With the hope that warmer weather will soon be with us and after having sold a fair amount of clutter on ebay, I decided to treat our 17 month old little boy to some toys for the garden. I already had on order a lovely playhouse to store his toys in and so began our search for something suitable.

My son loves bubbles, as do most toddlers and he also has a fascination with helping out with work on the house or garden. When I spotted the Fisherprice Bubble Mower therefore I was instantly drawn to it. I am not usually a fan of Fisherprice toys but this one looked fun and after reading some reviews online it seemed like it would be a hit.

The Fisherprice Bubble Mower is available from Argos at just £24.49. It is suitable for children from two years onwards. I used my own judgement with this as it has no obvious small parts and being a garden toy and having a rather tricky drop from our lawn to our patio, I knew that my son would certainly be closely supervised when playing with it.

This product is very basic in appearance and when I opened the box I was initially a little disappointed. It is made from rather thin plastic and has very little weight to it. Most of the details are simply indented into the plastic and not so much as coloured to make them stand out. These are features which are somewhat typical of Fisherprice.

The handle of the Bubble Mower has two yellow dials which simply click when moved, again another common feature with this brand. It is rather long meaning that the whole toy is easily tipped over. It is therefore not suitable for those who are unsteady on their feet. My son is however a confident walker and very steady so this was not an issue.

The base of the mower is again very simple. Situated at the front is a compartment in which to place the bottle of bubbles. The bottle is almost balanced in this compartment and not held steady. The liquid therefore leaks out very easily and the bottle is easily knocked out or otherwise removed by an inquisitive toddler.

When moved along the mower gives a whirring sound, though it does need a good deal of friction and grip in order to do so. It therefore works better outdoors on a lawn which is of course where it is intended to be used.

The idea behind the mower is that when pushed along the bubble liquid goes through a moving cog with holes situated just inside of the plastic shell. This cog does not move very freely however. Not only that but the plastic shell is too low down, partly covering the holes in the cog and when a bubble does try to make an appearance it will more often than not burst on the plastic before it has a chance to make its way out. I soon found that the mower needed to be pushed along at high speed before any bubbles came out at all.

Despite it having so many flaws my son really does love this toy. He is not interested in the bubbles which rarely work, he is more enthralled by being able to help daddy with mowing the lawn. He also loves to push it around the house or sit on the base and have us push him around the house!

In summary this product is a little too basic, in fact rather flimsy and the main concept of the toy barely works. I am very pleased that my son has so much enjoyment from it. That said simple things do please him, just as most toddlers do he enjoys playing with cardboard boxes, bowls and spoons etc. I do not believe that the price suits the product and should be at a maximum of £10! My recommendation therefore is to give it a try... if it's in the sale!