Long established Galt Toys have teamed up with long established parenting expert Dr Miriam Stoppard to introduce a new range of developmental toys for baby. Each toy has been developed by Dr Miriam to encourage learning through play. There’s a whole host of different toys to choose from in the range to see baby through his first year – a good selection of plastic, wooden or soft!
What is it?
In the package we received from Galt Toys was ‘First Vehicles’ (£14.99) aimed at babies 6m+. Three large chunky plastic cars in bright, bold colours, that can be linked together. The developmental aim of this set of toys is:
“For baby to grip and push along, encouraging manual dexterity while having fun.”
As with all the toys in this range, a play guide written by Dr Miriam is included with tips on how to play with the toy in the most beneficial way while having fun!
What did mummy think?
Initially I was a little disappointed….I didn’t feel as though it was really anything new or different. Aesthetically they are a nice simple design (I like the sleek look of the yellow car, but the truck could have been a bit more interesting..), and size-wise the vehicles are perfect for little hands, very sturdy and hard-wearing – nothing is going to fall off here! Even with the baby using them as hand roller-skates they still glided along smoothly! Despite all these good points I still can’t honestly say I would happily pay full price for them…
I also found the ‘play guide’ a bit bizarre – it advises you on what to say to your child as you play together (“Look at your lovely RED car..” etc) – do parents really need that kind of pointer..??…
We gave it a go none-the-less, but it did seem a little forced and unnatural. If you play with your kids its all words and you can’t help but say as you play anyway.
What did the babies think?
I was surprised that Happiness, who has just turned 11 months, took some time before getting involved. The cars just didn’t seem to catch his eye and frustratingly he showed little interest. Even with me playing with them and waving them in his direction he would just wander off the other way in search of a flip-flop or TV remote; his toys of choice!
But I have found that with him having older brothers he does tend to detour towards their toys, leaving his own ignored. So it did make me smile that as soon as car mad big brother Roo (aged 2 and a half) had away with them, Happiness soon perked up and got stuck in! The boys played really nicely with the cars, Roo discovered that they make good garden toys too, and this past week they have accompanied us on many a trip to the playground and park where they have withstood driving through mud, whizzing down slides and crashing around.
It showed that there is possible longevity with these motors, you could certainly get a few years of play out of them!
Overall 8/10
I have always found with my babies, simpler tends to work better – it’s nice to have toys which aren’t all bells and whistles (less to go wrong) and that leaves play more to the imagination. You can’t go wrong with cars – whats not to like?…apart from the price perhaps….
Do you have these? What do you think of them? Do you feel they are value for money?
For more information on who traditional toys can help developmental play, there is a Web TV show being broadcast tomorrow at 11am with Dr Miriam on this very topic: Educational Toy Masterclass. You can submit a question about traditional play, and your question may very well get coverage on the show.
We were sent the cars for the purposes of this review, but all opinions are our own. This post contains affiliate links.
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine! Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time. KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10. It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania. Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on. Get in touch TODAY!
Stacy
Tuesday 15th of October 2013
Simple is always better. I'd rather let a child get creative than just "amuse" him or her with flashy, hi-tech toys.