Editorial Review

When little wobblers are bored with walls and sofa edges, andthere's no one to offer a hand, they can two-foot it safely across thatopen ocean of living-room floor with the help of the Step Start walker.This dual-purpose toy acts as stable support as they learn to walk,then lets them roll along when they want to ride. Once they are secureon their legs, the walker converts easily to a first ride-on toy. (Onlyadults can operate the wheel-lock mechanism.) A flexible antenna,spinning drum, clicking gear, and other sight-touch-sound featuresprovide sit-down play fun. Assembly requires a Phillips screwdriver.--Ava Natov ... Read more

Reviews (112)

Great purchase!
We bought this for our daughter for Christmas when she was 9 months old. When she first got it, she preferred to play mechanic(flipping it over and playing with the wheels and underside)and she also liked to play with the toys on the top. So far, we have not had any trouble with the attachments. Now that she is learning how to walk, she loves to use the toy in the walker mode and strolls around our living room. We have found that when she does hit an obstacle, the toy has held up well and is very sturdy. In the car mode, she loves to have us push her around. She can push herself backwards, but she has not gotten the going forward part down yet. When she wants to get off of the car, we have found that it is low enough to the ground that she has not hurt herself. Overall, we have felt that this was a great purchase and plan to pass it down to the next one!

Worked really well for us
My son received this toy for his first birthday and it quickly became a favorite. One of the other moms pointed out that her child fell forward when using this as a walker. My son had the same problem, but we got around it: my husband pulled the lower half of each wheel out, sort of like a toe-out old VW bug, which meant the wheels couldn't spin, but just slide along the floor. That slowed things down enough so my son could push and walk at his own pace. When he got more secure on his feet, my husband pushed the wheels back in so they'd spin easily, and my son just pushed the toy around faster, steering around furniture. My son likes to open the trunk (the green part in the front) and put things in and take them out. He never really used this as a ride-on toy--too small for him. Overall, nicely made. No sharp edges. Some slight assembly required--snapping parts together. Ours was missing one of the (blue part at left of green trunk), but no big deal. Seat is shaped like a western saddle, for any parents who want to introduce their child to the feel of a saddle shape at a young age.

glots of fun
this toy was one of the best things we bought our son for his 1st birthday. he loves it and so dose his little friends. It even was interesting to my 4 year old brother. so I know we will get our monies worth out of it.

Good Idea, Not A Good Toy
We were very excited to receive the Playskool Walk n' Ride as a gift for our (at the time) 11 month old dd. She wasn't quite walking yet and couldn't wait for her to be able to use the Walk n' Ride to keep her on her feet.

We did not find it that difficult to put together, however it did take some time (I might suggest putting together before actually giving it as a gift to child) - dd was uninterested by the time we finished putting it together.

Our daughter was able to push toy without the problem that some other reviewers listed as "not enough room for the feet". She did however have some difficulty turning the toy in a different direction. Because it was so heavy, she had to use all her might to turn sideways. And do to it's bulkiness, we found that she could only play with it in large open areas. Since she was a winter baby, this meant moving the kitchen table to the side of the dining room, just so she could play.

As she progressed we thought maybe we'll give the "ride" part a try. I was equally disappointed with this feature. Due to the "bulkiness" of the toy she had a difficult time swinging her little legs over the toy to get on and off. Also when she sat on it correctly the handle was so close to her chest it really didn't look comfortable and didn't allow for her to get much leverage to push the toy forward.

On a positive note, some of the sight-touch-sound features (such as the flexible antenna, spinning drum, clicking gear) did provide some pleasure for dd. Also, the toy seem to be sturdy enough that dd very seldom tipped it over.

All-in-all I would save your money on this one.

cute, but comes with flaws
It is difficult to walk with this toy in the upright position. The support bars that stick out holding the wheels are too close together, not leaving enough room for walking feet. My son constantly tripped on them when he was learning to walk. Even after he was a steady walker of his own, when he'd try to push this toy (just for fun) they would trip him up. As a riding toy we found that the yellow handle bar that comes up is in the way of a childs knees. No child has every been able to push it forwards because of it, only backwards. Very poorly designed! It is a cute toy though, and kids seem to like the little gadgets on it. ... Read more

Reviews (25)

I was amazed!
I bought this toy for my two-year old nephew for Christmas since he was so fascinated with watching his Dad mow. It turned out that there was another two-year old who was at our Christmas as well. My nephew wouldn't let go of this toy. He wouldn't even open up his other gifts! Between him and the other two-year old (a little girl) we had to do some negotiating to keep them from fighting over it. I was very impressed as I didn't expect him to like it very much - he gets tons of toys (we spoil him!)! But it was clearly his favorite toy. I highly recommend it!

