Recommended ages: 9+ months
Brendan turned 9 months a couple of weeks ago, perfect timing with the arrival of the Playskool Musical Gear Center. Right out of the box, it held Brendan’s attention for over 20 minutes! And that was before we added the AA batteries (for the music).
At this stage, he mostly enjoys spinning the gears that are up on the arch. Spinning these causes the smiley face to spin, too, which engaged him. He also loves pressing the silly face pedal, which causes the gears on the base to spin as well as plays the music when the switch is on (located under the base). His big sister (3.5 years old) loves to show him how to stack the gears, but that is a bit advanced for him to do at the moment. It’ll be a great activity for him when he gets a little older. It took only a couple days of playing until he started doing the ball slide and drop activity on his own.
I love that this toy holds his attention for at least 10 minutes at a time, and is beginning to teach him the relationship of cause and effect through play. The music is great, too, although I wish there were two volume settings, so I could set it a little lower at times. The music is upbeat and whimsical, with sounds of gears turning and bubbles popping.
Features:
- Lively, child-activated music
- Active ball-drop play
- Spinning gears that spin the silly face
- Gears are stackable
- Ball spins around on the base
- Built in ball storage
- 2 Balls and 5 Gears work with other EXPLORE N’ GROW ball toys
- Requires 2 AA batteries for musical function (not included)
The Playskool Musical Gear Center retails for $24.99 and can be purchased here or on Amazon (it’s currently on sale for $17.97!).
~That’s IT Mommy friends, Heather & Brendan
* WE DID NOT RECEIVE MONETARY COMPENSATION FOR THIS REVIEW. THAT’S IT MOMMY RECEIVED THE MUSICAL GEARS CENTER FREE OF CHARGE TO FACILITATE THIS REVIEW. THIS WILL IN NO WAY SWAY OUR OPINION OF THE PRODUCT OR SERVICE. THE REVIEW IS IN OUR OWN WORDS AND IS OUR OPINION. YOUR RESULTS AND OPINIONS MAY DIFFER.
