Activities and Learning Reviews

My daughters(4year old, 2year old and 9 mos) love this toy. The keys are a little hard to hit but they seem to really enjoy it. The baby enjoys trying to play it but likes watching her sisters play it more.

This is pretty good. It is one of those plastic - roll out type keyboard, which allows it to be both a very big toy and easily stored at the same time. The sounds are not brilliant, and as I assume they must have used samples this cuold easily have been improved (the quack only just sounds like a quack for example). The keyboard could also have been made better by including two octaves, and some black notes. If the makers want us to treat these toys as educational, then they must assume that they are a prelude to a child working with a piano type keyboard, so some sharps and flats would help. These two niggles aside, this is a fun item, and very easy for little ones to use.

THIS PIANO IS EXCELLENT FOR LITTLE HANDS TO PRACTICE ON AND FOR LITTLE EARS TO LISTEN TO. MY 2 LITTLE GIRLS (17 MONTH OLD AND 4 YEAR OLD) LOVE IT. I ALSO TEACH MUSIC TO A GROUP OF 3-5 YEAR OLDS AND THEY REALLY ENJOY PLAYING IT. VERY EASY FOR THEM TO OPERATE AND GREAT FOR FAMILIARIZING THEM WITH MUSICAL SCALE AND DIFFERENT SOUNDS.

My 5 year old has had the cash register that coordinates with this scanner for 3 years and it's WONDERFUL, but when she was old enough to notice the other registers with scanners on the shelf, she was disappointed, so I was elated to find this scanner. I almost didn't buy it after reading the reviews for durability, but I think I now know what went wrong...there is a RESET "button" on the underside of the scanner. It's actually a teeny-tiny hole- I had to unfold a paper clip to slip inside and trigger it. This is explained in the directions for the toy, but we thought it was broken- reading incorrect numbers, displaying jibberish, etc. It works great as long as we reset when needed, and my daughter absolutely loves it. She doesn't use the barcode stickers- it will "scan" anytime you push the button, giving a new price. The only reason I gave it a lower score for educational value is that obviously it can't know the real value of an item, so when she scanned the family dog, the price was something like $ and when she scanned a lollipop, it was $. A little misleading, but that's what us parents are for. This toy is fun and I highly recommend the matching cash register- it's the best I've seen anywhere and will grow with them for years. We even use it during yard sales since it holds real-size money.

I bought this toy for my 8-year old for Christmas. A piece of the scanner was missing (the piece that holds the batteries in). Luckily I opened it up and checked it before wrapping it or he would have been very disappointed. So it is being sent back. Also, I'm not asking to have it replaced because when I put batteries and "scanned" the bar codes I noticed that it does not read the price that is actually on the bar codes. This may do for a 3 or 4 year old child. But my 8-year old would have noticed this right away and that would have been a big dissapointment.

I bought this toy back in September, and it was the best toy I ever got. I play with it with my register all the time. I really enjoy it so you should get it for your kids because they will love it!!!

My son is 4 and 3/4 years old, and received the engine wash for his third birthday. He has had no difficulty operating it, and it is holding up wonderfully. The foam wash rollers look just like new after having countless trains run through them. There are a few pieces that may get caught up a bit but it's quite easy to release them by giving them a little push from behind.

The same engine wash is part of the local toy store's set, which obviously gets tons of wear. It is holding up very well, and is clearly a favorite of the children who sample it at the store.

I would highly recommend this piece to any Thomas enthusiast age 3 and up. I can imagine it may be challenging for a younger toddler to operate it, but it isn't intended for that age anyway.

My son loves this! I don't know what people are talking about. The trains go through just fine, even a long line of them. My son is two and a half and very rough with his toys and I have never had a problem with this piece. it's one of his favorites.

This piece has had many bad reviews but we recently got this one and it works just fine. Maybe the manufacturer worked out the kinks because or trains go through really easy, even in a long line. One of my 2 1/2 year old sons favorites.

I was surprised that this toy got such good reviews, because I am not at all impressed with it. I thought that both of my sons (12 mos. and almost 3 years) would enjoy it, but neither has spent much time with it, despite enjoying other shape sorters - plus, one loves music, the other loves animals/making animal sounds. The shapes are hard to get out, and this frustrates my 1-year-old son. And I was disappointed that the music doesn't play when the shape is inserted; you have to press the shape after putting it in to get the music to play (or bypass that, and push the little button to get the music without even doing the shapes).

