As you've already read in my ranting about the Leap Frog Learning Drum, I don't like toys billed as "educational." All the Learning Drum did was have Aidan hit the drum (anywhere on the drum... even the bottom) to go through the ABCs or 123s. I've made it clear that I could do that with flashcards -- you don't need a $20 toy to accomplish that. Some people have taken that to mean I am completely anti-battery -- an electronic-nazi, if you will. To that I say, psh. I don't like toys that replace ordinary things (like pots and pans) with something electronic (and more costly) and call it a "learning" toy... but electronic toys as a whole aren't completely evil.

Like this Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Toolbench. Though Fisher-Price is guilty of falling into the trap of calling everything they make a "learning" toy, I won't really hold that against them. Much.

Product Information

I found this toolbench at Toys R Us for the cool price of $19.99. It's a smaller toy -- probably around 12" long by 5" in width.. and it's light enough for my 10-month old to pick up and drop repeatedly. The recommended age for this is 6 - 36 months -- I got it at around 8 and it has been a favorite toy since then. It takes three AA batteries and is pretty decent on the lifespan. We've had the toy for about two months and it doesn't show any signs of dying despite daily use by myself, my husband and our son. The toy is essentially a red toolbench with a yellow carrying handle. It has one row of three shapes (a yellow triangle, blue square and red circle) and a top row of little creatures that are half-hiding in the bench itself. There is a little "tape measure" next to the bench. The set comes with a green and purple "hammer" (with soft rubber tips) and a little section to store the hammer when baby is done playing (assuming they don't crawl away with it and leave it hidden in some other room).

The Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Toolbench has two settings (plus off) and two volume controls (low and high). The first setting is for ABCs ("learning time") and the second setting is for music. What I like is the variety of activities this toy has in it. For the size I would expect a few interactions, but I'm impressed at what Fisher Price can cram in here.

**The Shapes. Like I said earlier, the bottom row of the tool bench has three shapes that light up when pushed. When you (or the baby) presses one of the shapes, it will light up and the little character on the top row will pop up. If you have it on the ABC setting, the character will count the number of times the baby taps the buttons (up to 10). If you have it on the music setting, the character will either play a song or say something cute like "Peek-a-boo, I see you!."

**The Tape measurer. You can pull the "tape" out of the measurer, causing the dial to spin around and music to play. If you have it in the ABC setting it will sing the ABC song, the music setting will play a really freakin annoying song about the toolbench... Pulling, sliding, tapping, turning too... with the toolbench, there's so much to do...... You get the picture.

**The slide ruler. This is below the three shapes and the button points to either a circle, square or triangle, depending on where the baby moves it to. If the toy is in the ABC setting, it will say the shape's name... but if it's in the music setting, it will play a familiar tune (I believe they are: "Here we go round the Mulberry Bush," "I've been working on the Railroad," and "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt").

Mommy the builder

I'm the tool person in the home -- probably one of the only women who has actually said (in a thrilled voice) "Oh wow... a reciprocating saw and a router with bits!!!"... so it's only natural that I was the one to buy my son his first toolbench. I'd have to say I'm fairly impressed so far. It is sturdy and durable. My son is learning how to walk and has mastered the art of walking by pushing a certain toy across the floor... in any case, this toy has been picked up and dropped more times than I can count and it's still working -- tile, carpet, a concrete driveway, you name it... this toy has smacked it. He also like to hit it with the hammer, hard. He's going through a teething phase where he likes to turn his toys over and chew on the base, yet there are few chew marks in the plastic (he has four top teeth and four bottom). I like how there is a place for the hammer to be stored (so there isn't some random hammer just floating around your home).

The voice is not horribly annoying (except for that one infernal song that WILL get stuck in your head for hours on end) and clearly enunciates the letters and numbers. I will say that, of course, Aidan's favorite part of the toy is the tape measure... and he loves that song. He claps along and smiles.... all the while I'm contemplating suicide -- yes, it is that bad. Anyway, I like the battery life -- so many things eat batteries, it's nice to not have to worry about this toy for a while.

