Toy Review: My Pals Scout and Violet

I have mixed feelings about children's toys that play music or make sounds at the push of a button. The biggest plus is that the sounds draw the kids in. The biggest minus is that hearing the same sounds and/or songs over and over again will make the parents die a little inside. So if you're going to get a toy that could potentially drive you crazy, I recommend the My Pal doggies from LeapFrog.

My Pals Scout and Violet, image from LeapFrog.com

There are two options—the green puppy named Scout and the purple puppy named Violet. They are sold separately, but I have one of each because I have a boy/girl set of fraternal twins.

Made by: LeapFrog
Recommended age: 6–36 months
Warning for parents: You may find yourself singing along to all of the songs whether you want to or not.

One thing I appreciate about these two options is that Scout is typically for boys and Violet is typically for girls, but they don't have to be. The neat features that come with this toy can be set up for either gender on either toy.

Breaking Bad gif, thanks Tumblr

Say My Name.

That super neat feature is that the My Pals can be hooked up to your computer or mobile device and programed to say your child's name, which is incorporated into songs they sing and things they say. You even have the option to have the toy spell out your child's name in a song.





PROS:

• Has three separate sound buttons on the paws (the fourth is to turn it on/off)
• There is a pretty good variety of sounds and songs, so you'll tire of them way less quickly than many other toys with sound that I've heard
• Program your child's name into the toy
• I especially love that the My Pal will spell out the name in song
• Can also program your child's favorite animal, color and food, which is also incorporated into things that the My Pal says and sings
• Obviously, it's a little hard to get these favorites out of someone who can't speak yet, but you can always change it later as they contradict your initial best guess
• The collar with the name lights up, which captures your child's attention even more
• It's still a stuffed animal, and even though I wouldn't recommend you leave it in their cribs...
• Soft and light enough for kids to handle
• Safe when they drop it
• They can snuggle it and give it kisses
• Things with sounds keep the kids occupied
• Things with music can make your kids dance
• The night songs feature on the foot will sing your children to sleep
• Can be set for five, ten or fifteen minutes and will shut off automatically

I recommend watching the video provided by LeapFrog. You can even hear what My Pal sounds like (Scout and Violet have the same voice, which, as my husband pointed out, bears a striking resemblance to the voice of Aang (Zach Tyler) from the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender).

CONS:

Grinch gif, courtesy of Tumblr

• The Grinch put it best when he spoke of all that Noise! Noise! Noise! Noise!
• The pause before My Pal says the child's name is a little awkward (you can hear it in the LeapFrog video)
• Counter-con: this, however, is not a surprise and is even kind of funny, especially when you start singing along with the awkward pause
• Children's names can be limited and unusual ones may not be available
• My daughter's name, Winry, for instance was not available, but her nickname, Winnie was
• Counter-con: I could still have the My Pal spell out W-I-N-R-Y for the song
• Counter-con: you can always use a term of endearment that is available like Sweetie

To Prevent Grinchy Noise! Syndrome:

Make it a sometimes toy and/or nighttime song toy.

After we first got the My Pals, we let the kids have complete access to them during playtime, which meant we heard the My Pals a lot. When it started becoming a little too much NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! I put the My Pals up next to their changing pad.

Henry plays with Scout on the changing pad

This was a great alternative because then they could play with it in shorter bursts for my sanity, and it would captivate them while I changed them—so much less sitting up or rolling over while extracting a poopy diaper (at 14 months, they can otherwise easily sit up and roll over).

I almost always use the nighttime songs when they take a nap or go to bed too. It's great to have song mechanisms these days that turn off automatically on their own.


More Babies with My Pals!

Winry and Henry with Violet and Scout

Buttons easy to push for tiny fingers

Henry looks down on Scout, in a good way

Light enough for easy baby-lifting

Winry lights up Violet's collar while Henry snuggle-tackles Scout

Henry has got some sloppy kisses for Scout... or he is eating him, maybe?

Winry grooving to the music
... with an oddly serious expression

Toy Review: Tegu Blocks

When a wood block and a magnet love each other very much...

Block Love, image from Amazon

Blocks are always awesome. I dare anyone to think back on their childhood and not find a happy memory with some sort of block-like toy.

And there are so many types: wooden ones, plastic ones, connecting ones, mega- ones—all wonderful. But this time I'm going to endorse the wooden, magnetic connecting ones.

