Gloworms are made by Hasbro Playskool and have been about since 1982. As they've been about for so long, I thought the product would make an ideal Christmas present for a couple of little ones... My baby niece (who was 7 weeks old at Christmas) and my friend's little girl who was around 18 months old at Christmas.

Gloworms have changed slightly since I was a kid and are now slightly shorter, but I think they look better and are easier for little ones to cuddle. They wear a hooded top (blue or pink) with 2 knots in the hood and have big blue eyes. The Gloworm's arms are out-spread as if asking for a hug. The Gloworm is primarily soft, but has a plastic face which glows when it's tummy is pressed. You can also feel the box inside the Gloworm (which controls it and holds the batteries), but only when you squeeze its tummy.

The Gloworm has 3 modes:

Play Light - The Gloworm's face glows to the full length of each melody.

Short Play - The face glows to a shortened version of each melody.

Lights Only - The face glows without a melody.

The setting can be changed via a velcro opening in back of the Gloworm's hoody. This is also where the batteries are held - It takes 3 AA batteries, which are supplied already in the Gloworm when bought.

For the face to glow and the melodies to play, you or baby simply press the Gloworm's tummy. It plays 6 melodies and so you get a different melody each time you press the tummy. My brother & sister-in-law keep the Gloworm on the Play Light setting as that's the one my niece seems to like the best.

As my niece has only just turned 3 months, we press the tummy for her and hold the Gloworm in front of her to see. The melodies are soft and calming, and not noisy and harsh like some baby toys I've seen. My niece loves to watch the Gloworm's face glow, her eyes light up when she sees it. The melodies are soft and gentle, and so we've found they have a calming effect on her. Before now, she's been crying and a simple press of Gloworm's tummy sees her eyes focus on Gloworm and she calms down. I haven't yet seen her fall asleep to the Gloworm's soft melodies, but I think that's because she gets so focused on the glowing face.

As I'd decided at first to just get a Gloworm for my friend's little girl for Christmas, I found there seemed to be a shortage of them for sale. My local Argos didn't have any in stock and Play.com were selling them at £19.99... A lot more than what other shops were selling them for when they were in stock. I resorted to going to the Hasbro website and visiting each of the websites in their "Where to buy" section... After going through most of them and having no luck, I finally found them in stock at The Entertainer (www.thetoyshop.com) for £10 plus P&P, so I ordered one straight away.

Then, days before Christmas, I decided that a Gloworm would make a nice present for my baby niece too. Thankfully, I managed to find one (with a blue hoody) for £9.99 from my local Argos... They had just the one in stock, so I reserved it online and rushed down to pick it up. I had wanted one with a pink hoody for her, but I really don't think my niece cares what colour anything is at the moment, just as long as it interests her!

I think £9.99 is well spent on a Gloworm. They are suitable from birth, right into the toddler years. They have been around for nearly 30 years now, so it's obviously been a popular toy over the years. I would definitely recommend Playskool Gloworms!