Yet another review on this thing
Written: Dec 29 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Encourages babies to walk; keeps the little nippers busy
Cons: Hard to steer
The Bottom Line: Get it if you have a baby. It's durable, entertaining and will encourage little tykes to walk.
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| HawgWyld's Full Review: Activity Walker |
Indeed, here's the last thing needed at Epinions -- another review on the Fisher Price Activity Walker. I do believe it's sufficient to say to run out and buy this thing. You'll be glad you did.
My one-year-old daughter got this for Christmas. She's flirting with the idea of walking in that she stands just fine, takes a step or two on her own from time to time and loves to walk while holding someone's hand. However, getting her to walk on her own on a regular basis is another matter. This toy seems to encourage her to trust her unsure legs a bit more, as she tends to let it go and stand up without complaint. That, alone, makes this toy worthwhile -- it encourages kids to build up strength in their legs and get a good look at the world from the "walking position."
Essentially, this toy is an activity board with four wheels and a handle. The toy, then, is rather like a very stable cart that children can push all over the house. And, believe me, they will push it all over the place. They'll chase dogs with it and run it over the feet of their parents. Fortunately, the toy is light enough so there's not just a whole lot of pain associated with having my child smack it against my leg.
On the subject of pushing, the only real drawback with this toy has to do with the steering. It goes in straight lines very well, but a child with little experience will have trouble negotiating curves. This is a true problem because infants, by definition, have very little experience with anything other than crying, conning special treatment out of their parents and eating. So, my daughter has run this into walls several times, but she's getting better about learning how to back up and steer it a bit. Still, she was frustrated at first, and that typically leads to a crying fit.
The activity board portion, while secondary to the function of this toy, is quite good. There's a rotary phone dial, a mirror, some plastic thingies (that's a technical term) to flip and some beads to push around. My daughter loves to sit in front of this and play with the activity board. When she's doing that, she's happy and quiet. That's all good, as far as I'm concerned.
It's also important to point out the stability of this unit. My daughter finds it hard to turn this over, so we don't worry about her falling when playing with this. That's because the four wheels on it are large and spread apart for stability. As far as I'm concerned, a push or ride-on toy for children isn't worth a damn if it's easy for them to knock it over and fall. Fisher Price, obviously, knows that parents are concerned about such things and design items accordingly.
The handle on it, too, is well-designed. It's large and easy for small hands to grip.
The item seems pretty durable, too. Once again, Fisher Price's experience with designing toys for children is evident in this toy. The pieces on the activity board are well-secured, and the whole thing is made with a very durable plastic.
All in all, this is one of those toys that is fantastic for babies. They can drag it along with them pretty easily, and the whole thing is bright and colorful enough to attract the attention of a youngster. They sell for around $20, and that's not a bad price for such an entertaining, useful and durable toy.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): gift
Type of Toy: Baby Toy
Age Range of Child: 12 to 36 Months
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Epinions.com ID:
HawgWyld
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 - Top 200 |
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Member: Ethan C. Nobles
Location: Benton, Ark.
Reviews written: 1433
Trusted by: 495 members
About Me:
The oxen are slow, but the earth is patient.
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