Pogo Stick - Grow to Pro - Fisher-Price has a winner!
Written: Aug 26 '09
Product Rating:
Durability:
Pros: Good construction, wide feet pedals, softer handles, good wide base to start
Cons: Non really, it's durable, takes the abuse quite well, has heavy duty spring inside!
The Bottom Line: Very nice pogo stick for the beginner. It will get your children outside, trying something new and it can convert to a harder toy when they get older!
Magick1's Full Review: Fisher-Price Grow To Pro Pogo
My daughter had been wanting a pogo stick for the longest time. I was always concerned though, because she just did not seem to have the best balance because she did not concentrate. She moves onto the next item or task before truly balancing on anything (Razor scooter, her own feet in karate, and walking sometimes).
When we suggested this as a birthday gift to the grandparents, we weren't sure how it would work. We had seen these in the stores, lifted it up and read the information on the box, but seeing them in action is a totally different thing!
The Product
When you take the product out of the box, it's ready to rock and roll, thus, making your child happier because they can begin using it more quickly!
It feels amazingly sturdy, heavy duty and big enough for the "little" ones to be able to use it. By little ones, I recommend, as do the manufacturers, that the child be 5 years or old and no more than 60 pounds.
The plastic surrounding the pogo stick made me a touch leery, but I am finding this is pretty heavy duty stuff. The "beginner base" as they call it, fits a nice circle around the actual pogo stick giving the child a really nice, wider bouncing platform, if you will. The plastic base has a nice bumper ring on the bottom to provide some traction, it's not just the plain plastic hitting the cement on your driveway or sidewalk. If this gets worn out, you can order replacement base bumper rings to change them out. They are attached with 8 phillips screws. It's simple to change and put a new one on the base!
The center pogo stick "pad" if you will is covered with a center bumper. This is fixed with 4 screws. If the bumper gets worn, it too can be replaced!
The only real maintenance they recommend, besides changing the bumpers is using a little lubricant along the stick indents (the bottom of the foot holds where the actual foot holds are located). They say that you should do this, let it sit about 5 minutes and it's ready to go again.
Springy action is what you will have with this pogo stick. Initially, my daughter wasn't sure how to get on and jump. We stood by her and helped her get onto the pogo stick and kept our arms around her, but not on her, if that make sense. She would try to jump and just couldn't get it to move more than a 1/4 of a inch. The spring was super strong and it takes a LOT of force to get it moving.
Initially, we actually had to help her bounce by holding the pogo stick and helping her when she bounced downward. But she learned quickly and doesn't fall off within the first couple of bounces now. She can get that baby springing up now roughly 20 times in a row without losing her balance or with a helper! She's a big kid now!
The instructions provided make it look really easy to remove the beginner base and move to just the pogo stick itself. There are 4 screws, 2 retainers that fit between the pogo stick and the beginner base and you push it off. Sounds simple. We haven't done this yet, but possibly in the near future!
Overall Impressions
I was pleasantly surprised by this. I though the plastic ring around the base would shatter upon crazy bouncing by a then 5 year old child on concrete. But, even now about 1 1/2 years later, it's still holding up strong. My daughter just got the hang of it this year to do it by herself and is bouncing it all over the driveway! I am not sure when we will take the ring off the bottom, as she still does have a touch of balancing issues. With a nice wide ring, it's not terribly bad. With the little pogo pad only, might be another story!
The pogo stick is heavy duty, holds up well and gives my child a challenge. She is always trying to beat her own record to call her grandparents to report how high she counted before she plopped over, losing her balance! We always have a helmet on her and elbow pads, but fortunatley, she hasn't fallen completely down. She catchers herself with her feet and jumps right back on the pogo stick.
It has a bit higher step up that I thought it would, but that helps with the bigger base around the bottom, I think. And the feet pedals are wider and give a good deal of space for the child to get their feet on comfortably and not miss the pedals when they first jump onto the pogo stick.
The handles are a softer plastic to give the children a good hand grip so the pogo stick won't fly out of their hands.
Overall, this is a great pogo stick for the beinning popo stick child. I was impressed the way it has held together, as initialy I worried about the plastic base being quickly broken. But, it's proven me wrong. It doesn't even really show a lot of wear and tear on the base bumper even though it is used on a rough concrete driveway!
If you have a child that's 5 or older and they like a challenge, this might be an excellent toy to give them to bounce out that energy they have! It's great exercise, fun and a wonderful challenge!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): Gift Type of Toy: Other
Age Range of Child: 6 to 8 Years
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