For Christmas me and my Husband bought Jayden a few new toys, one of which was the V Tech Baby Pop and Play Elephant, I had seen this sort of thing advertised and liked the idea of this as whilst it was partially educational for him it would also be something fun he could play with either alone or with someone else.

Packaging
The V Tech Pop and Play Elephant comes in a blue box, the entire front of the box is cut out so that you can see the toy and also test it without removing it from its packaging. There is quite a lot of information on the box including the product name and the V Tech Baby logo, the sides and back of the box contain information about how the product works and also the different features and skills that it will help your baby to learn. The toy was fixed into the box with small pieces of plastic covered wire in several places which needed to be entirely removed before giving it to your child.

The Pop and Play Elephant
The V Tech Baby Pop and Play Elephant is basically a large purple elephant with a fountain situated in front of it, there are 4 plastic balls which pop out of the fountain, roll around the rim of it and drop through a hole, the balls then roll down a small trough and back into the elephants trunk ready to be popped out again.

In front of the elephant are 4 brightly coloured keys with a number and an animals head on each one, these can be pressed to play different tunes and animal noises. The whole thing is made from tough brightly coloured plastic making it attractive to babies. This toy is designed to combine learning with fun and it has various different features which will keep your baby engaged and entertained. There is a small switch on the front of the toy this can switch it on and off and also change between the Learning and Music mode. The V Tech Pop and Play Elephant is designed for babies from 9 months upwards, although personally speaking this is a matter of opinion.

Features/ Activities
As I have mentioned the V Tech Baby Pop and Play Elephant contains several different features and activities, these include
* Learning Mode - This mode is selected using the small switch on the front of the toy, a fun song is sung and the piano keys can be pressed to hear numbers, animals and colours encouraging your baby to learn

* Music Mode - Again this is selected using the switch on the front of the toy, with this a second song is sung and the keys can be pressed in order to hear the different animals displayed on each key and various melodies.

* Twisting Ear and Ball Popper - In either mode (Music or Learning) the elephants orange ear can be twisted and this in turn starts the ball popper, the ball popper fires the ball up out of the fountain and they are supposed to land on top of the fountain and roll down the hole in it, although this is not always the case. Whilst the balls are popping out of the fountain melodies and phases are played at the same time.

* Piano Keys - When the ball popper is on the keys can be pressed to play sounds with the melody, these keys can also be pressed without the ball popper going to help teach colours, animals and numbers.

* Bird Slider - Whilst the balls are popping out of the fountain the bird situated on the trough below can be slide either way to determine the path the balls take, they can either roll back into the elephants trunk or they can drop down over the sensor button and roll over the piano keys, then the sensor button is pressed different melodies are played.

* Sensor Button - This is a small red caterpillar shaped button situated next to the piano keys, when triggered sounds, phrases and songs are played.

* Light Up Hand - When any of the buttons are pressed or the mode is changed the small orange light on the elephants hand lights up and flashes along with the sounds.
All of these different features help to keep your baby entertained, there are several different features so that they do not get board quickly, Jayden will play for ages with toy going through the different modes and features, there really are plenty of different and simple activities.

Care and Maintenance
When it comes to caring for the V Tech Baby Pop and Play Elephant toy it is very simple, all you need to do is wipe it down with a slightly damp cloth, I personally use wipes like Dettol wipes which are safe for baby toys and this works just as well. It is also advised to keep the toy out of direct sun light and away from direct heat, other information includes that the batteries should be removed when the toy is not being used for a prolong period of time and it should also not be dropped on a hard surface or exposed to moisture or water. Adhering to this advise will help to keep the toy in excellent working condition.

Price and Availability
We purchased Jayden's V Tech Baby Pop and Play Elephant from Toys R Us, it cost us £25.00, this toy is also available from other stores such as Tesco and the price is around about the same give or take a pound or two. Personally I think the price for this item is fair, Jayden loves his toy so in my opinion it was definitely worth the money.

My Opinion
I have been reasonably pleased with the V Tech Baby Pop and Play Elephant, Jayden loves it and will sit and play with it for ages, the whole thing is tough and strong so can stand up to the tough time it is likely to get with a baby.

I like the fact that the whole thing is bright and colourful as it attracts your baby's attention easily and makes them want to play with it and the ball popper aspect of this toy is totally different to any of Jayden's other toys. As I have said I think this item is fairly priced due to the fact that it is hardwearing and well made.

Despite being mainly pleased with this item I do have a couple of issues with it, as I have said this toy is recommend for babies 9 months and onwards, personally I think this is a bit young, when the balls pop out of the fountain they are supposed to roll around the top of it and down through a hole, however this is often not the case and as the balls land they bounce off of the fountain and onto the floor, young babies are unlikely to be able to pick up the balls and know where to put them and also if you baby cannot crawl they will not be able to go after the balls, when the balls pop out of the fountain they have to mainly be caught and placed back into the trough again this is not something a young baby of around 9 months would be able to do.

My second issue with the toy is that the balls fire out of the fountain quite fast and the balls are quite hard as well, these could easily hit your baby if they are playing alone with it, this did nearly happen with Jayden as he tipped the toy up towards himself it started to fire out the balls, luckily it just skimmed the top of his head but it could have easily hit him in the face.

Overall I would recommend the V Tech Baby Pop and Play Elephant but I would say that it is more suited to an older baby or toddler rather than a 9 month old, whilst Jayden does love this toy and it really does entertain him for ages playing with the different modes and coloured plastic balls I do find that it is best that someone is with him when playing with it to help put the balls back and also ensure that they do not fire directly at him.