My son is 15 months now and has played with this toy for several months. It has helped teach him animal names and sounds, and he enjoys the music it plays. He also likes the shape sorting, as well as the activities on the other side (a clicking wheel, etc.). We take this toy with us on trips because it provides good entertainment value for its size.

i purchased this when my child was a few months old. she loved it because of the sounds of the animals. as she got older she enjoyed putting the pieces in their places. i have returned it twice because it doesn't work. each time i change the batteries but it still doesn't work. i will return the second and call it quits. the concept is great and when it works it's good but now my child is 18 months and it frustrates her.

I have been buying Schoenhut toy pianos for kids and grandkids over the past 10-12 years ... starting the wee ones with My First Piano, then graduating to the larger models as the children grow. I have checked out other manufacturers, but have found nothing that compares with the quality (sound AND workmanship) of Schoenhut. One time I called the company with a special request for additional song books, actually talked with a REAL person there, without having to go through dozens of menu options. They mean what they say "100% customer satisfaction." Thanks, Schoenhut, for affordable, educational, and wonderful musical instruments.

I purchased this for my granddaughter's first birthday and she loves it. She loves to tinker with my BIG piano but loves to play along with Grandma. I was unsure how she would take to it and although her parents may sometimes wish she had left it at Grandma's house they do enjoy listening to her play it. I have decided to purchase a white one for my other grandchild's first birthday. I highly recommend it to everyone!

I gave this piano to a friend who has a ten month old baby named Sam. Of course I didn't think Sam would enjoy the piano until age 2 or 3. I was amazed to see Sam crawl over to the piano and reach up to touch the keys. Once he realized that he was the one making that sound, he crawled over to the piano everytime he had a chance. The piano has never tipped over.
Now that Sam can sit by himself, he plays his piano from that position. What a wonderful educational toy!

I purchased this game for my family and we enjoy it very much. We play with our 7 year-old son and he loves the game, sure he seldom makes it to the end of a game, but in the age of video game junkies getting him to sit down and play with math for 20 minutes is a miracle. I love how you can adjust the level of play by leaving out the multiplication, division and parenthesis for your younger players. The only complaint I have is that the rules state that you cannot combine tiles to make 2 digit numbers, making the largest number possible 12. We just instituted "House Rules" and that took care of that problem. This game is more durable than a very similar game that is twice as expensive. I love this game, and for someone who enjoys formulating equations rather than forming words, this beats Scrabble hands down.

OK, I'm accually 18 using this Kiddy review cause its free, but still, to any college educated person how could you not like this game. I mean come-on people, I've been in some college classes where the students still play this awesome game. It is a challenge to race the younger math wizs in filling out the board. My GED class complains about the speed at which opportunity to make an equation is quickly decreasing, we still love it.

To A Toy Enthusiast from Iowa:
How can you be college educated and not understand this game? I don't understand.

I am writing to Pressman and asking them to make 'SCalculus and 'SGeometry... that would be fun.

'Smath is fun for all ages, not just 6-12 year olds. It is extremely durable, I've had mine for about 15 years or so, and I still love to play, and it's held up.

I have purchased several Schoenhut Baby Grands for kids and grandkids in my family, also for friends, and have been 100% satisfied with the quality and tone. This piano is always a BIG HIT, not only with the little ones who started on My First Piano and "graduated" to a larger size, but for first time players, young and old alike. There are cheap imitations, but I opted for a company that has been in business for over a century. Schoenhut, you've got my vote ... and my business .... again and again and again.

I have a black baby grand that I have had for the past 3 years. I got it for my first granddaughter, which she played every time she came to my house. I thought as she got older she would loose interest but she still plays every time she comes over. Since then I have two more grandchildren and the piano is still in excellent shape, the sound is perfect and my youngest grand child loves to play. The music book is great for teaching them the popluar childrens songs. It has been quite a good teaching tool since the older children have gone on to electronic keyboards. I am very satisfied the the quality and performance of this purchase. Nancy Gardner

I recently went into a ... store and bought this baby grand piano for myself, for i play the piano and thought it would be very cool to have JUST for looks. I WAS RIGHT. The companies review said it was made of strings, so i thought (as gullable as i am) that it would sound like a baby steinway. It sounds like a vibraphone that has been dropped off mount Everest! Anyways, I returned it and got a full refund, DO NOT buy this even for a child, for the top looks like it was made of plie wood that has a nice finish on it. ...

