And if you read to the bottom, there’s a 50% off cashback offer 😉 )
Playskool were kind enough to offer me the chance to review one of their products and I couldn’t really resist, but I tried to choose something that would be small and versatile. The Explore ‘n Grow Activity Tower doesn’t disappoint. There are extra toys on the base block that soa really enjoys – fiddly bits to click and turn, and a handle that folds in and out, as well as blocks that stack or nest and a top piece that squeaks.
In fact, if I have a criticism of this toy, it’s that there is too much to it. Perhaps it’s the montessori in me, but do you really need shapes *and* colours *and* numbers on a set of blocks aimed at an under 1 year old? At the same time, I doubt that it does much harm as I assume she’s not paying much attention to those bits. Although I have a compulsive need to line up the blocks so that the right things are in order on each side 😉 !
I do like the fact that once it’s nested it’s a very compact toy to cart around, and as such, it’s been out and about with us several times. It’s tough enough to withstand transport and knocks so can be taken out to home ed groups and played with by multiple children – it also seems to be attractive to toddlers, so has quite a good playlife expectancy as far as I can tell.
My big reservation with this toy has little to do with the toy itself. It’s about the way it is packed and shipped. Instead of being compactly put away it is packed with all parts of the blocks showing – making the packaging about 4 times the size/weight/amount of rubbish plastic it needs to be. I assume that this is because it is felt the stack looks more attractive that way, but what I saw was a toy that takes up four times the space in transport, and therefore uses going on for four times the amount of fuel as it’s shipped around the world. (Plus all the extra packaging that then becomes rubbish.)
This obviously is a fairly esoteric criticism, and one that can be levelled at all types of manufacturers and companies, but it’s the kind of thing as a responsible consumer that I think I should be thinking about. Do you agree? Or would you have been more put off by a toy that was nested away so you couldn’t see what you were getting? Given that so many of us do so much of our shopping online we don’t get to see the toy before we buy anyway, so does the way it’s packed in the box for display on the shelf really influence our purchase in the same way it used to?
But getting back to the toy and the special offer, to go along with this review, Playskool are offering 50% cashback on purchases over £20 with a voucher you can find via this link. The voucher is valid up until Oct 30th??? so you’ve still got time to use it, and it’s possibly a handy time of year for that kind of thing too 🙂 Please do let me know if this is useful to you as I think that’s the kind of feedback that’s useful for PRs when they are thinking about what kind of campaign to run.
Disclosure : we were sent this product free for review.
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