Kimochis Cat Box Set

by Kimochis

Product Features

• Cat is a decisive leader and can be very persuasive Her bossiness can sometimes lead to confrontation and occasional "cat fights"
• Cat comes with five bandages to help heal hurt feelings
• Cat comes with 3 feelings Happy Curious and Cranky
• Cats feelings can be stored in her front pouch
• Learn to express yourself with fun and easy lessons included in the 48 page feel guide

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9 x 4.8 x 13.5 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002MAW3LA
• Item model number: Cat
• Manufacturer recommended age: 36 months - 8 years
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,696 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Kimochi (Key.Mo.Chee) means "feeling" in Japanese. And Kimochis are what come inside each character. Kimochis are small pillows with a feeling (happy, sad, silly, brave) printed on one side, and a corresponding facial expression on the other. Each Kimochi character comes with a set of three feelings and a How-To Kimochis Feel Guide. The characters also have a special pocket where kids can store their "Kimochis" - or feelings. Using the characters and their Kimochis, kids can get in touch with their emotions through puppetry and play. The Feel Guide introduces the fun and quirky personalities of each character and offers parents fun tips and engaging activities to help strengthen parent child connections and develop healthy social and emotional skills. Go on. Express yourself with Kimochis.

Product Description

Kimochi Cat description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars not practical, but effective, March 7, 2011

By 

Tamara "all-natural-nut" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Kimochis Cat Box Set (Toy)

When I received this gift for my 4-yr-old, I was struck by it's wonderful appropriateness. Our little one is a passionate, intense girl who resists her feelings especially when I try to empathize or help her identify what the feeling is that she has. When I saw this, I thought it was BRILLIANT, and I had high hopes that, by CHOOSING her own feeling, that it would help to bring some sense to her emotion-intense life and allow her to embrace it.

She ADORES this kitty and carries it with her everywhere since she received it.

As a parent, though, I am sorely disappointed for several reasons.

(1) The emotions that are available come in really strange combinations, with a couple of the basic emotions and a couple complex emotions, but nothing that really captures all the BASIC emotions that a 4-yr-old would have at this stage in life. We were given the cat & one extra feeling pack. Of the 8 feelings we have, I would say that only 2 really fit her emotion-life, and I can think of about 10 others that would be much more appropriate. I think the feelings included completely miss the boat on what a young child can comprehend emotion-wise, as well as what they actually feel at these young ages.

(2) It's really hard to fit the emotion inside the pouch of the lovey, and she has not actually gotten it inside even once yet. Then, once it's in there, you can't see it anymore, so where's the reinforcement of the emotion name/face?

(3) Since this little lovey is meant to be carried around and loved (which it is), how does a parent manage all the other feelings that are not being used? It requires some thought and a concrete plan! Otherwise all the feelings get scattered around with all the other toy clutter (unless YOU have a remarkably organized young child!), and when a feeling needs to be identified, they are not available to look at. So far we have our feelings all lined up on a small table so they can be glanced at and picked quickly in the middle of any given emotion. But you have to retrieve the cat, bring it over to the display of feelings (assuming it has not been deconstructed by the young one or your baby if you have one), then choose. It's a lot of logistics that are not likely to actually work in the real world over time.

I love the idea of letting the child identify his/her own emotions. I think a feeling poster is a better, more practical idea than this Kimochi. This will end up just one of another stuffed animal in the pile after the novelty wears off. Then I'll get myself a poster.

UPDATE: we have actually (finally) found a way that this cuddly animal is actually helping our little one work through her emotions. We encourage her to choose the feeling that the kitty has, and put it in her pouch (still not easy, but has become do-able). Then, we ask her what the kitty would like now that she has that feeling (a hug? a kiss? a dance?). This way she can transfer her feelings to the kitty and it seems to actually help her a lot. Now I think this toy is brilliant. It's worth figuring out how to manage all these feeling-buddies (to keep them all together). As for the kinds of feelings we can choose from, maybe I'll get the grand master set and start with basics, adding to her repertuare over time.

Initial rating: 2 stars
Final rating: 4 stars

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kimochi Cat, July 1, 2010

By 

Olga Esterov (VENICE, CA, US) - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kimochis Cat Box Set (Toy)

I purchased this set for my 2 year old niece and she absolutely loved it! She especially loved the fabric band-aids that she was able to place all over herself and the book and the little bag that the emotions came in. Overall, I think the Kimochis are great gifts. By the way, her 6 year-old brother read the entire book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bridget's Review, November 4, 2009

By 

bridget3420 "Bridget Hopper" (KY) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Kimochis Cat Box Set (Toy)

Kimochis are toys with feelings. They are a great way to teach children about communicating how they feel. There is a different Kimochi for each feeling. Their facial expressions are different so that children can easily learn that a smile means happy and a frown means sad.

My nephew is very expressive. He has so many expressions that I can't help but laugh because he goes from a huge grin to looking like he wants to punch something. He really liked these toys and he would mock the expression of the toy which was absolutely adorable.