Flip ‘n Play Table Parents Magazine “Best Toy of the Year”
Written: Aug 02 '05 (Updated Sep 07 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: ● Developmental
● Progressive learning
● Gender neutral
Cons: ● My son outgrew it :(
The Bottom Line: I am extremely satisfied with the play value and durability of the Flip ‘n Play Table. I definitely recommend this activity table!
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| marybatson's Full Review: Chicco Flip 'N Play Table |
Without a doubt, the Flip ‘n Play Table by Chicco was my son’s favorite “baby” toy! In fact, my boy wasn’t willing to give it up until he was 3-years old. A neighbor was over at our house for my son’s 3rd birthday party, and her infant son was so intrigued with this plaything, I suggested to William that he let the baby borrow it for a while. The baby’s now a toddler, and still loves this table.
The Flip ‘n Play Table is an activity table for babies, and toddlers 12 months to 3 years. It’s completely made of plastic, and is very durable. The toy consists of 22 pieces: 2 leg supports, a bin, a tabletop, and 18 separate accessories. The leg supports are molded to slide into the button of the bin, which house the tabletop. The bin is about 4” deep, and is designed to store all of the accessories. The tabletop measure 13˝” square, and the table is 13” off the ground. The tabletop has two modes of play: building-block mode, and interactive mode. The building-block side has an all green base for building block creations. It’s similar to a Lego base, but on a much larger scale.
Altogether, there are 14 interlocking blocks. They are brightly colored in red, yellow, green, blue, orange, and white. They range in size from 2” round to 4” long, which is nice and chunky for little hands. The blocks vary in shape too: 2 rectangular shapes, 2 triangular shapes, 3 square shapes, 5 circular shapes, and 2 molded blocks with printed features that represent a cat, and a dog. The blocks are easy fitting, and extremely sturdy.
Flip the table over, and it’s an interactive feast for toddler hands, and eyes. The focus of the tabletop is a circular train set that’s placed in the center of the table. It’s a friction-powered track, so you wind it up, and hold down the lever to activate the train. The train can be removed from the track to chug along on the floor as well. In addition to the train set, there are 9 separate activities.
● Telephone without cord
● Rotary dial
● Shape sorter with 3-different shapes, and colors with molded features ABC & 123
● Flipbook with circus theme
● Clock with spinning hands
● Spinning sphere with beads
● Button with 4 different choo choo sounds
● Lever that activates the train
● Flip switch with clickity-clack train sounds
The button the produces railway sounds requires two LR44 batteries; however, in 3-years of play I’ve never replaced the batteries, which were included in the purchase price. As far as I can tell there are no safety concerns with this activity table: strangling, cutting, swallowing, or, sharp edges
Our Experience:
I could probably write pages, and pages about the Flip ‘n Play Table, because it was so well loved, and the developmental qualities are endless. I emphasized the word baby in the first sentence of the review, because I think the age recommendation could easily be altered to 9-months and up. William was 8-months old when he received this table at Christmas, and he needed very little introduction. He played with the spinning sphere with beads, and the clock with spinning hands, because developmentally he wasn’t able to do the other activities. The sphere rattles and makes lots of noise, which always entertains little ones. The phone, and the button that makes choo choo sounds were early favorites too. We didn’t use the leg supports for probably 3-months; because William wasn’t walking yet, and I was concerned he might fall forward. Once he was steady on his feet, the leg support went on and he would stand, or kneel up to the toy. Then, when he started climbing, he’d climb right inside the bin with all the blocks, and play. It was the cutest thing, although, I had to put a stop to that because I wasn’t comfortable with him being 13” off the floor even though we have carpeting. We’d take the legs off the table, and he’d climb in the bin while it rested on the floor. He was just as happy that way, and I didn’t have to worry about him falling.
Once he understood that the lever activated the train, he was in heaven. It makes a loud winding sound, which startled him at first, but then he enjoyed the noise. We’d wind the track time, and time again. At about that time he started playing with the shape sorter too. Unlike other shape sorters, this one requires you sort the shapes properly. There are only three shapes, a circle, a square, and a triangle so it’s rudimentary. I think the last activities that my son was able to do was flip the book, and manipulating the rotary dial. He didn’t stack the blocks for quite some time. He’d play with the blocks, mostly twirl them on the floor, and bang them together. He was almost 2 before he started stacking, and building with the blocks. On his first birthday, I added a supplementary set, the Light ‘N Sound Circus Train, which really added to the play value of this toy. It gave him more blocks to stack, and since there’s no stacking order, the designs are endless.
I’m especially satisfied with the performance of the Flip ‘n Play Table. It’s extremely durable, and easy to care for as well. I’ve placed the bin, the legs, and the blocks in the dishwasher without concern. Due to the mechanisms, the tabletop should be cleaned with a damp cloth. Chicco make exceptional toys that are developmental yet, fun. I highly recommend this plaything, and the Chicco line of products.
Chicco U.S.A. Inc
4E Easy Street, Bound Brook, NJ 08805
Phone: (732) 805-9200 Fax: (732) 805-3376
www.chicco.com/
Additional Chicco Toy Reviews:
Pop-Up Castle
Play Village Farm
Bear Ville Activity Center
Lights 'N Sound Circus Train
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $29.99
Type of Toy: Baby Toy
Age Range of Child: 12 to 36 Months
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marybatson
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Member: Mary
Location: Phoenix
Reviews written: 169
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