The fun way to learn shapes and numbers (Fisher Price Cookie Shape Surprise)

Member Name: i_am_joy

Product:	Fisher Price Cookie Shape Surprise
Date:	31/10/08 (157 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun to play, educational, sounds great

Disadvantages: ----------

I have a toy box full of baby toys for when my 16 month old granddaughter comes to visit, but the one she loves more than anything else is something I picked up in the charity shop for the princely sum of £2.50. It was brand new but the box was quite badly damaged, but I think you'll agree it's worth sacrificing a cardboard box for such a hefty saving, this Fisher Price Cookie Shape Surprise costs £15.99 on Amazon!

I personally think this is a fantastic toy. It's stimulating, musical and highly educational. When my granddaughter plays with this I know she's not aware of learning anything, but watching her correctly place the shapes in the right holes is very satisfying as it shows she has learned these even in the five months since she's had the toy.

The Cookie Jar is basically a shape sorter, but it's a shape sorter with a difference. There are five chunky colourful shapes which each have their own hole in the side of the Jar. The heart, triangle, square, star and circle all slot into their hole easily and are a tight enough fit for my granddaughter to have to use co-ordination to get them in, but they slide in well and once positioned correctly can be popped through into the jar. When she was a bit younger I would partially slot the shapes into their holes and let her push them through and it used to make her giggle!

The on/off switch is located at the front, just below the Cookie Jars face. There are three notches, with the central one turning the toy off. To either side you move the button to change the theme of the Cookie Jar, one side is numbers and the other is for the shapes. Each of the plastic shapes also has a number from one to five printed on it, when the shape is pushed into its hole the Cookie Jar will say either the name of the shape or the corresponding number depending on what setting you have selected.

There are a few ways to make the Cookie Jar 'speak', It says a range of phrases in a wonderfully sparkly woman's voice which my granddaughter loves, she giggles whenever the Cookie Jar giggles and repeats when it says 'Mmmmm'. It also says things like 'I love cookies' and 'yummy', it'll say these phrases whenever a shape is pushed into a hole which is great because it means this toy holds my granddaughter's interest for however long she's playing with it.

There is a clever motion detector at the top of the Cookie Jar so that whenever my granddaughter puts her hand into it it'll play one of two songs, again depending on whether you have it set for numbers or shapes. It's the same sweet and happy voice that says the phrases and my granddaughter dances away to the songs, although she seems to prefer the song about the shapes. She hasn't quite learned how to change between numbers and shapes yet which can be frustrating for her, so it's a good job Nanny is at hand to flick the switch for her!

I've found this to be a very robust toy, it makes such a clunking noise when my granddaughter pushes it off the sofa and every time I think it's sure to be broken but it's still going strong after umpteen bumps and bangs. It's made of thick plastic and is brightly coloured and beautifully decorated, it makes me slightly wary when she's carrying it about as it would be heavy if dropped on little toes but young children are quick to learn and she's only had one bruised foot and is now more careful! My granddaughter loves to push the Cookie Jar's nose which lights up and causes it to either sing or speak, she laughs and claps which I think is lovely to watch.

Its recommended age is six months plus, although I don't think such a young baby would really be able to interact with it properly. My granddaughter was twelve months old when I bought her this and she was just getting to grips with co-ordination and visually stimulating toys, she loved it from day one but I suspect a younger baby wouldn't enjoy it quite as much.

I would definitely recommend this toy to anyone with a young baby, it would make a lovely Christmas present and is interesting enough to become a favourite toy which would definitely last longer than New Years Day!

Summary: Would you like a cookie? Here they are. Five different shapes in my Cookie Jar!