Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Learning Phone; "Hello? This Toy's for You!"
Written: Jan 05 '05 (Updated Jan 22 '05)
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Pros: Educational - numbers/letters/music; realistic yet colorful/fun; babies love phones!
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: Babies are fascinated by phones - reclaim yours with the Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Learning Phone!
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| krissingene's Full Review: Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Learning Phone |
Any parent will attest to the fact that babies will invariably ignore expensive educational toys in favor of random everyday objects. Pots and pans are timeless baby favorites, although in today's more technologically advanced society, I dare say many babies love playing with my daughter's two favorite toys - the remote control and the telephone.
The light-up display and beeping noise whenever buttons are pushed have made our cordless and mobile phones a favorite for many months now. To date, Rachael has called her grandpa, her aunt, and even left a message on our home voice mail while playing with a phone. Since she was already so adept at dialing, we thought perhaps it was time for her to have her own, and made the recommendation to Santa (a.k.a. my stepsister) several months ago. Christmas came and went and, along with several other toys from the Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn line, Rachael had a new telephone of her very own waiting beneath the tree.
~* "Hello?" *~
Like the other Laugh & Learn toys (except for the oversized home), the Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Learning Phone is packaged in a cardboard box with a velcro flap in front so that parents and children can preview the toy prior to purchase. It is available in toy stores and mass merchandisers (WalMart, Target, etc.) for about $13, and recommended for children aged 6-36 months.
After removing the toy from its cardboard backing (by way of many stubborn twist-ties) and removing the thin strip that deactivates the demo mode, this little phone is ready to play. Three AAA batteries are included (woohoo!) - when they're ready to be changed, you'll need a Phillips screwdriver to remove the hard plastic battery cover located on the back side of the phone.
The phone itself measures about 8" tall and loosely resembles a little person. Most narrow at the top, the rounded display screen suggests the phone's 'head', two small red arms rest at the sides of a larger rounded 'belly' area, and the wide base features a red 'foot' on either side of the phone. The speaker is located at the top of the phone just above the display screen, and a small yellow oval-shaped antenna with a smiles at the top right. According to the packaging, this phone is designed to be sturdy, easy to hold, and stand on its own, all of which we've found to be true thus far.
The display screen takes up most of the 'head' area of the phone, measuring about 3" wide and 2" tall. It is easily noticeable even before turning on the toy that the display is comprised of twenty-five dots in a square grid - these dots will later light up to form letters, numbers, and other patterns.
Beneath the display screen are three mode buttons - ABC to put the phone in alphabet mode, 123 for numbers, and one button depicting music notes for music mode. A mostly traditional keypad fills the roundest part of the phone, laid out the same as any other telephone but with a bigger, elongated '0' key at the bottom.
The on/off switch is located on the left side of the phone, near the top - O for off, and a filled-in circle for on positions.
~* "Who's There?" *~
When the phone is first turned on, it rings twice, displaying a square pattern on the screen - this pattern changes into an animated face that says "Hello?" If left alone for a few seconds (at any time, not just after switching it on), the phone will ring two more times, and the face says "bye-bye!" After about ten seconds of inactivity, the phone turns itself off in order to preserve battery life.
The Learning Phone's default setting is number mode, although you may select the preferred mode by pressing the appropriate button beneath the display screen. (Of course, younger users such as my 11-month-old will change modes frequently during play whether they mean to or not...) Here's a rundown of what you can expect in each mode.
--- ALPHABET MODE ---
"It's ABC time!", the smiley face says when this mode button is pressed. As with real phones, each of the blue, green and orange number buttons on the keypad feature a series of letters beneath the number - unlike a real phone, the letters begin with number 1 and Q and X are included. When a button is pressed, the three letters on that key (or two letters, in the case of 9, which has only Y and Z) appear one at a time on the display screen while a lady's voice calls each one by name. The letters are very large and easy to read, especially considering they're formed by a series of green dots.
Since the 0 key does not have any letters, it functions slightly differently. It will, when pressed, say a variety of phone phrases ("I love you!", "See ya later!", "It's for you!", etc.) and, in its longest mode, play the entire alphabet song. During the song, the letters of the alphabet flash across the display; once through all the letters, music notes dance across the screen until the tune's end.