The love of my son's life
My son LOVES this toy. We had bought a Fisher Price lawn mower that couldn't even roll on real grass. This is sturdy enough that he can walk behind mommy or daddy while we mow the lawn. He is just obsessed with this toy. Highly recommended!

Great Entertainment
I am purchasing the mower for my 15 month old son. He used his 3 year old cousins non stop on our vacation. It is so cleaver. It talks to you and makes these neat mower sounds just like daddy's mower. He wore himself out every night with this thing. His cousin still plays with it too. I think that the minimum age is a not correct. My son had no problems figuring out this toy and having a great time.

Where have our manners gone?
My son was given this mower as a first birthday gift. It is easy for him to push around however I am amazed with the so called "fun phrases". Mike The Mower belches several times and at one point belches and says "oh, was that me"? Disgusting. Not what I want to be teaching my 1 year old.

A great great toy!!
I just read a review here that said it does not have an off button, my 18 month old son found it right away, he turned it over and loves to turn it off and on. It is a great toy and very very durable, my son is now 2 and still plays with it hard. It is also popular during playgroup, it usually causes a fight, everyone wants to play it and my son doesn't want to share. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Budding young pastry chefs can get some early training in the culinary arts with this pretend kitchen. Kids can make, bake, and decorate toy goodies in this workstation, which includes a refrigerator, overhead pantry, and side storage for ingredients; a stovetop with burners and knobs and an oven for cooking treats; and a sink for cleaning up. The magic oven appears to actually "bake" the seven different sweets that come with the kitchen by changing their color when "cooked." Kids can refer to the built-in cookbook to see what treats should look like before and after baking. An icing bag with a soft tip lets kids decorate their masterpieces after they come out of the oven. Other vital kitchen accessories in the set include a mixing bowl, a baking dish, two serving plates, a potholder, a pitcher, two water goblets, a spatula, a fork, a spoon, a whisk, a cake stand, four cake toppers, cake mix, a milk carton, an egg, and a phone. The oven operates on three D batteries (not included). --Cristina Vaamonde ... Read more

Reviews (73)

boring
We had bought this kitchen for my 20 month old daughter after we saw how much fun she had with a garage sale 1950's kitchen that a freind had. We chose the higher price tag kitchen hoping it would grow with her and for the snazzy picture on the box.

This kitchen is BORING!!
Only the stove makes noise or lights up and it cooks too long.
It does not have a sprayer for the sink and the pantry is too high. Also none of the accesories fit in the pantry. Also small children are not intrested in specially preparing to cook and have colors change they just want to walk up and play with it.
And the kitchen comes with lady bug stickers which once applied I could not remove and my daughter is afraid of them.
Even when she does attempt to play with this toy " she ends up yelling bug the whole time. I am very upset that I made a rash decision and paid (...) for this kitchen that is not up to parr when this will probably be the only kitchen she has. It would not make sense to buy yet another.

{Parents this is just one more reason to always check the online reveiw of toys)

Not worth the money!
We bought this for our daughters 3rd birthday. The kitchen we wanted to get her was not in stock at the time. She picked this one out, I think because of the colors and cookies in the picture.

I was not happy with it but I figured she liked it so that is all that mattered.

After it was put together I realized I really didn't like it and wanted to return it.

The refrigerator was cheesy, the plastic that it was made of was the kind that if she or her soon to be climbing brother climbed on it it would break into sharp pieces.

Every time she opened the oven door, it would hit her toes. I had to remember to freeze the part that goes in the oven so it would bake the dessert which I always forgot to do. Plus it was in our basement which is a bit on the cool side so the food never went back to the uncooked state.

The knob to turn on the oven was hard for me to move let alone my 3 year old.

I was not happy with this toy and I love Fisher Price toys too. (...)P>The only good thing about this kitchen was the play cups, they were cute.

Great Kitchen for Two
I got this for my two and four year old for christmas 2003. They play all the time with it. Remembering to keep the color changing device frozen can be hard but they play just as much without it. The oven door was a little hard to open at first but it has been broken in and works great now. I did not put this toy together so I do not know about the hardships of it. All I know is my girls love it and use it almost everyday. It came with two sets of color accessories so that worked out great. Even though one does not work as well as the other it pacifies the urge to not share.

FRUSTRATING!!
I bought this on sale AFTER Christmas in 2003 knowing it would be a good purchase for my 3 year old daughter. She LOVES to cook and was thrilled when I FINALLY got it put together.

