This was bought for my twin boys as a Birthday present for their 1st birthday. It is a lovely toy and has so far provided them both with lots of fun even though they don't understand what it says, they have however grasped the basics.

It is a red and white, sturdy helicopter toy, with blue propellerys at the top and green wheels at the bottom, at the front of the helicopter is a yellow string. The middle of the helicopter is open with a blue 'basket' inside. There is of course and off switch on the side next to the three other buttons. There are also three larger buttons on the bottom side of the helicopter.

When switched on it makes a helicopter noise and then sings a funky tune. Next to the on/off switch is the first button which is orange with a bird on it. When pressed it say's "Bird" and when the buttons are pressed at the bottom they say the letters which are on them which are just "A", "B", "C", it all gives you a little story for example "The red ape swings up, up in the tee tops". The second button next to the on/off switch is blue with a kite on it, again when pressed it says "Kite", but when the bottom buttons are pressed it says the colours which are Red, Blue and Yellow. The third button is green with a balloon, and yes you've guessed it the talking helicopter says "Balloon" when it's pressed. The bottom buttons however either say a letter or colour, it varys and also what the letter stands for such as "B is for Bear". The propellers you can spin round easily by hand, and whilst spinning it says "Spinning Round and Round". The helicopter also comes with 4 colourfall balls, which have to be pushed down into the hole in the propellers, they land on the 'basket' and into the space in the middle. While pushing them in the helicopter counts them.

You can also switch the toy to music time, when the buttons on the side are pressed a new tune is played and the bottom buttons act as piano keys so you can play your own song.

So there is all the boring basics about this toy, despite it sounding so bland and boring it actually is a brilliant toy in my opinion. My boys love music so love it when I put it on music time mode so they can dance about and sing "Bu Bu Bu", How Beautiful! They love to play their own music to on the keys, they have the Vtech walker which has 'piano keys' on it and they love to play on that so i knew the music keys on this would be a hit. The educational part is very basic, but it will be beneficial for them when they do start learning their letters and numbers properly. But just because they don't understand yet that doesn't stop me from saying the letters and numbers with the toy as it is surprising what children take in without you realising. As they grown though they will understand it more so not only will it still be a fun toy for them to play with it will teach them new things as well.

This can be bought in stores such as Wilkinsons, which is where my auntie bought it from, also Mothercare and Asda. You can also purchase it online on the Vtech website itself which is www.vtechuk.com. or even on Amazon. It is roughly £15 for the Helicopter, and it is reccomend for children from 12months to 36months which I think is just right.At the moment my boys enjoy pushing the balls in and playing with the balls alone. Another bonus is the helicopter acts as a pull along and recently my boys have gone through a phase of wanting to pull and push things. It does require 2xAA batteries, but they do tend to be included with the toy when bought. Like I said they have grasped the basics, the ball pushing and the pulling along and dancing to the music, but as they do get closer to 36months this toy will help them learn numbers, colours, songs and even animals.

Also in case you are wondering it is very sturdy, it has took a lot of bashes and bangs since bought in November and still looks as good as new, if you ask me it's definitely worth every penny.