Category: Toy Reviews

About Toy Reviews @ BeTwinned

Photo from Playhut.com

by Jane Day Rasmussen

Name: Twist ‘N Fold Big Yellow Bus
Manufacturer: Playhut
Category: Pretend Play
Manufacturer’s Suggested Age Range: 3 years and up
Our tested age range: 1 year – 4 years
Learning Components: Creative Play
Price Value (on a scale of 1 to 4 honeys):

We inherited Playhut’s Big Yellow Bus when my friend’s son outgrew it. It became an instant favorite in our house!

The bus includes a blow-up steering wheel, three side windows, a roll-up flap door, two sunroofs and a tunnel flap for crawl-through play. This toy really inspired imaginative play as we’d go around and pick up our passengers for many different destinations.

The nylon bus sets up instantly with patented EZ Twist Technology – just take it out of the bag, and it literally snaps into place. It is lightweight & portable and can be packed away as easily as it comes out. (It comes with a storage bag; getting it back in takes a little practice.)

Once open, it is plenty roomy: 50 inches tall, 36 inches long, and 25 inches wide – we’ve fit two grandmas, one child and a kitty cat in ours! The bus can be connected to other Playhut Collect ‘N Connect structures – if you have the room in your house. You can spot clean the bus if necessary and allow to air dry.

I bought this for my twin nieces because the dual-area allows for one to drive and the other to ride!

The Big Yellow Bus is a 1999 Parents’ Choice® Approved winner. It retails for about $30 and is worth the money – the toy is virtually indestructible and will provide entertainment for the whole family for a long time. Visit www.playhut.com for all of their other tent contraptions.

Safety Information (from Amazon.com)
“This product uses a spring steel loop that will quickly pop open. Caution must be used in the handling this product. Small children should never be allowed to fold or unfold this product without adult supervision. Discard if steel loop is broken or if this product is damaged. It is not fireproof. The fabric will burn if left in continuous contact with any flame source. Keep all flame and heat sources away from this product. The application of any foreign substance to this product may render the flame resistant properties ineffective. Please thoroughly read instruction sheet before using this product.”

About Toy Reviews @ BeTwinned

The author’s son with his Musical Ice Cream Cart

by Jane Day Rasmussen

Name: Musical Ice Cream Cart
Manufacturer: Playskool
Category: Push Toys
Manufacturer’s Suggested Age Range: n/a
Our tested age range: 1 – 3 years
Learning Components: Cooperative Play, Role Play
Price Value:

Wasn’t this around when we were kids? Maybe that’s the reason this toy immediately caught my eye.

I bought this musical ice cream cart for our son when he was just learning to walk. He loved to practice walking as he pushed the musical ice cream cart around. The cart is very sturdy and helped a lot with his balance when he was just getting started.

He learned to make us ice cream cones and collected money (a.k.a honeys) in return, but mostly he ate the treats for himself — see picture. Even today when I took out the toy again to write this review, he is running around filling the cart with treats to give us (now he’s nearly four years old).

The toy includes two ice cream cones, two different flavored ice cream scoops, two Popsicles and two coins. There are lots of places to store the ice cream – on the moveable arms out front, inside the cart — and the top opens up to reveal a shape sorter for an educational benefit! The coins slide into the money slot on the side, because, of course, nothing is for free! Kids can press a button to play the music – which isn’t too loud, plays lots of different songs, and turns off automatically.

This toy is perfect for twins, because there is two of everything and one can push the cart while the other sells, sells, sells.

Okay, so I’m not sure where you will find this anymore; my attempts to find this anywhere online were unsuccessful, but maybe your local toy store still has some in stock. If you see this at a thrift shop or yard sale, I’d grab it for your little one. It originally cost about $25 and was worth every penny. It takes two AA batteries, which last a really long time (the original ones are still working after 2 years).

About Toy Reviews @ BeTwinned

by Jane Day Rasmussen

Image from www.galttoys.com

Name: Marble Run
Manufacturer: Galt Toys
Category: Building / Construction
Manufacturer’s Suggested Age Range: 4 – 8 years
CAUTION: Not for children under 36 months. Contains small parts (glass marbles).
Our tested age range: 3 – 5 years
Learning Components: Cooperative Play, Cause and Effect
Price Value:

Endless possibilities await the young builder with this set – hours of rolling fun! We liked it so much, we got another set and gave one to my son’s preschool – now it’s a favorite in his classroom too!

