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Leapfrog Toys Abc Spinamals
by emmad5689
==Purchase==
For Christmas we were struggling on what to get our 2 year old daughter Emily as the problem we have is that a lot of things have been passed down from her older sister Sophie. Leapfrog is one of the companies that I really like for young childrens toys and so I put a search in on the Amazon site to see what I ... could buy from the Leapfrog brand that she didn't already have. This was a toy that I found on the site and was actually one that I hadn't seen previously in shops and so decided to buy it from Amazon. The toy cost me £15 last November time and had free delivery, I feel £15 is about an average price for this sort of young childrens toy and at the moment it is even better as it is currently selling for £11.99 with free delivery.
==Packaging==
The toy came packaged in an open fronted box which as a parent I do tend to like as I feel it allows you to have a little play with the toy and decide if you think it will be suitable for your child before you purchase it, obviously buying online I wasn't able to have a play beforehand. On the box you are given the usual name of the company and the toy and told that the toy is suitable for 12-36 month olds, the age guide didn't put me off even though Emily was already over halfway through this age range as I feel a toy can be useful and enjoyed for much longer than the age guide anyway. The box tells you your child can learn the alphabet from Ant to Zebra, the toy has 2 play modes which are letters and animals and has over 50 learning sounds all of this helps to develop letter recognition, animal names and sounds, music and motor skills.
==The Toy==
The toy is basically a white round plastic device which has a triangle joint onto it (not literally but that's the shape of it) it is raised in the middle and has a large bright yellow push button in the centre. Around the yellow push button is a blue circle which is embossed with clouds and has an arrow pointing to the point at which the picture will be announced and then the yellow push button is embossed with sun details. The main wheel of the toy has 28 sections on it each one brightly coloured in either yellow, green, pale blue, dark blue, purple, red and orange. Each section on the wheel has a letter of the alphabet with the final 2 sections having music symbols and stars and then underneath each of the letters there is a picture of an animal which starts with that letter. On the side of the toy there are 2 yellow sliders one of which lets you select whether you want number or animal mode and then the other slider turns the toy on and lets you select the volume as low or high which in my opinion is a godsend. The toy is really robust and has been stood on and thrown across the room in a temper when Emily couldn't work out why it wasn't making a noise (it wasn't actually turned on) and there is no damage to it what so ever no even a scratch and the toy still works perfectly.
==The Modes==
No matter which mode you out the toy in when you turn it on it instructs in a rather squeaky voice "press the button to spin the letter / animal wheel" if you don't press the button within about 30 seconds it will again tell you to press the button followed by a little tune and then again after another 30 seconds and this keeps going which I find really annoying. When you press the bright yellow button the wheel will spin and then it sings "spin, spin a letter" which is just as annoying! If you land on a letter the toy will announce what the letter is called in upper case sounds rather than lower case which is what your child will be encouraged to learn first at school which seems a little strange to me. If you land on the musical symbols then you get the abc song sung at you if you land on the section with the stars on it then the toy will ask your child to find a particular letter of the alphabet although it doesn't actually tell your child if they have selected the correct letter which I feel is pretty poor.
Personally I would love to know what 12 month old is clever enough to be able to find the letters when asked. When you are in the animal mode the toy will sing "the animals have something to say" and then announce which animal you have landed on, if you land on the music symbols in this mode the toy plays the tune or should I say the first 2 lines of Old Macdonald. If you land on the section with the little stars pictured the toy will ask "what's this animal" this is then followed by a sound some of which are easy and some are really peculiar and you would never know which animal it is referring to, would you know what an Ant would sound like?!
==In Play==
Emily is able to play with the toy herself but she always forgets how to turn it on which personally I actually think is a good thing since the button to turn the toy on is also the volume control I would prefer her not to know how to work it. The button in the middle is pretty easy to push down and I would say a 12 month old should be able to push the button with little resistance. Emily loves the little tunes on the toy even though I find them really annoying and she will push the button down and then dance around before going back and pressing it again for the next one. Sophie doesn't play with this toy at all and she is 5 although she does play with some of Emily's toys this one is not attractive to her and I have never seen her even pick it up let alone play with it.
I think this toy is great, the toy is very colourful which of course means it is very attractive to young children and encourages them to play. I think the little pictures of the animals are cute and they are pretty simple pictures too which again is easier for young children to take in, the pictures range from everyday animals such as a Duck or Kitten to wild animals like a Lion and Elephant and then there is the more unknown animals as far as young children are concerned such as Jellyfish and a Vulture. The sounds of some of the animals are quite obscure and we only really point out the easy ones to Emily, we also like to use the toy and get her to guess which colour the toy will land on next which she loves when she gets it right and she will clap and cheer herself, for some reason her favourite colour to select seems to be red.
