Now that I was in control of a lively 10 month old baby two days a week, I thought I should start to build a small collection of toys that I could keep in a basket in a corner of the room, for when he came over. Although his mum brought some bits from home it was clear that he was getting bored with these.

In the village where I live we have a lovely charity shop that sells books and toys, so one day as I was strolling past I noticed on the table this very bright colourful treehouse. It had all the balls in tact ( five in different colours red, blue, green,orange and yellow) all with little faces on them. The next test was to see if it actually worked, although I probably would have still bought it as it could still be played with, without switching it on ( which sometimes is a blessing!!).

I pushed the switch in one direction and wow it came alive with a knocking noise and a voice saying "Nice to meet you". It then stopped I picked up a red ball and pushed it through the top of the treehouse, this takes a bit more pressure to push it down, then hey it is away saying "I'm a ladybird, green leaves" the next time I pushed it , it said "We have wings". So knowing that this toy worked I grabbed it and took it into the shop to pay. I will tell you what I paid at the end of this review (so if you are interested you will have to read all of this review!!).

The treehouse is very sturdy and made from a strong plastic (which was good as when I took it home I could use an antibacteral wipe all over it). The tree top has 5 buttons on the larger treetop which are numbered 1-5 each a different colour with a different animal on each button. When pushed by hand each button will say which animal they are " I'm a Ladybird, I'm a Catterpillar, I'm a Bee, I'm a frog and I'm a Bird. The ladybird and catterpillar noises consist of a child giggling and a hollow wooden sound ( I suppose these creatures don't make sounds that we are aware of!) the bee, frog and bird make their own individual sounds.

The smaller treetop has 3 buttons which again have characters and noises, below this part is a swing made from a red tyre, which a ball can perch on and when you push this is will make an assortment of different noises. The swing if pushed forward on it's own will repeat the alphabet ( actually when I say the alphabet it really just goes from A-E the same as the buttons, at least it's a start!) then go on the play "Twinkle twinkle little star".

There is large hole in the top of the larger treehouse part where the balls are pushed down, as previously explained this creates a mixture of different sounds and words depending on which ball you push through. As it swirls down the curved runway, halfway down it passes a little bear that can pop out of the tree and says"Peek a Boo". Once down to the bottom there is a large hole where the ball could drop down, but it seems to always miss this and then continue to go down five different coloured and numbered keys, each with a music note on it. If you press these individually they will say the alphabet and light up.

Once past these, there is a big yellow peddle that presses down and say's "Here I Come" (which my grandson in the past just kept pushing over and over again AHH!) once the ball has passed this, it will then roll round to the back of the tree where it will stop with the other balls.


This toy has an on/off button (which is great!!) and also two levels of sound, so mine is usually on the lower setting. There is a tree door in the back and you can store the balls in there so they don't get lost.

This toy is again recommended for 3 years and up, which really surprises me as the batteries are screwed into the toy and could not possibly come out and I really cannot see any dangers in this toy being given to a much younger child, my grandson was 10 months old when he first started playing with this and would play for ages pushing the different buttons and keys. As he got older he used to place the ball on the top, but just couldn't manage to push it in, but now he is over a year he can now manage it and is still playing with it to this very day. My other grandson who is 2yr 4mth loves playing with this as well when he visits.

The current price for this toy is £39.99 GET READY I PAID £1.49 including batteries!!!!

Would recommend this toy as it has great play value!!