I agree that the oven door NEVER shuts and the refrigerator door comes OFF all the time. We never could get the sounds to work.
BUT since I got it 50% off, it was worth that amount of money.

If you're paying full price, think again- spend a little extra and get a deluxe play kitchen.

Not to happy!
If I had it to do over again, I would not suggest this kitchen. The oven door does not stay closed and my daughter gets so mad trying to shut it over and over again. Even though all the items that come with this kitchen are cute, its not worth the hassle of making the food change colors. Think twice before you purchase this one!! ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Peek N Play Eeyore
My 1 year old daughter recieved this toy as a gift.I love the concept of all the songs, and the way the ears move.Although our problem was that Eeyore kept falling over!! The head is heavy, so it doesn't balance right. Also, we didn't care for the remote contol rattle to make it work, yes is is also voice activiate, but I know the rattle is going to get lost.It is also hard to turn off, youhave to un-velcro the back and turn the switch off.And since it is voice activated, if you have it in your childs room at bedtime, and you have not taken all that time to turn it off, it goes off. I don't think it is worth the money, it is not that great of a toy.

Love it/Hate it
I bought this for my 7 month old and she LOVES it however, she cannot get it going herself.I have to sit and play with her which is OK but it would be better if I could sit her on the floor and she could get it going herself so I can get some things done around the house.Overall it is a GREAT toy!

I WANT ONE NOW TOO!
I bought this for my one year old "leap day baby" niece.I brought it up to work to show it around to everyone else here.Upon noticing it was only playing the "demo", and trying not to fully take it out of the box ( I asked my brother if i could and he said no! ), I noticed a protection tab that could be pulled out.

Anyway, comments mention below it shuts off after two minutes of inactivity.That is MORE than enough time as anything longer might start to drive ya nuts.It reacts to snapping, clapping, and even his name when spoken loudly!

Everyone at work wants one now for themselves, and I am the youngest in my office at age 36!

Too cute, too precious!

Eeyore
I just purchased this toy and my little girl loves it! She shakes the rattle and eeyore will play games and sing to her. I have had no problems with this toy. I recommend it to anyone.

Really fun
Ia m 11 years old and totally love this toy! It's fun when you shake the rattle and Eeyore plays peek-a-boo! My baby sister loves playing with it, and the other two reviews about it being defective, are wrong it's FUN!! I also reccomend Love to Wqalk Baby Pooh! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Tank the Triceratops
Dinosaurs are the coolest thing that ever happened to Imaginext.While the pirate and medieval themes are cool, this prehistoric theme takes the prize for ultra coolness.The premise here is simple enough.Predators versus non-predators.Carnivores versus herbivores.

Tank the Triceratops is one of the good guys.I've long been a fan of the triceratops, and I have to say, this is the best triceratops action figure I've seen.Tank has posable legs and tail, and a trigger under his belly causes him to raise his head to head-butt those nasty carnivores while his jaw opens.He also has plenty of charisma.His eyes, his expression, everything is fantastic!He has a wonderful paint job of light and dark green, and the designs on his body were a really nice touch.

On Tank's back is a saddle for a cave man figure to ride.The included cave man and accessories are just as cool as Tank is.He's a tribal figure who carries a spear.He's got some great posability in the arms, and his hands do a great job of grasping items.He's got that Imaginext quality that made the pirate and medieval figures so cool.

Tank and his cave-man buddy are durable and constructed from soft plastic.Tank's horns are rounded at the ends (no sharp points).This is an impressive and lovable dinosaur action figure, and a great addition to the Imaginext collection.My verdict:thumbs way up!Tank is ultra cool! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Elmo may not be on the cutting edge of pop culture with this incarnation, but he still makes playtime fun. Instead of mimicking the latest hit, which always seems to drive kids wild, he sings and dances his own version of a 70s classic: "YMCA." It never dies, does it? The 13.5-inch Elmo sings out letters to a catchy rhythm while dancing what can only be described as pseudo-Egyptian. It's quite a feat, actually, to see what he does with his arms and legs: standing on one foot, bobbing his head, moving several limbs at once. His cute, familiar voice hasn't changed, either; kids can hear it with each press of his upheld hand. Required: 4 AA batteries.Diane Beall ... Read more

Reviews (1)

too cute for words
This Elmo is the cutest one that I have ever seen. By daughter loves to dance with Elmo. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A great way to learn!
This toy is great! My son, Drew, loves playing with it. He gets so excited everytime he pushes one of the buttons & another letter, number, shape, or song is said or sang (also, appears on the screen). Drew is learning the basics really well with this toy. I recommend this to anyone since it teaches in such a fun way! ... Read more

Reviews (22)

Great Toy!
This toy is great. My 1 year old daughter got it as a gift and she already knows in waht order they go. Is very durable and the colors are very festive.

