Mommy, I'm Driving the Car! This Toy Puts Your Toddler Behind the Wheel
Written: Aug 11 '09 (Updated Aug 12 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: * Mimics driving
* Can control mini car like video game
Cons: * Only buttons on instrument panel
* Novelty wore off quickly
The Bottom Line: Depending on your child's affinity for driving, this simulation driving toy could be very popular.
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| smiles33's Full Review: Discovery Exclusive Steering Wheel |
My now 3 year old daughter went through a phase almost a year ago where she liked to climb into the front seat of the car and pretend to drive. After we arrived home and I unbuckled her car seat harness belt, she'd climb into the front of the car and settle in the driver's seat. With a huge grin on her face, she'd try to turn the steering wheel and would push any buttons she could find. Yes, she always managed to turn on the hazard lights (though thankfully the other buttons are disabled when the engine is off).
Given her fascination with my car, I was always a bit concerned she might manage to somehow hurt herself. While my Nissan Altima (and most newer cars) cannot shift from park to a gear without stepping on the brake, nor can the emergency brake be disengaged by a 30+ pound toddler, I still harbored some fears. Thus, it was a nice surprise to discover that there are some fancy toys that can help your toddlers feel like a grown-up driver without the potential danger of letting her play in a real car.
Discovery Channel's Exclusive Steering Wheel is a toy that has a transmission shifter, buttons that simulate car noises (like the engine revving, a car horn, and police sirens), and even a mini car driving game that responds to the steering wheel. In short, it's a simulation toy that enable your toddler to pretend to drive. This toy seems to be discontinued, as I couldn't find an active listing for it. However, it looks identical to International Plaything's Little Roadster in all aspects other than the color scheme.
About the Toy
First, I should make it clear that this isn't necessarily best used as a toy to play with in the car. It's not super heavy, but at 2.5 pounds, it definitely could be a painful projectile in a car accident so I'd advise keeping it at home.
It measures 11.5" x 5" depth. One could bring it in the stroller as it's not too unwieldy, but my daughter refused to go into her stroller well before we received this toy so we never tried using it there.
The steering wheel itself is a bright neon green color. It has a contrasting aqua blue base and aqua blue bumps on the wheel at the side positions where your toddler holds the wheel (unless she likes driving with her hands at the 6 o'clock position). Those bumps are only on the top surface of the steering wheel, though, so only toddler thumbs will get the benefit of them. Even my adult hands are too small for my other 4 fingers to wrap around enough to touch the bumps when steering. I chalk it up to the manufacturer not feeling it was worth the cost to put bumps on the underside of the wheel. When I pick this toy up to put it away, I can then feel the bumps with my other fingers and they provide a nice gripping surface.
In the middle of the steering wheel are 5 orange buttons (each with a different icon) surrounding a large sky blue button with a horn icon. The icons on the orange buttons, arranged in a semi-circle above the horn, are a musical note (representing the radio station), a firetruck, an ambulance, a police car and a second radio station which has two musical notes.
Below these buttons are the ignition switch/key. To turn it on, turn the ignition switch a quarter turn to the Start position. The engine will immediately rev up. To turn it off and save your batteries, simply turn it back to the left. They wisely chose to not make it a key that could be removed. At this target age, any key would quickly be lost, rendering this toy useless.
To the right of the ignition is a transmission shifter. It sits in neutral and be pushed up towards R or down to D. The shifter slides into the other positions and controls the mini car. Push it to N and the car stops. When it's in R, it beeps as the mini car goes backwards. Try to keep it in D, as the beeping gets annoying fast.
Now, it's time to explain the mini car game. Unlike the driving simulation video games I grew up with (remember Spy Hunter on the Nintendo?), this is a low tech game. There is a tiny plastic yellow car (1/2" big or so?) that moves left or right as your child turns the steering wheel. Even with the ignition off. you can turn the wheel and watch the car move. However, turning the ignition on means the background street scrolls down (or up if you have the transmission in Reverse) and you can steer your mini car along the curvy road. Plus, having the ignition on enables all the noisy buttons to work.
Note that there is no turn signal bar to switch on and off. Instead the two orange turn signal lights will light up if you turn the steering wheel all the way to the left/right.
This requires 3 AA batteries but you can still play with just the wheel itself and watch the mini car move without batteries.
Our Experience
My cousin gave us this toy when her two boys outgrew it so it's at least 3 or 4 years old. I didn't get a chance to ask her whether the boys truly enjoyed the toy, but it looks in remarkably good condition given the fact that two boys have played with it. Thus, I'd rate its durability quite high unless they actually never played with it!
At the time we received this hand-me-down toy, my older daughter was about two and a half. She squealed with delight the first time she played with it. She loved pushing all the buttons and turning the wheel left and right. Yet she never really understood that turning the wheel controlled the mini car on the screen. I demonstrated it to her several times but it just didn't click for her.
I was disappointed that the toy's instrument panel didn't have more variety to mimic what we see in real cars, like a turn signal bar, a toggle button for hazard lights, and a knob to turn headlights on/off. If you're going to make a simulation toy, why not include some more realistic features rather than just using regular push buttons that all the toys have?
Another minor annoyance is that my daughter might turn the wheel all the way to one side, activating the turn signal blinkers (and its accompanying loud dinging!) and then run off to another toy. The turn signal sound continues as long as the wheel is turned in that direction, so I'd have to walk over and turn it back to the middle and the turn off the ignition myself.
We discovered that the toy lost its novelty rather quickly. We left it on the bottom shelf of her bookcase so she could easily access it, but after a month or so of weekly play, she ignored it. When she came home from pre-school today and saw it on the couch (as I had pulled it out to review it), she played with it for about 5 minutes before running off (once again leaving it in the position that activates the turn signal).
Final Thoughts
For $25-$30 (assuming it's similarly priced as the nearly identical Little Roadster toy), I think this simulation driving toy is a pricey one. I'm not quite sure it's worth the investment unless you know your child is really into cars. Even then, it may lose its novelty within the first month and be quickly forgotten, like it has in our household. Thus, while I still decided to recommend it, I gave it an average 3 star rating, deducting 1 star for its limited staying power (based just on my daughter's experience) and 1 star for its lack of a more creative instrument panel.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): gift
Type of Toy: Other
Age Range of Child: 12 to 36 Months
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