The item is very small. The football piece is actually just a rattle. The baseball piece doesn't function well. I expected a toy that my son could really interact with. I got a toy he can put a ball in the hoop and listen to the crowd cheer. That's it. I don't know exactly what I expected. But, more than what I got!
I thought this toy would be more interactive. It isn't at all what I expected. I am going to be taking it back to the store. The baseball portion is so stupid, it doesn't even function if it were to function it would have to be tall enough to hit while standing. it doesn't even spin easily if you hit it with your hand. The football is just a rattle it doesn't really serve a purpose. The only thing this toy does is make a buzzer sound when you put the basketball in the hoop and then a crowd cheers. I do not recommend this toy at all. Pick out something else. It is so not worth the money.
I rated it a 3 because it would serve the purpose of hand eye cordination, but it isn't even fun to play with, both my 8 month old and 20 month old went onto other toys after about two minuntes with this toy right out of the box.
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My son received this toy for his first birthday. My three year old niece had managed to get her arm stuck in the basketball hoop before my sister wrapped it for my son. I thought that was just a fluke as my niece is very active and likes to explore. My son likes the toy's music and flashing numbers on the scoreboard but isn't crazy about the football or baseball. They snap onto the toy at the bottom and don't stay on very well anyway. My son has had this toy for a month now and a few days ago he managed to get his arm stuck in the basketball hoop as well. There is a small plastic wedge that depresses when the ball goes through the hoop that activates the music and lights. My son put his hand down the hoop after the ball and the lever depressed, but once his hand cleared the hoop, it released, leaving him unable to pull his hand back up. I was sitting next to him and was able to reach in and depress the lever enough to slide his arm out but it still scared him enough to make him cry, and he's a tough little guy. I think this toy could be dangerous and my son is not playing with it until my husband takes it apart and removes that lever. I don't know how much my son will enjoy then because there will be no sound or lights...there are better toys in this price range that are not hazardous.
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My son recieved this as a gift at 6 months. Even though it's rated for 9 months and up, he enjoyed it and still enjoys it. Here's what we like about it:
1. He likes spinning the football and can do that unassisted, even while sitting. I spun it for him once and he "got" it right away. It's something he can do sitting and without help.
2. He likes the sounds/music when you put a ball through the hoop, and even though he couldn't do it seated, he loved it when we'd hold him up and let him dunk the ball.
3. He loves the bat, and though he's not able to connect bat with ball just yet, he likes banging the floor with the bat.
4. Even tough he can't hit the baseball with the bat, he likes pushing the ball and hearing the clicking noise.
5. It definitely helped with hand-eye coordination as he learned to drop the ball into the hoop or put it in the hole. It also has some cause and effect, because now he drops the ball in and knows where to look for it.
4. Unlike the roll-a-rounds toys, which we generally like, the basketballs are just the right size for him to pick up with one hand.
Here's what's not great:
1. It's fairly large, but not heavy/stable enough for him to pull himself up on or rely on for standing (now that he can). He's almost pulled it over several times trying this.
2. It was really hard to put together, even though there are no screws, etc. It basically "snapped" together, but me, my husband and his best friend all had to fight to get the pieces in place.
3. Sometimes the basketball doesn't push the lever all the way in to register a basket. While my son can't count and doesn't know that the score hasn't updated, he likes the sound, so I end up hitting it with my hand, which he has now started to copy.
Overall I give this 4 stars. He's been enjoying it for almost 3 months now, and I anticipate it will continue to be one of his favorite toys.
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I'm glad I saw this in the store and bought it on impulse...because I probably wouldn't have done so if I'd read all the negative reviews on here first.
This is a great toy, and my 9-month old son loves it!
The basketball hoop is his favorite part. He picked it up right away and started making baskets to hear the cheer and the funky music. I think the hoop is an EXCELLENT way for children to learn cause and effect. Once or twice the ball has gotten "caught up" on the little lever in the basket, and he lifts up and peeks in there like "HEYYYY, why isn't my ball dropping??"
I'm confused about why others thought this was too small. I think it's the perfect size for a sitting little one. What size did people expect it to be?
I don't really understand the bat with the baseball. He's too young to understand the concept of hitting the ball with the bat, and I don't know that he'd be able to do it to actually move the ball. It's lots of fun for the baby to just twirl the ball around and listen to the clicking, though. Sure, the football is just a rattle, but it's still fun. And I don't know what else other people expected it to do. ???
This is a great toy. Glad I bought it.
Even though the rug is the size as stated the picture shown here has to be a different rug or it is stretched to distort the size appearancethe squares on the rug are about 3"x4" not even big enough to actually play hopscotch, and why else would you want a hopscotch rug. Maybe she can play with it with a doll, but kids can't actually play.