--- NUMBER MODE ---
"It's 123 time!" Well, of course it is! Not surprisingly, when the buttons are pressed in this mode, the appropriate number is announced and appears on the display screen, followed by a short (2-3 second melody) during which random patterns move across the screen.
As in the alphabet mode, the 0 key produces random telephone phrases, as well as a song - this time "Ten Little Indians". During play, the numbers flash across the screen at the appropriate place in the song, with bouncing patterns filling in where the rest of the words should go. This song appears to be my daughter's favorite, and I love that it's tempo is just right that I can sing along. Oh wait, did I just admit that...?
--- MUSIC MODE ---
Guess what? That's right - "it's music time!" In this mode, each key plays a brief melody. I recognize "Mary Had A Little Lamb" on number 2, a classical number on 3, that circus theme on 4, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" on 7, and another classical tune on 8 - maybe someone else will recognize the other four songs!
The 0 key, along with the same comments as mentioned above, also plays "Pop! Goes the Weasel" while a series of lines bounces around the screen.
~* "It's For You!" *~
Aside from the obvious educational elements - teaching numbers and letters - the packaging claims that the Learning Phone is beneficial in several other ways as well, such as helping baby to make connections between words and images and encouraging baby to understand cause and effect.
Because the telephone is an everyday object in most homes, this toy may also encourage baby in early roleplaying efforts, introduce him or her to the give-and-take interaction of normal conversation and "invite baby to learn through singing and playing."
Several tips for play are also offered on one side of the toy's box and are as follows:
Use the Learning Phone to encourage "conversation" and enhance developing language skills.
* Hold the phone to your ear and pretend to call your baby. "Hello, (baby's name)!"
* Hand the phone to baby, repeat your greeting and wait for baby to respond.
* Continue this pattern, advancing to longer conversations of two or three sentences.
* Use your child's name frequently, along with other familiar words.
~* "I Love You!" *~
Need I tell you, based on her love for the real phone, how much my little girl loves her Learning Phone? Maybe I do - you see, this wasn't the only play phone she received this holiday season. And the first one she got her hands on, which was much less realistic than this one, she didn't care for much at all. Sure, she enjoyed flipping the mouthpiece portion open and closed, but quickly lost interest - whereas her Learning Phone has quickly moved up the ranks to become one of her very favorite toys. It's easy enough for her to hold, although -because of it's chunkiness - somewhat more difficult for her to maneuver around to her ear than a real phone. The brightly colored buttons attract her attention and are easy to press, and she loves watching the face appear on the display screen. As the ultimate toddler compliment, she has even on occasion chosen this telephone over it's real-life counterpart.
I, of course, appreciate the educational value of this toy, as well as the other toys in the Laugh & Learn product line. (I might throw in here that there's an oval telephone holder on the base of the Laugh & Learn Home that the phone fits inside perfectly.) The one parenting no-no evident on this toy is a lack of volume control - however, the sound is quietly but perfectly audible when holding the phone in front of you and, when put to your ear, the volume is only slightly higher than a real voice on the other end of the line and is no threat to baby's hearing.
Because of all the internal workings, this toy should never be immersed in water, but is easily cleaned with a damp cloth. (I've found a cotton swab the perfect size to remove dried food from between the keys...)
~* "Bye-bye!" *~
For more information, visit Fisher-Price online at www.fisher-price.com or call 1-800-432-KIDS (1-800-432-5437).
Other toys in the Laugh & Learn line of products include the Learning Home, Learning Table, Learning Puppy, and Learning Birdbath.
~* Also by Fisher-Price *~
Cradle Swing B0639 * Deluxe Take-Along Swing * Kick 'N Play Piano * Link-a-doos On-the-Go Goldfish * Link-a-doos Teething Ring * Ocean Wonders Aquarium * Ocean Wonders Aquarium Bouncer * Peek-a-Blocks Barnyard Friends Blocks * Sesame Street Light-Up Pet Pals: Ernie * Sparkling Symphony Twinkle Dancer * Swim 'n Spin Fish Rattle
Thanks to sblaydes for adding this toy to the database!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 13
Type of Toy: Baby Toy
Age Range of Child: 12 to 36 Months
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Epinions.com ID:
krissingene
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Member: Kristin
Location: Southern VA
Reviews written: 267
Trusted by: 119 members
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The strength of Motherhood is greater than Natural Laws. -Barbara Kingsolver
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