The batteries actually come included with this which is something that you don't get with a lot of toys now a days which I find disappointing. When the batteries need replacing the battery pack is on the underneath of the toy and it is protected by a screw so that your child cannot get into it, the toy takes 2 x AA batteries but we haven't had to replace them yet.
A little extra feature of the toy is that you can put it into parent mode whi9ch you get the instructions for and then you can set the toy with the first letter of your childs name so that when it is turned on it will say the letter and states "is the first letter of your name" this of course only works if only one child will play with the toy and isn't really an extra feature that would make me recommend the toy any more highly.
Emily will play with this toy quite a lot but she will only play with the toy for about 10 minutes at a time before she gets bored with it so for all it is entertaining it doesn't really hold her attention. I find the toy pretty annoying as the voice for speaking and singing is so high pitched and the toy is so repetitive. I would rate this toy 4 stars as I find some of the animal sounds too obscure and the fact that the toy asks questions but doesn't actually give the answers is really poor but other than that Emily enjoys the toy which is the main thing that counts really.
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John Adams Swamp Science
by broxi3781
I've now bought four science kits with Amazons Warehouse deals, and on the one hand - this has been the most fun to date ( we are still waiting on the last one to arrive), but it also is quite clearly false advertising and does not do what it says on the box. There are also so major design errors, so it isn't really fit for purpose - but ... we have found another use for it, and my sons have really enjoyed it. I would note that I paid just under £6 for this, and there are 2 more at this price from Amazon Warehouse Deals. I would be a lot less happy if I had paid the full price of £15.
WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE BOX:
A plastic swamp zone
Rose of Jericho plant
Triops eggs
Triops food
Sand
Salt
See through plastic volcano
Volcano powder
Crystal Tree
Goggles
instructions
WHAT IS REALLY IN THE BOX:
Instead of triops, they have put brine shrimp ( sea monkey) eggs. The box does clearly state - prehistoric triops but brine shrimp are much cheaper. I did phone up about this and the staff didn't really seem to know there was a difference, but there most certainly is.
Triops are a strange 3 eyed crustacean which have existed unchanged from the Permian period - before the dinosaurs. They are adapted to living in a puddle, and thus do not require aeration, and live in fresh water. They get about 2" long, and are really quite interesting little things. In fact, the inclusion of triops eggs was the only reason I bought this and my sons were waiting each day for the post to come to get their new triops. Sadly, having developed to hatch and complete their life cycle in puddles, they do only live a two months - and require some heat as well, but we have a small cube aquarium and heater waiting for them.
Brine shrimp on the other hand live in salt water, really do require aeration although for some reason the Sea Monkeys Brand one's seem better able to cope without it. I've tried growing the the ordinary eggs many times without success ( as fish food not pets). On the other hand, I have managed to keep sea monkeys going for several months, they may have achieved a hardier strain through selective breeding. These things are quite common - hence their use as fish food, very tiny and have nothing to do with dinosaurs and prehistoric eras. We did try to hatch them anyway though, not in the swamp as you are meant to as this would have resulted in certain death from bits of the crystal tree and lava from the volcano polluting the water, but in a large jar instead. As soon as I added water and saw the white fungus on some of the eggs I knew there was no chance of hatching. As they all sank to the bottom of the jar, I was further convinced as viable eggs float, but the children didn't want me to just pour them down the drain so we had to leave for a week. Needless to say - the time is up without a single one hatching.
A pack of brine shrimp eggs with salt and food retails at £1.50. I was lucky to find a special offer on Triops eggs - which I really hope hatch and food for £5.00, but i would normally expect to pay £9 - £11. Considering the difference in price - the substitution doesn't seem fair at all. It's like ordering a steak dinner and getting a burger instead at least it would be if the things hatched. As it is - it's more like ordering the steak dinner and getting an empty plate. Of course neither would survive in the swamp zone - so if you are going to kill off wee things I suppose you may as well go with the cheap ones. Triops are great fun but do require a larger container free from any other chemicals and usually heat as well.
The first person I spoke to at John Adams wasn't the least bit helpful. She knew nothing about the product and basically said until she could find out - and she had no idea when that might be - she couldn't do anything. She had no idea what triops were, but finally said she would have to see the box. I suggested she look on amazon or their own web site but she said this would not be possible, she would have to have a box in her hands. Did she want the box posted to her - no. She had to see one from their warehouse which is "far away". At this point I was getting slightly frustrated but she finally gave in and allowed me to speak to supervisor who was more helpful. He didn't know what triops were either, but said there appeared to be a problem with development. Perhaps they should hire my son. He clearly knows more about these things then their staff - and I'm quite sure we could develop a brilliant product. He did however offer to send something of equal value. Still waiting and hoping he keeps his word.
WHAT ISN'T MEANT TO BE IN THE BOX - BUT YOU WILL NEED:
Food colour
cooking oil
WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH THIS?
