Customer Reviews

Tiny Love Developlay Activity Center

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

My son loved his Tiny Love mobile, and I thought the activity center would be a nice replacement when he grew out of it at 5 months.

Well, not so much. The supposedly simple side for younger babies features a musical smiley face button and a squeaker that require LOTS of force to make them work. My son is now 7 months old and he still can't operate them. (But he CAN use the little squeaker on the other side!) The knocker with the rattle also needs a lot of force, and even if you do manage to move it, it hardly produces any sound as it only moves a fraction of an inch. The two spinners are great and he loves those, but you can get those on any activity center. The unit is quite tall, and so far, whether lying in his playpen or sitting on the floor, he can only reach these bottom two toys.

On the other side, the toy that pops out and giggles is a lovely idea but we just can't get that door close and STAY closed. I went to a store and tried every one on the shelf and they all had the same problem. So he can't play with that feature either, really. And you need to move the lever for the spinner just so, at the right speed and with the right amount of force if you want the disc to spin.

Then, most disappointing of all, there's the music. The horrible, frenetic, tinny, nasty music that was such a shock after having the Symphony in Motion mobile. It sounded so bad that I was sure the batteries had run down, but even after replacing them it sounds the same - cheap and incredibly irritating. As did all the other models in the toy store.

On the plus side, the toy is really solid, made of good quality plastic, and the colours and the design are lovely and bright and attractive.

It's outrageously expensive - I live in Europe so we paid about $75 for it - especially considering most of the activities are useless. I'm quite annoyed that poor old Grandad shelled out so much money for it, and didn't keep the receipt. We actually get more fun out of the old FP activity center we bought on ebay for a couple of dollars to keep at Grandma's. Lesson learned - new and expensive isn't always best!

My wife bought this Activity Center because we love the Tiny Love toys, and with this one we were not disappointed. Our son plays on this for hours, both sides. We were somewhat disappointed that more than just two songs are available, and after time, you will be humming them in your sleep. The only concern I had with this toy was the two small yellow plastic loopholes on the bottom of the toy. While flipping it over, hung or not on his pack and play, one of my son's fingers would get stuck in the hole and he could not figure how to remove it - tight fit. He would then panic and bend his finger back, causing him to cry out in pain or distress. I removed the loops and filed them down so this would not happen again. Not sure why they are there. Despite this, this is a great toy.

We've received this toy as a gift from our friends and i liked the idea of 2 sides (is like having 2 new toys at once). But then, when we tried playing with it i didn't like several things:
1) side 1
- has a really hard to squeak thing,
- hard to pull hammer
- pretty far located smiley face so the baby playing with it as an activity table (not crib mounted) won't easily reach and press it
- smiley face could have more than 1 melody playing
It results in that side having only 3 things to play for the baby at 6-8 months: spinning flower, spinning ball and a mirror

2) side 2
- the most i don't like in this toy (both sides) is the music of those 4 musical instruments buttons. It sounds not like it's a baby toy but like it's some kind of tool to horrify the baby. We have pretty much musical toys and none of them has the music which is soooo unpleasant. My baby just looks at tose buttons as she looks at strangers she doesn't like.
- pop-up thing - could have a better holding door (opens easily) and prettier "animal" inside.
- the squeaky knob on this side is hard to push even for me.

To summarize i'll just say that as for me even 2 sides are not worth the money!

I don't like it at all!

We've had this toy since my daughter was 3 months old & she's now 7 months old. We love it. She loves to push all the different buttons & listen to all the different sounds it makes. It's very colorful! My daughter will sit in her crib & play with this toy for a long time after she's woke up from a nap or in the morning. It's wonderful b/c you can hang it on the side of the crib or put it on the floor for her to play with. I would recommend anyone to buy this toy.

I bought this for my son about 3 months. This was the lowest recommended age on the product and he had just moved into his crib. I thought he would love to play with this while he was in there. He didn't, even with my encouragement he would just look at it for a few seconds. Now though at about 8 months he enjoys it. I do like the fact that it grows with him. The first side is for 3-9 months and the second side is for 9 months and up. I love Tiny Love products, but they may need to adjust the age on this one to 6 months and up.

I purchased this item for my son about 2 weeks ago (he's 7 months old) and attached it to his crib. Boy, does he go to town on this thing...he'll look at himself in the mirror, spin the ball and press the smiley face. When he seems to get bored with it, all I have to do is reverse the sides and let him play to his glory again! The other good thing is that it can be used in or out of the crib!

I bought this toy for my Infant Room at my Daycare. THE CHILDREN ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! The great thing is that it's two sided, so it's like getting two toys in one. There is SO many different little gadgets and things to move and hear. My favorite it the classical music buttons you can push to hear the different music (violin, piano, etc.) My children (ages 6 months to 13 months) just love this toy and play with it ALL DAY every day! I highly recommend it to anyone with a baby any age.

My son has had this since 4 months old, and is now 13 months. When he started, he could barely make the little striped ball spin, then gradually figured out how to scare himself with the hammer (but kept pulling at it anyway), and now he is getting interested in how the musical buttons work. It has activities appropriate for many levels of development-- he went through periods of boredom with it but as with many other toys, he would reach a new stage of development and then suddenly "get" how to use one of the features.


Some suggestions on how to get more enjoyment out of it:
1. Make sure you read the instructions on how to hang it correctly from the straps-- it is actually not intuitive.
2. If your child is too feeble and young to operate some of the switches or knobs with hands, try let them have a shot operating it with their feet!
3. At one point of development, my son enjoyed it the most when I pulled off the feet it stands on and let him play with them.
4. I started out with him in my lap, holding the toy in front of him, and demonstrating how it worked.
5. You don't have to wait until the baby is 9 months old to play with the green side. Even small babies enjoy operating the clicky switches with their feet.

My baby girl absolutely loved this toy! We gave it to her when she was 4 1/2 months old and she immediately figured out the spinner and pull-hammer. My only complaint would be that now she is too old for the beginner side but gets frustrated with the advanced side. But the on/off switch is a BIG plus in the age of all toys having lights and sounds and it hooks onto the siderail of the crib or sits on her legs very easily!

My son got this as a gift when he was 4 mths. He had absolutely no interest in it whatsoever.I was a little upset since I thought it was a neat toy. Boy oh!boy...now that he is older (18 mths) he is in utmost love with this toy!!!! He loves the music...and all. Both sides fascinate him equally! I would not recommend this toy for kids younger than 9 mths because some buttons are quite hard to operate... a good toy overall!