Customer Reviews

Playskool Busy Ball-Tivity Center

5 star:		(98)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Playskool Busy Ball-Tivity Center
Our family is living in furnished apartment while we transition to a new house. Most of our toys are in storage. I bought a selection of toys to keep the boys (age 3 and ten months) in our small space. This toy is such a hit. Both boys like it. My ten month old is fascinated. He has played with it off and on all day long every day this week. I watch his coordination improve as he figures out how to start the music, etc. It's just wonderful fun!

My daughter owns this and LOVES it! She shrieks with delight as the balls pop up in the air and roll around and around. There is so much action going on. Air powered. I can see this toy will really help build her hand-eye coordination and problem solving skills, not to mention keeping her entertained for hours. I've never seen her enjoy a toy this much before!

Very simple toy. Works on a pneumatic system. There is a ball popper, ball cage and three accessory systems. It also has very good battery life. I wish they had given some extra balls. Once the ball is dinged it wont work well. Iam unable to find other balls that fit in the poper. Overall a very good toy, buy when it is on sale.

This is a really great toy! I bought this for my 9 month old grandaughter but my 3 yr old grandaughter plays with it all the time... the 9 month old crawls after her to get to this toy! There are numerous fine-motor challenges with this toy besides being totally cute! The animals are removable and the kids do play with them independent of the toy itself. It is a toy that the kids can use over the course of several years so that makes it a good value purchase due to usably/motor development challenges... honestly though the biggest factor is they both keep playing with this toy over and over!

The only real downside I can find , which is strictly a matter of opinion, is there is no master shut-off switch on the bottom like the Busy Basics Busy Ball Choo-Choo, there is just an on/off button on the top which acts as the master switch... to activate the music and motion you push the ladybug seen in the pictures.

I bought the Busy Basics Busy Ball Choo-Choo at the same time and the balls can be inter-changed with the Busy Ball-Tivity Center...a definite plus!

IMO: Motor-skills wise the Busy Ball-Tivity Center is GREAT to assist in development, there are challenges a child can seek there; with the Choo-choo there are limited challenges for a child, but it is a very cute toy.

FYI---If you could only buy one THE hands-down favorite of both grandchildren is the Busy Ball-Tivity Center!!! Hope this review helps you make a more informed purchase.

Playskool could film an ad using my 10 month old's reaction to seeing this in action for the first time. He squealed with delight, grinned, clapped his hands, and immediately wanted to interact with it. Obviously gains the attention of its target audience. My 3 year old is also interested in the toy, so I'm assuming it has "legs" and will provide entertainment throughout the toddler years.

Here are my cons:
1. It is noisy. The music is loud, and there is no option to lower or shut off the volume. I find this really annoying, and will probably either tape over the speaker to muffle it, or even dismantle the toy to see if I can shut the music off internally. Would be great to have a volume option - seems like a no brainer.

2. The pneumatic air action lasts only FIFTEEN SECONDS (yes, I timed it), before shutting off and requiring another activation. I assume my 10 mo will figure out how to restart it eventually, but right now it shuts down and he wanders off unless I (or his big sister) sit and restart it. Come on, couldn't we have had 30-60 seconds of play??

3. Only three balls are included, and they are bound to get lost or damaged. Five or six balls would have been nice.

Otherwise, this is a lot of fun, although I am glad that I got it on Amazon's huge pre-Xmas sale and didn't pay regular price for it. For less than ten bucks, it was a great deal.

We got this for Christmas and didn't really use it much until he could sit up with the exception of a few time during tummy time. He was attracted to the music and action at that time, so we couldn't wait until he could sit up. Well, that day came and I'm caught in the middle of how much I like this thing. My now 7 month old does seem to like it well enough and wiggles his way over to it when we get it out. He's even starting to know how to push the ladybug himself to make the music play, so thats a plus! But there are some definite CONS:

*Does blow out cold air, which doesn't help on the floor where it's already colder than anywhere else. His poor little hands are always cold, so I have to stop the session short sometimes.

*The toys fall off their stands WAY to easy! He like to watch the movement, but with one grab they're all off, and the fun is over until I replace them. Too much to constantly look for and redo if your trying to keep them occupied. Not so bad if you're having playtime with your angel and enjoy the interaction like I do.

*Is shaped weird as where it is hard to find a place for baby to sit in front of, as one reviewer mentioned. Not really any good spots made just for that. Always afraid he's going to topple forward and hit one of the hard animals!!

Some PROS:

*We like the music.
*Keeps his attention for long periods when I'm playing with him or until he gets old enough to replace the balls and animals himself.
*Is learning cause and effect

I guess thats really about it. He like it, so I guess that's all that matters. My friends 2 yr old son comes over and likes to play also. I Still can't help but wish I would have gotten the ball popper though. Looks WAY more fun!

***************UPDATE******************
My son will be 1 in less than 3 weeks, and he LOVES this thing. Winter is right around the corner so I will have to watch that cold air, but he can now place the balls where they go. He especially loves the "floating" ball since I took a sharpie and drew polka dots on it, so he could see it spin. The toys falling are much less a problem now, as is my worries that he will fall forward onto it. He is good to go, and I give this toy 2 thumbs up! Glad I didnt get the ball popper after reading of all the little arms that have gotten stuck in those things!

**********UPDATE**********
13 Mo old and loving this thing more and more! He plays with this thing more than anything else all day. Thats the one thing I can count on hearing. Wish I could find extra balls tho. Maybe I'll call and see if they sell them. Maybe its just for a little older kids than when I started. Still 2 thumbs up!

This toy is, hands down, the absolute best toy ever made. I know that sounds extreme but this thing has kept my son busy from age 6 months to now (he is currently 20 months). This toy has outlived every other toy and has actually grown with him. He went from watching the balls spin around to coming up with all different things he could do with this. He even put a straw wrapper in it to see how the air would spin that around, and it did. This is my third child and I have never seen a toy hold a child's interest for so long. It really is worth every penny.

My 2 year old grandson has played and played and played with this toy. I have found it to be quite durable and very much fun for him. I purchased it for his first Christmas,he is now over 2 years old and still plays with it reguarly. i cant bring myself to "retire" it yet.

I recommend this toy to all parents. I purchased this for my 6mth old son who is now 14mths and still playing with this toy EVERY day!

My daughter received this as a gift at 20 months and loved it (she's not interested in it much at all now at 2 1/2). My son began playing with it around 7 months and plays with it every day still now that he's 12 months. There are few toys he really gets interested in, so I am extremely thankful for this toy!

There are three pieces (alligator, tree, elephant) that you can remove or stack. Air blows up through them and makes the elephant ears spin, the alligator chomp, and the tree top spin. Fun for a baby to watch. A ball pins around in the middle circle and another ball bobbles up as the air pushes it. Both balls are removable. The monkey in the tree is not a removable piece--it just pops up when you press the ladybug to start the toy.