Whoever thought bigger was better didn’t have a train in their house
Written: Mar 13 '05 (Updated Mar 15 '05)
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Pros: unique, more than one person can play
Cons: gets kids too rowdy, way too big
The Bottom Line: Something this big doesn't belong inside. It is attractive and kids will likely like playing in it.
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| xyzwyatt's Full Review: Playhut Train N Ball Zone/30 Balls 53762-71830 |
This is a very large and long tent-type play structure which was a little bigger than I had anticipated. I had ordered each of the kids a Play-hut tent for Christmas last year and this is one of the tents that I chose.
There are three connecting sections to this toy which when open look like a train. Each of the three sections has an area for a different type of play. The first section is a tunnel which is camouflaged as the front of the train. You can crawl through the tunnel. The front has a round door in front that is used to enter and exit out of. The second section of the train is the engineer area which has a blow up steering wheel that sticks with Velcro. You can play with this and look out the windows in this section. The back section is the caboose and is where all of the balls are to be located. There is a plastic lining on the flooring so it rattles around when stepped on and has potential to tear. There is an area at the top with a poorly-designed basketball hoop to throw the balls though. This for some reason didn’t stand up very well and it was hard to get balls to go through it. The plastic balls went everywhere when the kids tried to use this portion of the tent.
This comes with 30 balls of an assortment of primarily colors. The balls are made of plastic and will squash and break if stepped on. For some reason the kids thought the balls were designed to pelt each other with. I originally got this thinking that it would be a great deal to have 30 balls….until I tried to keep up with all of the balls inside.
The balls really just get the kids excited. They jump around inside the back of the train and all the balls fly out so they get out of the tent to retrieve them. I don’t remember the exact measurements of this tent but it is very large. It takes up the entire length of a room. It requires moving furniture if put in the family room. I was afraid that someone was gong to stumble and get hurt. The tent is just too big for indoor usage and not very suitable for outdoor usage either because it’s so lightweight.
The kids didn’t have much interest in the front of the train. They didn’t like crawling through the front or playing driver for more than a second. They spent most of their time in the rear playing with the balls.
We have many tents and this one was played with the least. It was too expensive to put out and let them just have at it, and it’s too large to leave up for very long. It is very challenging to put away so I didn’t encourage them to play with it. It required picking up their toys off the floor so it could be opened up so they immediately lost interest in that.
The tent is made of patented EZ Twist Technology which allows the tent to fold up and fits back into its own Play-hut carrying bag. It is possible, but very difficult to get the tent to fit back into the bag and even more difficult to keep a hold of all 30 balls.
The tent stayed in really good shape despite all the jumping and crawling around in it and didn't sustain any tears or holes. Any messes can easily be wiped up with a wash cloth and dry quickly.
When it is folded up it is somewhat dangerous to leave it around children because it springs open and could
potentially poke them in the eye or knock them off balance. The play-hut itself is safe; the material is airy so there’s no worry of suffocation. It’s not designed to sleep in.
It is recommended for ages 3 and retails for $40-$60. I’m not sure if they’re making this model anymore. I hope not, it is attractive to look at but not very practical.
Company Information
Playhut, Inc.
368 South Cheryl Lane
City of Industry, CA 91789
Website: www.playhut.com
Phone: 888-752-9488
Other Playhut items:
Other Playhut items:
Playhut Disney Princess Castle
Playhut Princess 5 in 1
Care Bears Canopy
Playhut Luxury House
Playhut Megahouse
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 40.00
Type of Toy: Other
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years
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Epinions.com ID:
xyzwyatt
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Location: Nashville, TN
Reviews written: 542
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