This toy requires a bit of coordination. You have to continue cranking while you press the button to launch. The toy is hard to stabilize while cranking, so it took my 4-year-old son many many attempts before he got the hang of it, but once he did, he loved it. I just asked him to help me write this review, and I asked him how much he liked it, and he said "as much as you love me." The whining car noise is annoying (it activates when moved a certain way); there is a switch on the bottom but I don't know what it does, since it does NOT turn off the noise.