Great Buy!!!
Great toy, my 7mo. son loves to play with these pails. The one with the water is a bit heavy so I have to limit the play to the carpeted area in my house for fear that my son may throw it & chip our tile floor. The only complaint that I have is that on the babies r us site they are listed under bath toys, and this is definately not for use in water. For outside the tub its a blast!!!!!! (Look for the Ocean Wonders fishbowl also, its got great sounds, and more flutter balls & it does go great with the pails!!!)

I love these
These are fabulous. much beter than plain nesting pails

A great toy!
My daughter has been playing with this toy since she first sat up on her own, at 5 months. She loves it!! The bottom pail is a little heavy, but she mostly plays with the smaller two pails, and she LOVES the little pink ball. The whole toy packs up so compactly so we can take it anywhere. We even took it on vacation to Florida, but without the heavy bottom pail. Besides nesting, the pails stack up very well upsidedown, and my daughter loves to knock them down. The colors are fun and so are the moving parts. This is one of her favorite toys!

My son loves this toy!
I received this as a gift when he was born and had put it away until recently. He is 9 months old and absolutely loves this thing!! It does not seem to be too heavy for him at all (although he is large for his age), and has held up well with very rough play (he loves to throw things). I would recommend, but for older babies. ... Read more

Reviews (23)

A great game for building many skills
I bought this game for my 2 year old son and have been very pleased. His occupational therapist introduced it to him to help him with his fine motor skills. It takes two hands to put the little coins in the slot (one to hold the coin and one to hold the barn) and a little strength to pull the lever to get the coins out. Even though he is too young to play the game, he loves to match the animals to the cards. It has been great to teach him the animal names and sounds, too. He loves to play and it will grow with his cognative abilities. We highly recommend this toy!

speech therapist recommended
My daughter, who turns 2 this july, goes to speech therapy. The therapist pulls out this game to try to get my little one to not only speak, but to put the coins in the slot (follow direction), take them out, match them up, learn animals and colors. Also to take turns. This is a Wonderful teaching game! Please note the coins a small, and could be a choking hazard. But overall I recommend this game.

Wonderful first game
This is a great first game. It is very short in duration and teaches the basics of game playing (taking your turn, wining, following rules) without being overly involved or lengthy. The bingo chip dispenser is great fun for toddlers and makes the game very enticing. I highly recommend this game! However, I think that this game is probably more appropriate for 2-4 year olds than 3-6 year olds. I've played this with several 2 years olds and they've gotten the game immediately. This was some of the best 9 dollars that I've spent and will be giving this as a gift many times.

Great game for little ones!
I would recommend this because I have a 4- and a 5-year-old. They love playing this game together and I don't even have to be there right beside them. It allows them to play together independent of me! They also really enjoy playing the game. We would purchase it again!

New take on bingo for little ones
This game is fun to play . 3 of my 4 children like to play it when they have nothing else to do. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Awesome for learning to play with imagination
My daughter is two and loves this doll! She memorized the first day all of the sayings! It teaches a small amount of spanish, which is a great start for a child to learn. My daughter loves to pretend play with Dora. I feel this has expanded my daughters imagination play out more! Great toy!!

It's Dora!
This is a very well made doll. It's cute and perfect for our little 3 year old. This doll helps her with her role playing, which she is doing alot of now. And she acts out scenes with this doll and Boots (9 inch cuddly doll). The hair keeps well.

This Dora doll is very adorable!
My 18-month-old loves her Dora doll! She says several cute phrases, including a couple in Spanish. The backpack, bracelet, and surprise are a real treat too. We haven't had her long, so I don't know how well she will hold up, but this toy is made by Fisher-Price so I'm sure it will last for awhile. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Great toy, worth the extra money for lights and sounds!
We bought this for our son's first birthday. He LOVES it! I wasn't sure if the lights and sounds were worth the extra money (above the older version of this toy) but it definitely was! The music and lights are what make this toy one of his favorites! He loves to sit on it and rock. It's great that the music starts (in ROCK mode) as soon as he moves it. I can see that this toy will be one of his favorites for a while! I also like that this is a good replacement for a regular rocking horse....we don't need one now since we have this. Plus, this will be used for many more years than a small rocking horse. We'll probably get him a wooden one when he's 3 or 4 years old, but for now this is enough rocking for him!