The set includes 24 building pieces in primary colors that can be made into all sorts of configurations for rolling marbles. The size of the pieces makes it easy for little hands to put together (and take apart too!) It includes six marbles, but you can always get more, as we did, for added excitement. It is fun to watch the marbles maneuver through the maze and see where they’ll end up!

Multiples can work together to build one big run, or they can share the pieces and build their own.

Just make sure your kids are past the putting-everything-in-their-mouth stage, otherwise this toy would be a nightmare. [See note of caution above.] It was never really a problem with my son, so we started playing with this toy before he was three – he would watch me put together the pieces, and then he would have a blast putting the marbles in and watching them go.

The maker of this toy has other marble runs for older kids that looked pretty neat too. Check out www.galttoys.com.

About Toy Reviews @ BeTwinned

by Jane Day Rasmussen

Photo from www.fisher-price.com

Name: Little People® Animal Sounds Farm™
Manufacturer: Fisher-Price®
Category: Pretend Play
Manufacturer’s Suggested Age Range: 1-5 years
Our tested age range: 6 months – 3 years
Learning Components: Animal Recognition, Creative Play
Price Value/Honeys: (what are Honeys?)

A must-have in every house, the Fisher-Price Little People® Animal Sounds Farm™ does not disappoint!

We started playing with this toy when my son could sit up and grab at the animals. At first we showed him where each of the animals go to make the appropriate sounds, but he soon took over! The animals are just the right size for little hands, and the toy itself is indestructible.

It is a great toy for multiples to share because there are many things to do on the farm. The set includes: Farmer Jed â„¢, a cow, a sheep, a horse, a pig, a chicken, a food cart, a rooster and connectable fence pieces. It does take 3 “AA” batteries, but if you’re like us, you’ve got a stockpile of that sort of thing.

The biggest problem my twin nieces had with this toy was that they loved to carry around the animals – so my sister stocked up on extras of the girls’ favorites that she found on E-Bay. You could probably also contact Fisher-Price and see if they sell replacements, I’ve had good luck doing that with some of their other products.

While we still love this toy, it doesn’t come out much now that our son is almost 4, but when other kids come over – it always gets some play.

Fisher-Price sells lots of great farm accessories to go with this set: the Animal Sounds Stable, Baby Farm Animals, Lil’ Farmers Market and the Animal Sounds Tractor. If you like the farm, Fisher-Price also sells a ton of other Little People play things (like a house, garage, amusement park, ark, castle and zoo).

Check out www.fisher-price.com to see where you can get all the stuff you’re looking for.

About Toy Reviews @ BeTwinned

by Jane Day Rasmussen

Name: Heritage Collection Hand Puppets
Manufacturer: Ganz
Category:Pretend Play
Manufacturer’s Suggested Age Range:none given
Our tested age range: 6 months and up
Learning Components: Motor Skills, Creative Play
Price Value/Honeys: (what are Honeys?)

These puppets are really lots of fun – we started playing with the dog when our son Jake was about a year old. Even now (at 3 ½ years old) he asks almost daily for us to “play doggie.” I loved the toy so much that I bought the pig and cow for my twin nieces when they were about 6 months old.

Puppets provide visual stimulation for infants and encourage parent/child interaction with your toddler. Jake loves to be surprised with whatever antic doggie comes up with next. And if you get bored playing the same thing over and over again, a game of puppets is always a creative venture into the unknown. The twins can also play with each other – or if you’re a really talented parent of multiples – put one on each hand and play away!

The Heritage Collection Puppets by Ganz come in lots of different animals: panda, tiger, pig, dog, cow, monkey, lion, horse, elephant, frog, St. Bernard, alligator and cat. Each one is cuter than the next. I particularly like them because they have the whole body and not just a head. I don’t know why, but it seems better that way.

The puppets are about 11” tall and have moveable arms and head. They are made of a very soft material and wear well. I’ve thrown doggie in the laundry many a time and he comes out looking new. The hand opening is very generous, so even my husband can take a turn (and give me a rest!).

I found these puppets at our local toy store and it seems like there are plenty of places to buy them online too. I don’t want to recommend a site, because I didn’t see any sites that I’ve previously ordered from. The company’s website doesn’t have a lot of information about the puppets, or a way to find out which retailers carry them, but here is the link anyway. They retail for about $10 each – a great bargain in my opinion, so I rated them four honey pots.

Of course if you can’t find these, there are lots of other great puppets out there too – so the main thing I recommend is make sure you have a stock of them in your house!