We have two of the 22-Piece Tints Endeavor Block Sets and three of the Green a la Carte Cubes Block Sets (4 blocks per set). However, more and more different sets keep coming out, so the 24-piece set seems to currently be the standard medium-sized set.

24-Piece Set, Tints; image from tegu.com

Made by: Tegu
Recommended age: 1+ year
Added bonus: Blocks help children's brains develop lots good

Haven't you heard that blocks are good for you? NPR recently did a story about wood blocks, mentioning that "early childhood studies have shown that children who play with blocks have better language and cognition skills than control groups" (full story here).

Tegu also has an impressive chart. I don't know about you, but I trust a good-looking chart.

This chart makes me want to help my children be good at stuff, image from tegu.com

I'm also a big fan of any child's toy that is fun for me to play with as well (besides Tegu, Squigz are another great example).

My 13-month-old twins aren't quite ready to use these blocks to build, but as you can see, they enjoy handling them, banging them together, pulling them apart and—inevitably—chewing on them.

PROS:

• Fun for the kids and the adults
• Good for solo play and/or group play (hear that, moms of multiples?)
• Comes in many shapes and colors and various sets
• If people double up on them for gifts, you just think of it as expanding your set
• Smooth wooden surfaces are easy to wipe clean
• It has magnets! ... Magnets are proven to be cool by science!!
• Magnets are strong enough to stick to other metallic surfaces
• Blocks in general make brains good :)
• They'll play with them for many years
• You can feel good about the company you are patronizing (see their Our Story Page)
• Tegu donates towards replanting efforts for trees
• Their factory is in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in efforts to bring world-class employment standards to Central America
• Safe, good quality product
• magnets are deep inside the toys and not accessible
• use non-toxic, water-based lacquers

CONS:

• They're a bit pricey

My advice is to get them from amazon.com or zulily.com when they're on sale. Zulily requires that you sign up in order to view their site, but it won't cost you anything. It's worth it since I've found better sales for Tegu through zulily than anywhere else.

You can even search specifically for the Tegu brand. Then click on the heart, and you'll be notified when it goes on sale.

Toy Review: Squigz

It's hard to know what to buy for infants and toddlers unless you've had an infant or toddler. Even then, toys change so often, and it's hard to know what's really awesome and what's just kinda meh.

I would definitely put Squigz under the awesome column.

Squigz Starter 24 piece set by Fat Brain Toy Co., image from Amazon.com

I was first introduced to them when my adorable, little niece received some for her first birthday. My inner child took one look at them and went, "Ooo—I want."

They are colorful, multi-shaped bits of silicone with suction cup ends. What's fun is that they can stick to each other as well as other surfaces.

Made by: Fat Brain Toys
Recommended age: 3+ years*
Tagline that makes me smile: fun little suckers!

*Since this is a building toy with multiple pieces and takes some coordination and creativity, I assume that is why the manufacturer recommends the age at three and above. I recommend it for one-year-olds and maybe even a little younger. My only warning at this age is to give it to them under supervision so you don't lose the pieces or risk them gagging on it because, yes, they will definitely want to chew them. Everything in the starter set seemed to pass the cardboard tube rule, but there's no harm in being a little extra cautious.

What's included in the starter 24 piece set, image from fatbraintoys.com

My children first started playing with them when they were about one-year-old. They aren't quite ready to start building with them yet, and they haven't quite figured out how to stick them to other surfaces. But they sure love to chew on them and unstick whatever I stick together.

Winry demonstrates the silicone chewiness

PROS:

• Fun for just about any age

  

  Sticks to multiple surfaces (like Henry and me)

• children 3+ years: encourages creativity and fine motor skills
• under 3 years: fun to chew, swing around or pull apart
• adults: I love making abstract shapes for my children to destroy
• Silicone makes it great for teething babies to chew
• Silicone also makes it easy to clean
• I throw mine in a dishwasher basket
• Comes in different set sizes so you can always choose to expand later
• Don't have to worry about more than one person getting it for your child (the more, the merrier)
• Sticks to multiple surfaces
• The tray of the highchair is a great place when mealtime gets a little fussy

This video from the manufacturer makes some great points:

CONS:
Honestly, there really isn't anything of significance. If I were really reaching...

• The Squigz don't always hold together as well as the video makes it seem, but it's still entirely possible to make a big shape without it falling apart
• It's probably easier when babies aren't constantly trying to grab at it

Why it is not a real con: My husband once complained that they're not sturdy enough to make a big structure. To which I responded, "Then you're not building them right."