I bought this eggs for my daughter when she was 7 months old. It was on sale so I did not even take note of the age range. Personally I thought the toy was cute although my husband did not think so. Of course, my daughter could not do the sorting yet. She love to suck the eggs, bang them or throw them from the box. It is very durable. It's her favorite toy and she has lots of fun with it.

my 2 year old likes the eggs themselves and likes to carry them around and finds them appealing but its hard for him to see the shapes on the bottom and fit them in because the shape is teeny tiny. I think it would be a cute seasonal item, the pieces are easy to lose though. They dont stay in the tray very well.

My son recieved this as an easter present when he was almost 2. The toy did not stay together very well if it was even bumped on the floor. He had a hard time getting the pegs into the little holes to put them in the right places. It was very frustrating for him and after a couple times, we put it up and just recently brought it back out for him to play with. He is now 3, and is able to match things up and get it to co-operate with him a little better. Personally, i would not go out and buy this toy.

Not only is this toy not durable, it's unsafe. My 26 month old son took the buttons off within minutes of playing with it. He just wiggled them until the threads gave way. I tugged on the buttons hard to see how easily they would give and a button came right off. The buttons are small enough to be put in the mouth and swallowed (but big enough to get stuck going down). I don't know how this toy is allowed to be on the market given that safety issue.

The snaps are very difficult to use. Because the toy is soft, there is nothing to push the snaps against, making it very difficult to close the snaps. When trying to open the snaps, my son's first inclination is to tug on the fabric around the snap and it feels like the fabric will tear before the snap will open.

The zipper is also very difficult to use. Even I have difficulty pulling it up.

Because it is difficult to use, my son is not very interested in playing with this toy. The most interest he had was when the buttons came off, he thought that's what they were supposed to do and proceeded to work on all 4.

This item is perfect for adults that can't tie their shoes or zipper their coats, great gag gift!!!

My 3 year old son has learn independence through using this great developement Educational Toys. He love spending time trying to learn how to button, zipper, fasten snappers, and connecting laches. It keeps him quiet because he is concentrating on how to get in to work. It is one of the best toy I've brought.

Our daughter is 3 years old and we baught leap pad for her b'day and this is first book which she is enjoying. She really enjoys playing with it. Good thig is she is learning all the sounds also while playing. I recommend this book for every kid. She is able to play alone without any help from us.

My son loves his Leap Pad and we have bought some really good books for it, unfortunately this is not one of them. This activity book is not fun at all, and it is hardcore learning there is nothing engaging about this book. Usually my son will sit and go through a whole book, but with this one, the few times he has chosen it he has only done a page at a time. Your kids will learn from this book, but it will take a lot of time because there is nothing really to engage them.

Apparently the Leap Frog company keeps changing the titles of their products. This lead me to some confusion about which products to buy. Sometimes both old and new are still on the marketplace, I guess until they sell out. The content of this book was previously published under the title "Kindergarten--Learning Letters and Sounds".

This product, if you look at the larger image, is confusing in that it states "Leap Pad Phonics Program Activity Book--more practice for lesson 1--I know my letters and letter sounds". First off, apparently at first there was something called "Leap 1--Phonics" but they did away with the "Leap 1" phonics line and renamed it "LeapPad Phonics Program". Second, ..., there is no longer a "lesson 1" so this title confused me, in that it says "more practice for lesson 1".

The manufacturer also does not do a good job of providing descriptions for their products, even on their own website. It was unclear to me if we must buy each of the "phonics books" of which there are 10, then the 4 "activity books". Fortunately at the back of this book there is a better guidebook than is available on the Leap Frog website. In the end it is apparent that to cover all the phonics lessons and have readers to coorespond we must buy all 10 readers. For more fun practice we must buy the 4 activity books. Yikes, that adds up to a big expense.

Here is the breakdown as provided inside this book:
a. Phonics Activity book 1 is to be used with Phonics lesson 1 "alphabet adventures". Phonics activity book 2 is to be used with readers: 2-Tad's Good Night, 3-A Day at Moss...and 4-The Day Leap Ate Olives. Phonics activity book 3 is to be used with reader #5-Lost and found. Phonics activity book 4 is to be used with reader books: 6- cake and mice cream, 7-mole's huge nose, and 8-Rainy Day Play. Lesson 9-A Bark in the Dark and Lesson 10-A Fisherman's Tale stand on their own as "more phonics fun".

... Page 2 of the book gives the parent an overview of the ontents which is very detailed and excellent. (Unfortunately this is unavailable for browing online or at the store, you must buy it and cut the plastic wrap to read this.) This book covers letter recognition for all 26 letters in the upper case and lower case format. There are games and activities to learn with, this is not a story book reader. There is an activity to match the lower case with the upper case of It covers consonent sounds and the short form of the vowel sounds. For long vowel sounds you must buy a different book in the series.