Horrible
The foot pedals disappear and my sons feet drag and go under if parents don't notice right away which is painful. The handle for parents doesn't stay in place which is a pain. And it is almost impossible for parents to turn when they are dealing with kids who still can't steer or pedal yet. My husband and I took our son outside with it once and never again. It isn't safe since it is such a struggle for parents to turn we have to practically drag it from left to right and since it doesn't have a seat belt my son almost fell off the side. He only uses it to rock on at home and will not be using it outside until he can pedal and steer on his own.

Extremely pleased
I bought this bike for my twin nephews for Christmas this past year. They were only 11 months old but loved them as they had just started walking and could climb all over them. Now that they are really mobile they love to push them while they are outside. It is great for them and easy on mom. The noises are great and one loves to rock to the music while the other likes to figure everything out on it. Definitely a great purchase!

Great item, but watch for the windshield
My 18 month old daughter received this item for Xmas. As she gained more confidence in rocking on it, she would rock faster/harder. As a result, she has had serious bumps and bruises from her head hitting the windshield. I have since removed the windshield. This has not used this as a tricycle yet, The musical capabilities are cute and not annoying for indoor use.

Three-in-one!
Gift was for our 1 year old grandson from a close friend of the family. It only took two (2) days for our grandson to figure out how to rock with it! The noises were appealing to him and not annoying to us. His mommy put the item together by herself within 20 minutes. Very easy to assemble. Can get himself off with some help from us but needs help getting on. Age bracket of 18 mos - 3 years is a good bracket. We have another grandson who will turn 1 in May. He will be getting one for his birthday as well. I love the idea of giving them their "first big wheel"! Don't have to wait until they are older. This toy grows with the child. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Designed to encourage early role play, this small, colorful amusement park is centered on a roller-coaster track that winds around a sharp curve. When the roller-coaster car hits the purple star that hangs from above, a monkey drops into a dunk tank. ("Ooh-ee-ah!") Sonya Lee can ride the freestanding, two-person rocket ship, while Smiley the Clown collects tickets or listens to music coming from the twirling teacups. This would be a fun, developmentally rich toy for preschoolers. Required, but not included, are three AA batteries. --Andy Boynton ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Fun and Cute!
I bought this for my 23 month old daughter yesterday, she LOVES it. She was so excited while I was putting it together. She will be keeping this at Grandma's house (she spends about 3 days a week there). My daughter especially loved the car ramp, she was over-joyed when I showed her this feature.

I also bought two extentions to this set (Little People Music Ferris Wheel & Little People Parading Pals), each of these are so cute and fun.

My daughter's Aunt thought it was such a cute toy (I think she will play with it too and she is 35!). Of course I am looking forward to playing with it myself. :)

I think this is a great investment. If something changes I'll edit this review.

For one player only
This is a cute toy, but if more than one child will be playing with it, get ready to rumble! There is only one car to go down the ramp (the highlight of the Fun Park), so it immediately created a problem when my two children began to play with it. They share pretty well, but this toy created unnecessary tension and spoiled the fun. These types of Little People toys used to come with at least two cars, so I have no idea why they would be so cheap as to include just one car and two "people."

Good bang for the buck
Bought for my 1 and 2.5 year olds. Helps youngest learn how to turn knobs, depress plunger, lift lever, snap together basic components, place little people in the ride seats and the car on top of the ramp. It also teaches cause and effect -- car goes down ramp, noises are heard and toy component drops down. The plunger toy component is very cool -- does not fling little people in any harmful way. Both boys get a good laugh out of this toy.

Almost Good
More like 2 1/2 stars in each catagory. I recently bought this to add to the enormous collection of little people toys my son already has. I think he has somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 Little People alone. I have many of the playsets and this is one of the mediocre sets. As with similar merry-go-round toys from FP the Little People end up in the dog food dish when my son cranks it up. Fllinnggg! I don't know if its possible to put an eye out with a little person but my son is unusually strong for his age and gets a certain joy out of watching things fly that were not meant to. If they can hit me in the face then.. I suppose they could hit him too. I need to be especially attentive when he has this toy out in the livingroom. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

My daughter loves this toy
My 8 year old son won this toy at a dance contest in shea stadium and gave it to his 4 year old sister and she has not stopped playing and dancing with it .Very entertaining for this age group ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Liked it a lot!
We bought this toy for our 2 year old son and he loved it to begin with...the fun kind of wained after a few weeks of use so we went out and bought a new Trax Pack for it and he loves it again. It is like getting an entire new toy for him...and not an expensive one either for what you get! ... Read more