Probably one of my favorite parts about this toy, however, is the fact that not only does it introduce shapes, numbers and the alphabet, it also reinforces hand/eye coordination and other aspects of infant development. I can incorporate it into the color matching game we play, so it's nice to have something that makes noise (besides silly mommie) when Aidan hits the correct color. Once we're done with colors, we can venture into the basic world of shapes.

Two great features this toy has are kind of hard to describe. First, is the fact you actually have to use it correctly to get a response out of it. Some toys actually hinder the thought process by validating a baby's incorrect actions. See the Learning Drum -- it registers a smack anywhere on the plastic, meaning that it will go through the ABCs even if the toy is upside down and the baby is banging on the bottom. That completely invalidates its use and doesn't really teach the child anything. With this toy, you must press down on the buttons all the way -- you can't just tap the button lightly. The child must pull the tape measure out all the way to get a reaction from the toy and the slide rule must be centered on the shape.

The second part is the fact there is no "overlap." What do I mean? Sometimes, with other toys, my son would just hit buttons so no music actually finished. Here, no matter how many times he pulls the tape measure, the ABC song plays until the end. This way I don't hear: "A b c d e ... A b c d e ... A b c... A ... A b c d e f .... A b ..."

Aidan and the amazing technicolor toolbench

It's always so deflating when I really like a toy and Aidan crawls away from it after playing for a second. Thankfully, Aidan likes the toolbench as well. I can see him learning how to manipulate the toy... At first he didn't understand it at all; he just watched me play with it. But now he's grasping the concept of pushing on the shapes. He can completely pull out the tape measure, so he loves to watch it bounce back and forth. He can't really slide the ruler yet, but he is grasping that you're supposed to hit the buttons with the hammer... though his aim is a little faulty.

He's gotten to the point where nothing occupies his time for very long, but he does deliberately pull this toy out every morning. I take that to mean he likes it. He'll play with it for a few minutes when left by himself, which is something I can't say for anything else besides my desk and the kitchen cabinets. He also immediately gets interested in it if I sit down and play with it. This doesn't happen with the vast majority of his toys so it just further reinforces his preference for it -- heck, I'm lucky if I even get that long-suffering "Gosh, Mom... that's SO yesterday" look when I play with his toys.

Overall Recommendation

Hey, there are worse toys you could spend $20 on... like the Learning Drum (can you tell I really have gotten to loathe the Learning Drum?).

I sincerely like the Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Toolbench -- it is everything I'm looking for in a toy. It's just simple, good fun. It introduces shapes, colors, numbers and letters in a novel fashion and reinforces hand-eye coordination. It is sturdy, colorful, and it's not THAT annoying (except for that one infernal song... ARGH!). The toolbench isn't that expensive, I can't find many electronic toys for less than the cost of $20. If you're looking for a good toy for infants, you should definitely check this one out!!

Pros:

*Made by Fisher-Price, so it's easy to find
*Costs $20
*Introduces colors, shapes, numbers and letters
*Voice isn't that annoying and enunciates well
*Reinforces hand-eye coordination
*The hammer add-on has soft rubber tips so baby can't really hurt themselves
*Toolbench has a handle so you can store the hammer on the side
*Two settings and two volume settings
*Doesn't eat batteries
*Long usefulness (6 - 36 months)

Cons:

*Um... I can't really think of one, sorry
*Actually wait... that one really freakin annoying song... I mean... you'll hear the song in your sleep.

Really Annoying Song:

Pulling. Sliding. Tapping. Turning, too
With your toolbench there's so much to do.
You'll learn shapes and colors,
like yellow, red and blue...
ABCs and 123s and music just for you!!!!




Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 19.99
Type of Toy: Baby Toy
Age Range of Child: Other