September Toys Round Up Review

Reviewed by David Savage

During August we were sent a variety of toys from Mookie, LeapFrog and BrightMinds to try out. We received a Buddy Balls and Story Stars from Mookie, Melody the Musical Turtle and Count & Colours Band from LeapFrog and Fold ‘n Fly from BrightMinds. With twin toddlers to help me, we were more than up to the task of putting each toy through its paces.

Buddy Balls

First up was the Buddy Balls from Mookie (RRP: £19.99). There are 4 Buddy Balls to collect (Max, Lily, Sam and Eva) and we received Max. The Buddy Balls are a range of cuddly teddy bears that turn inside out and become a ball. These are suitable for children aged 3 years and upwards.

Buddy Balls Max is really, really soft and once out of the box he was gone for cuddles straightway with one of the boys, I wasn’t even given a chance to show him the secret storage compartment or how to turn into a blue and red ball.

So, Max as a teddy bear is approx. 40cm (16”) tall when standing, brown and has a happy smiling face. On the back is a hidden zipper that when opened is a secret compartment that is perfect for storing your child’s pyjamas or even their favourite small toy.

To transform into a ball, unzip the back (remove any toys or pyjamas that you may have put there) and fold the coloured fabric over the bears shoulders, then tuck in his arms, head and legs and zip up. You now have a red and blue, soft ball that measures approx. 20cm (8”) in diameter and perfect for playing catch. We have been using the secret compartment on the back to store their pyjamas for bedtime (fits both pairs nicely).

So as a toy and pyjama case it is getting lots of use and smiles all round. I would have to rate it 5/5! Available to buy from Amazon here.

Story Stars

Next up was the Story Stars, also from Mookie (RRP: £29.99). There are 5 different Story Stars storytelling cuddly toys to choose from (Toby Tales, Teddi Tales, Luby Lullaby, Kori Story and Freddie Fable) and we received Toby Tales, a loveable monstersaur. The Story Stars are fantastic (at least in my humble opinion)! Not only are they are cuddly toy but it reads stories, plays melodies and is a soothing night light. Story Stars are suitable for children aged 18 months and upwards and requires 2x AA batteries (not supplied).

Story Tales are a toy that connect via Bluetooth with an app on a IOS or Android enabled smartphone or tablet (see compatibility list). Once connected you can download and transfer stories and melodies (or record your own message or story) to the toy which then is played back through the toy.

We received Toby Tales, a loveable monstersaur (a cross between a monster and dinosaur). He is a pale blue with a tail and wears brightly coloured pants. On his chest is a plastic front which houses the controls and night light. Once we paired it to our iPad (I have and older iPad Mini 1 and although this wasn’t on the compatibility list it did work) we could transfer stories from the app via Bluetooth to Toby Tales for later playback.

Once you have transferred your story or playlist you press the middle button on his chest (the one with the star) and the story is read aloud (volume can be controlled from the app). The stories are about 4-5 minutes in length. After 20 minutes the toy will automatically shut off, so perfect for a bedtime story. At first we were only putting on one story at a time and rather than it shutting off after the story finishes if just repeats until the 20 minutes are up, so it is best to put 20 minutes worth of stories on.

You don’t have to use one of the pre-recorded stories or melodies, you can record your own. So if your child has a favourite book you could record yourself reading it, so if you are not there to read it to them they can still hear their favourite bedtime tale told in your voice. While nothing beats actually reading a story to kids, this is great for if you aren’t available to do it one night.

It doesn’t end there. The Story Stars also have a soothing night light that alternates at regular intervals between blue, green & red and projects an image of moons, stars and rockets onto a wall or ceiling (in a darkened room). This can be turned on or off by pressing the moon shaped button. When the boys first saw this function it was “Wow!”

Although both boys love actual books at bedtime they do also use the Story Stars Toby Tale (and not just at bedtime). The stories are easy to transfer via Bluetooth (although do take a while) and the sound is crisp and clear. We think this is fantastic! A night light, storytelling machine and cuddly toy all in one.

The only problem I did have with it is the instructions weren’t very clear; when trying to pair the toy to the iPad it didn’t show on the screen as a discovered device. I did however notice that while trying to pair the light on the toy was flashing and once paired changed to a solid light, although the instructions did not mention this. That said, that is a very small issue and I’m not sure if the problem was because my iPad was not listed on the list of compatible devices but maybe the instructions could be improved.

So despite my initial issue of pairing the devices I would still have to give this a big thumbs up and 5/5. Available to buy from Amazon here.

Now as we had finished playing with 2 toys that we use primary at bedtimes, it was time to start with some fun and educational toys and LeapFrog are the masters of them.

