When my oldest son was born, one of my very favourite things about having a new baby in the house was choosing some fun first toys for him to play with. I was amazed by how much technology was packed into toys to help promote learning as well as play. And ten years later, that’s even more true! From cuddly and interactive stuffed toys to literacy-inspired musical instruments, there are all kinds of ways to encourage little ones to learn as they play!
Recently, VTech Canada sent me a few of its newest toys to check out for myself: the Lil’ Critters Huggable Hippo Teether and the Baby Beats Monkey Drum. I loved the bright colours and designs of the two toys and couldn’t wait to see what made them a great choice for babies.
The Lil’ Critters Huggable Hippo Teether was especially interesting to me since teethers generally have pretty basic designs. That’s certainly not the case with this adorable hippo! In addition to crinkling hands and textured rubber feet for teething, the hippo plays over thirty songs, melodies, sounds and phrases!
I adored the cuddly design of this teether, but my favourite feature was the fact that the electronic tummy of the hippo was removable for easy cleaning. And with an automatic shutoff, there was no worry about constantly replacing the batteries (another frequent annoyance for parents).
While the hippo is designed for birth and upwards, the Baby Beats Monkey Drum is created with slightly older babies in mind. Perfect for babies of three or more months, it features lights, melodies, songs and phrases to help encourage curious little ones to interact with the world around them. The cause and effect design of this drum is especially clever in my opinion, since tapping the drum prompts music, conversation and even movement from the adorable animated monkey. I also liked the extra buttons that helped to teach babies about colours and animals.
If you have a little one in your life that would enjoy some playtime with these great toys, you’re in luck! VTech Canada is very generously offering one lucky Mommy Kat and Kids reader their very own Baby Beats Monkey Drum and Lil’ Critters Huggable Hippo Teether, a $30 total value! To enter to win, just leave a blog comment about which of these two toys you think your little one would like best.
What I love most about these toys is that they can be used from those first few months of life onwards for years of enjoyment. Finding toys for my boys that were safe and appropriate for the early months wasn’t always easy when my boys were younger, but VTech has created some great options for parents like me searching for fun, useful and educational baby toys. Find them at stores across Canada and see which one is your little one’s favourite!
VTech Baby giveaway
we would like the Baby Beats Monkey Drum
My daughter would love the hippo teether
My daughter would love the drum – anything that makes noise is a hit around here (SIGH).
Baby Beats Monkey Drum looks fun and quite special. Kids are getting the best these days!
I think my friend’s son would really like the baby beats monkey drum!!!!!
Thr Baby Beats Monkey Drum is cute my neice would love it
I think J would like the Baby Beats Monkey Drum.
I think the Critters Huggable Hippo Teether would be liked the best.
My daughter saw these at the store this week and liked them both. She really loved the Lil’ Critters Huggable Hippo Teether.
Ours would like the Baby Beats Monkey Drum