About Toy Reviews @ BeTwinned

by Jane Day Rasmussen

Photo from Toys to Grow On

Name: Spell-A-Word Alphabet Board
Manufacturer: Lakeshore (sold exclusively online at Toys to Grow On)
Category: Puzzles
Manufacturer’s Suggested Age Range: 4 – 8 years
Our tested age range: 3.5 years and up
Learning Components: Independent Play, Word Building
Price Value/Honeys: (what are Honeys?)

This is an awesome educational toy that is well-made and fun. The large, sturdy board has all the letters for puzzle action, or use it with the stand to slide on the color-coded letters for spelling fun!The cards are sold separately, making the toy a bit pricey, but overall it is worth the money. The cards are double-sided – one side has the picture and the word, and the other side has just the picture for a more advanced speller.

My son, Jake, loves finding objects he wants to spell and then goes to it all on his own (at 3 ½ he still uses the side with the color coded letters!). He feels a real sense of accomplishment by “spelling” the words without any help from mom or dad.

The alphabet board has helped Jake understand that the letters have a bigger meaning and aren’t just for singing the alphabet song. He now sees other words and asks what that spells.

This toy would be great for multiples – they can either work together to spell a word, or take turns with their own spelling bee.

It is sold exclusively online at Toys to Grow On, a family-owned company that strives to provide toys that have an “extraordinary play and educational value.”

With the Spell-A-Word Alphabet Board, they’ve done just that.

About Toy Reviews @ BeTwinned

by Jane Day Rasmussen

Photo from Amazon.com

Name: Thomas & Friends Conductor’s Figure 8 Set
Manufacturer: Learning Curve
Category: Planes/Trains/Automobiles
Manufacturer’s Suggested Age Range: 3 years and up
Our tested age range: 1 year and up
Learning Components: Motor Skills, Independent Play
Price Value/Honeys: (what are Honeys?)

My best friend gave my son, Jake, this Thomas & Friends Conductor’s Figure 8 Set for his first birthday. Thinking Jake was a little young for the concept, I tucked the present away for a rainy day (hint: a practice I’ve continued so new presents miraculously appear throughout the year, and not just at birthdays and the holidays).

What can I say? When we opened the box several months later, it was love at first sight. My son hasn’t been seen without a train in his grip since. This set is a great introductory set for the soon-to-be Thomas enthusiast – or, all you will need to have a great set of trains for your non eat-drink-sleep train guy or gal. I have since given this gift many times over and was thrilled when my twin nieces loved this gift on their second birthday.

The set includes a stone bridge, conductor’s shed, tree, stop sign, signal, Sir Topham Hatt, wooden track, and wooden Thomas, boxcar and caboose. If you are buying this for multiples, I would recommend purchasing some extra trains for more fun – especially if your multiples will need to play with Thomas at the same time.

The quality of the toys is exceptional – the wooden track and trains are nearly indestructible. The track goes together (and stays together) easily, so even the littlest of engineers can maneuver and create their own railroad.

My son loved pushing the trains on the track when he was one year old and now loves to act out the storylines in the videos at the age of three. The twins take turns with the track design – one loves to make circles and the other loves more intricate layouts. Both must have Thomas in their sight, although they are content sharing twin trains Bill and Ben.

Of course, there are tons of accessories to go with the wooden Thomas railway system – visit www.learningcurve.com for the complete list. I will admit, the Thomas craze can get expensive; that is why I only gave it three honey pots out of four.

If you have an A.C. Moore in your area, they have great 20 percent off sales on Thomas stuff pretty regularly, and look out for videos that have a train inside – a great money saver. I’ve also gotten some cool trains and sheds on E-bay. PBS airs Thomas in our area every Sunday morning – so we can get a regular Thomas fix.

There are also other great Thomas products that are not compatible with the wooden railway system – Thomas Take Along (smaller, plastic track, and less expensive version of a great theme) and a battery-operated set that runs a blue plastic track made by Tomy. My son and twin nieces love these as well.

This set has won several parenting awards, and I’d be remiss not to mention them:
In 2003 – Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine, Teachers’ Picks “Top 10 Toys of the Last 10 Years”; and in 2002 it won the prestigious Parents’ Choice Award. A similar item, the Water Tower Figure 8 set won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, Gold Seal in 2004.

Overall, an excellent toy choice and guaranteed to pay for itself with hours and hours of fun. All aboard!