Drop the ball through the chute, and press the critter to make the ball twirl and pop out. Spinning the side gears sends the smiley face round ‘n round. The interchangeable gears can be stacked and changed around for even more spinning fun. Includes 5 interchangeable gears, 2 balls, music and sound effects.
Battery Requirements: 2 x AA
We were asked if we would like to review a product sent from Playskool, and after the boys revelled so much over their Play-Doh I picked up at BlogHer ’10, I was willing to give something else a go with the boys. So we were sent the Playskool Ball & Gear Centre, mostly for Isaac to have a go with.
Now, anything that arrives in a brightly coloured box, Isaac is all over it. And at first we were both “ooooooooh” and “aaaaaaaaah”. Isaac got stuck straight in, his favourite part being the two brightly coloured balls and the various activities that could be done with them on the toy. A chute at the top sent the balls to the bottom, this action resulted in crazy tunes coming from the base of the toy.
There were also some holes on the front of the toy to slot the balls in to; Isaac loved putting them in but found it quite difficult to pop them back out again, perhaps not realising that pushing them out from the back was easier. Or indeed, just trying to shove another ball in it’s place.
He wasn’t so interested in the cogs, interestingly enough; perhaps as a boy and being older than the suggested age on the toy, he’s much more in to what he knows he loves to play with. Anything that rolls is hours of play with him. So I stacked up the interchangeable cogs for him and showed him how they turned around. This generated more music, which he soon got the idea of, but I think he would have enjoyed it more had he been able to join the stacking cogs onto those on the top of the toy.
All in all, he enjoyed it, though every time it comes out, he pretty much plays with the balls and ends up throwing them around the room…and he does try to put the stacking cogs on the top now, trying to integrate even more action and music. Needless to say, the little red face on the right of the toy was a hit when he discovered you, er, hit it to create even more music.
All in all, a really nice toy, but I can’t help but think a little more variety would have been good, or perhaps an option to expand the life of the toy. I like something that can grow with the boys, and it was clear that they would reach their limits reasonably quickly. Great for 9 months plus, but not so much once they’re past, say, 14 months.
The Ball and Gear Centre is currently in stores; click here and you can get it with 50% off (bargain with Christmas just around the corner!!).
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