The Rose of Jericho is a very fun little plant. It arrives as a dried up ball , that looks dead. It is supposed to look like this. The plant is also called the Resurrection Plant, or dinosaur fern - and is meant to have existed from prehistoric times, but I can find no verification of this. At any rate, you drop it water and it comes to life, opening up and gradually getting greenish. If the water dries up - it turns brown again. There are a lot of myths about this plant and it is used in santeria, as well as supposedly being a miraculous plant that springs to life on Christmas Eve. Of course it really springs to life whenever you water it, regardless of the day of the year. It is a nice addition to the set and the children have really had fun with it.
The crystal tree is a cardboard tree. You pour a crystal solution over it and within a few hours crystals start to grow on the branches. These fall off with the slightest movement though, and quite a few fell into the water tray, where the brine shrimp are meant to be. The children did like this, but it's placement on the swamp zone just didn't work. I've ordered two more separately from another company which will be kept safely on a shelf - another £4.60 I'm out on this set!
The volcano is really brilliant though. The children love that they can see through it, and the addition of oil really makes a nice eruption. It's a big mess, but it is worth it. You add food colour water and oil to the volcano and then a bit of the enclosed powder, which is enough for two eruptions. Once this is gone though, you can use vinegar instead of water and baking soda instead of the powder and have as many eruptions as you like. The bubbling swamp is just more of the volcano stuff.
Finally the plastic swamp zone isn't really fit for purpose. Everything is too close together. However, my sons have had fun with this and my youngest absolutely loves it. We have kept the volcano and the Rose Of Jericho, but removed the tree and filled this small section with dry rice coloured green to mimic grass. The brine shrimp tray has a bit of sand and water coloured blue with food colour. The bubbling swamp has been filled with sand, and a plastic tree has been set beside it. The swamp had become a dinosaur island, and is a wonderful play area for my sons tiny plastic dinosaurs.
If I made this set, I'd scrap the crystal tree and the brine shrimp. I'd include some dinosaur models instead, and in place of the bubbling swamp - a large sand lump which you dig out to find a fossil either real or replica. If using replicas - they might include a few fossils. I might include some cress seeds to grow where the crystal tree was. If there were some way to make a volcano in which the lava was sealed in and moved about by means of an air pump, that would be even better.
I'm not quite certain how to rate this toy. I do not feel it is value for money at full price, nor do I feel it is fit for purpose. I also highly resent false advertising and there is no way around the fact that this package does falsely claim to include items which were most likely never included. The instructions do refer to brine shrimp instead of triops - and salt would not be included for triops. I also feel that there customer service department could have done much better, and I will be emailing them again. If they do provide an alternative product, I will update this review, but quite frankly, to sell science toys - they do need someone with as much knowledge of science as the children who will be using it on staff.
My sons would still give this 5 stars - they really don't care that I have spent another £10 to replace items that either were not in the kit or didn't work. They just love the volcano, the plant and the swamp base. At under £6, I'd be happy enough to recommend it just for this.
On the other hand - I feel cheated and lied to, and would give this only 1 star for blatant falsehoods. I am meeting in the middle with 3 stars.
Update:
John Adams did send me two more science sets which more than make up for the money spent buying replacement triops eggs. Sadly, the one of the science sets they sent was missing material as well - and the other components did not work - still waiting and hoping the seeds from the Plants with Attitude set grow.
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Phonics Flashcards
by CosmicLove
Ages ago, I saw this adorable little set of flash cards on Amazon and bought them along with some other stuff for my little boy. This was when he was about 4 months old.
Obviously at that point they weren't of much use so I stashed them away with all of the other stuff that I had for when he was older and they were forgotten ... about. I just recently found them again when I was searching for things for him to do new activities with.
I wasn't too sure about introducing them into his activities to be honest because Malakai is only 14 months old, but seeing as he thrives on visual stimulation I dug them out for him to start using and figured they could be put away again if he didn't have any interest in them.
Kai has learnt almost all of his animals & sounds from the repetitive picture books that we have, which was why I was hoping he'd like these - flash cards and picture books are pretty similar, in my eyes. There are 44 cards, each with a picture of an object or animal with the word of the object/species of animal written below.
Each card is very clear and brightly illustrated, the cards are the right size to hold easily and the words are written in black lowercase letters. I paid £6 or around there for the set of cards and we have already used them a few times in under a week and as i only introduce 5 at at a time and the order of them can be mixed up I think we will get a LOT of use out of them!
Using the cards is really fun and Kai has enjoyed looking at them. He is only 14 months so I don't put any pressure on him, I just get five of them out, take one and read the word out, show Kai the card and give it to him to hold and then explain to him what the object is, or if it is an animal I will make some stupid animal noise! He shows a deep interest in each card, studying each one in detail and babbling away to himself and the cards keep him occupied, intrigued and focused.
The cards are very well made with cute illustrations and they are a great distraction activity, which I recommend.
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