Melody the Musical Turtle

So the first LeapFrog toy we tried was Melody the Musical Turtle (RRP: £14.99). This is a large green, plastic turtle (measures approx. 18x18x10cm) with 10 numbered buttons on her back. It is to encourage number and colour recognition skills, listening skills, memory skills as well as motor skills. Suitable for children aged 2-4 years it helps prepare them for school.

Melody the Musical Turtle has 3 modes (controlled by moving a switch on the side); Learn and Play Mode where the children listen for numbers and colours and find them by pressing the relevant buttons on the turtles back before the music ends. Memory Mode plays a series of lights which the children then have to remember and repeat the pattern, the more they get right the longer the patterns get. Music Mode can be played in free mode enabling the children to use their imaginations and create their own sound or press the buttons as they light up to create a tune.

This is great for memory, number and colour recognition skills and the boys love it, especially as it’s noisy. But don’t let that fact that it is a noisy toy put you off, Melody has a two different volume levels by using the switch on the side, so it can be set at low or high. Requires 4x AA batteries (are supplied) to play.

An excellent learning toy from LeapFrog and, as always, great quality and durable. I would have to rate this as 5/5 as it is educational and fun, brightly coloured and appealing to children. Available to buy from the LeapFrog store here.

Count & Colours Band

Our next offering from LeapFrog was the Count & Colours Band (RRP: £14.99). Anyone that is familiar with LeapFrog learning toys will recognise Scout as the leader of the band. It has 5 interactive musical instruments (cymbals, trombone, saxophone, drum and guitar) as well as Scout’s light up piano/keyboard. The Count & Colours band introduces children to counting from 1-5, colour and number recognition, music and musical instruments. Suitable for children aged from 6 months to 3 years + and requires 3x AAA batteries (included).

The boys love music so love creating their own with Scout and his instruments. Each of the instruments work in a different manner; two push like buttons (cymbals and drum), the trombone has a slider bar that pulls down, the saxophone pushes left and right and the guitar twists to the right, so helps children with manual dexterity and motor skills. When each instrument is pressed, not only do you get a sound but it moves Scout’s paws and head.

This also has 3 different learning modes; counting, colours and music (all selected individually with a switch on Scout’s keyboard).

Once again LeapFrog have added two volume levels so you can lower the volume when the repetitive Scout is starting to become annoying for adults.

Again, I would have to rate this 5/5 as it is very educational, brightly coloured, sturdy and durable with very clear sound. Available to buy from the LeapFrog store here.

Fold ‘n Fly

Our last item to try was the BrightMinds Fold ‘n Fly (RRP: £8.99). This is essentially a craft item that enables you create and decorate your own paper planes. This is suitable for children aged 6 years and upwards.

This comes with 18 sheets of coloured A4 paper (12 pre-printed designs and 6 blank), a sheet of stickers to make and decorate your own fleet of 18 paper planes, an aeroplane shaped folding tool and an instruction booklet on how to make 6 different types of planes (Phoenix, Gamma Racer, Stealth Glider, Sky Shark, Nighthawk and Spider Flyer).

The instructions are easy to follow but some of the positions that the paper needs to be folded into can be a bit tricky and require a lot patience (some children will require adult assistance).

We have created 3 of the designs so far, some easier than others, and they fly quite well with some of the harder designs flying longer and further.

While the boys had fun creating the planes and putting their stickers on they did get bored quite quickly when flying them. But as a craft activity they enjoyed it although they did require some help.  I would have to rate this 4/5 as there is a degree of difficulty involved that would be more suitable to older children, maybe 10 years +, as a degree of patience is required and the ability to read and follow instructions precisely. Available to buy from BrightMinds here.

Overall

We had great fun with all these toys during August. The Buddy Ball is practical as well as playful as we also use it as a pyjama case as well as 2 different toys. The Story Stars has to be our favourite as is a great programmable storytelling, lullaby singing cuddly toy and the stories can be changed as often as you like by using the Bluetooth connection on your smartphone or tablet. The LeapFrog toys are fun, musical, extremely educational, and, as always with LeapFrog, very good quality. Our least favourite was the Fold ‘n Fly, as for the boys there was not much playability, they loved making the planes, so it was great as a craft activity, but they got bored flying them (they are probably still a bit young to fully appreciate it).

While the Story Stars was our favourite, they are all very different toys and each have their own unique qualities making them all fun in their own right. So no matter what type of toy you are looking for; playtime, bedtime, educational or crafty then you can’t can go wrong with any of the above toys from Mookie, LeapFrog or BrightMinds.