but in the end it does usually lose out to other toys that do more. Maybe it is her age and she will make more of it when she is older, but it has a limited use, although the Early Learning Centre do suggest that this could be combined with other instruments from their range, which I suppose may give it more playtime.

ALl in all, this is a strong, child friendly tambourine that certainly makes plenty of noise which my daughter enjoys, however, I think at £6 it is pretty pricey given what it is and the extent my daughter plays with it.