Reviewing Toys

This week is Photo Fun and I’ll be showing a daily closeup of a toy. Some of them you might be able to make out…if you have a hint, send me a comment! I’ll be revealing the full photos at the end of the week.

My little one is still a bit too litte for bath time to be an exciting play session, but I can keep her occupied for a couple of minutes simply by pouring water out of a plastic cup. She’s also just beginning to understand the relationship between her hand and the water, which means bath time is getting wetter and wetter and she learns to make bigger and bigger splashes. She still hasn’t figured out that if she tries to suck on her hand while it’s under water, she’ll get a mouthful of water.

We’ve been giving some great bath accesories for her that I can’t wait to use: bright yellow duck washcloth and an elephant head to go over the faucet. I keep seeing some other fun ones around that I might get my hands on eventually.

Alex Toys has a collection of Art in the Tub toys, that I would like to play with, let alone my baby. I vaguely remember having some of these when I was a kid.

Actually, Alex Toys has tons of bath stuff that looks great including: Saftey in the Tub, Learn in the Tub and Clean in the Tub and of course PLAY in the Tub!

Of course, alot of kids toys are waterproof and can go in the bath, so it’s not really necessary to have specific bath toys. But for kids who don’t really enjoy bath time, having toys that they only play with in the bath can be a good incentive to get them to
enjoy it more.

bath time, bath toys, Alex Toys

Today I’m trying to get organized. Between the play mat, play nest, Bumbo seat, bouncer and the dozens of toys lying around the house, I can’t walk in a straight line through any room in the house. I finally ended up grabbing an empty cardboard box and stuffing all the toys into it. So between and Bea waking up from her nap, the house is clean. I started doing some searching for good toy storage and came across a few things I liked.

At Parents Hack, I came across a recommendation for Via Toy Box. They have some great things! My favourite is the Play Kitchen that doubles as a storage box.

And I also liked that the boxes they sell don’t look like they could potentially give some one an epileptic fit. they have nice colours and aren’t covered with animals and cartoon characters. You don’t want to have to change the furniture in your kid’s room every year and since they grow out of stuff so fast, neutral but fun is probably the best way to go. However, to even buy from Via Toy Box you have to have some spare cash handy.

Some other more traditional storage units I found:
Little Tikes American Wood Storage Unit

Canvas Totes


Bookshelf Organizer

What do you use to store your kid’s toys? Any original ideas?

After my rant about rattles, but not as a direct result, my mom sent me this Hug-A-World Rattle, which arrived this morning. I love it! It’s about 6″ across which is just small enough for my six month old to grab between her hands and it’s soft enough so that she can yank it around and make it rattle. AND it’s educational!!

I love toys like this because I know that even if she gets bored of it in a few weeks, when she a bit older and is learning about the world, colours, shapes, etc…she will once again find it interesting.

globe, rattle, educational toys, hug a plant

Our bouncer is the most used piece of furniture/toy in the house. Bea sleeps, play, drools and laughs in it everyday. However, in terms of toys, it’s not the best design. She has a standard Fisher Price bouncer, with a Winnie the Pooh theme, with a ‘rainbow’ that has three little squeaky toys hangning from it with velcro. When she first started using it, she obviously was too small to get near the toys but sort of enjoyed looking at them.

She is now old enough to grab and hold but the rainbow is designed so that no matter how big the baby is, the toys are almost always out of reach. Sometimes they swing into her grasp when I’m bouncing her but they she immediatly tears them off, throws them around and they usually end up on the floor in 19 seconds. The design doesn’t make sense: the velcro is weak enough so that a four month old can pull the toys off but they are two far away for them to really be played with.

I haven’t tested out any different models, but I suspect these are common problems. I would recommend getting a bouncer, but mainly for the bouncing effect, not because it comes with great toys.

bouncers, Fisher Price

The search for the perfect rattle is an on-going, epic journey in our house. My partner was desperate to find our baby one before she was born, but with no success. The perfect rattle has a number of characteristics necessary to even make the list:
- must not consists of a ring with something that rattles attached to it.
- it should consist of a wand-like shape with something on the end of it. You often see traditional, silver rattles shaped like this, but these aren’t really made for little gums to chew on and could potentially be quite painful if your baby knocks themselves in the head with it…
- it must be light enought for a baby to wave around.
- it also needs to be heavy enough so that the baby doens’t just launch it across the room at warp speed. It needs to be a challenge.
- it needs to actually RATTLE, not just have rattle when an adult frantically shakes it in an attempt to get their baby’s attention.

Now, actually finding something like this is apparently impossible. I saw one once, with some Beatrix Potter character on it and didn’t end up buying it because it was $5 and I thought I could find a cheaper one…

I know it may seem a bit silly, all these specifications, but I think it reminds my partner of his childhood, so we continue to search.

rattle, silver rattle, childhood memories, baby shower

JellyCat Truffles Dog - LargeTruffle Dog, who we quickly renamed Roger, was given to Bea when she was born. I assumed that she wouldn’t be able to play with him until she was much older, but as soon as she started learning to how grasp, he became her favorite toy.

Jellycat toys are great for babies and little kids for a number of reasons: a) the fur doesn’t fall out when they tug at it. We were given dozens of little stuffed animals for Bea and so many of them she can’t play with because as soon as she gets her hands on them she starts yanking at the fur, which usually comes out and the goes straight in her mouth. But JellyCat toys seem to be able to withstand the nimble fingers of a six month old. b) The legs are weighted, as in a bean bag, so the animal can lie flat.

I found this was great for when she was in her bouncer or playing on a mat. In her bouncer, I lay it across her belly and she grabs at the nose and ears without it falling of her and on the mat it lies flat next to her, staying in her field of vision.

However, JellyCat company went down in my esteem slightly when I checked out their website and found that they describe themselves as “a lifestyle company”. What is that supposed to mean?

jellycat, stuffed toys, stuffed animals, Truffle Dog