Playskool Step Start Walk 'n Ride - Colors May Vary
by Hasbro
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List Price: Our Price: $22.00 You Save: $7.99 (27%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $16.00 (click here) Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of Playskool Step Start Walk 'n Ride - Colors May Vary
Customer Review: Wonderful for learning how to walk, too small as a riding toy
Summary: 4 Stars
My daughter was about 13 months old when we were given the Walk N Ride. She absolutely has loved it ever since (she's now 20 months old). She still uses it as a push toy, putting her blankies/stuffed animals on the handlebar and carting them around.
She is short for her age (most people mistake her for a 13 month old now!) and she is still too tall to use it as a riding toy. She recently played with her cousin's John Deere 4 wheeler toy (LOVED IT!) and has been trying to use her Walk N Ride in the same way, but the seat just sits too low. I cannot imagine a 3 year old being able to use it as a riding toy like the upper end of the manufacturer's age recommendation suggests. She still likes to try and will sit on it and scoot herself backwards since that's a lot easier due to the size. She is able to scoot herself forward, but not very well. We end up pushing her ourselves and she loves that. The red flap that opens to a storage area can hold a couple small toys, but can only really be used when it's set as a rider. Since we don't use it that way a lot, I wish the storage area was where the spinner is. Then again, she always loved the spinner when it was a walking toy.
She likes the spinner toy, likes the shifter that makes clicking noises, and likes the circle turning thing which also makes clicking noises. The antenna type thing is a little odd, but she does grab it, bend it down, and watch it spring back up so I guess it's alright. She also likes to put things on it (toy rings or anything that will fit over it).
VERY durable. She's tossed this thing around, plays with it EVERY SINGLE DAY, and it's held up nicely. We've played with it outside a few times, but it doesn't move as well over our grass so we use it indoors most of the time.
Very easy and fast to switch from rider to walk toy and vice versa.
LOVE the colors on it (mine is the bright green one) - gender neutral, bright, and more updated to go with the times.
Customer Review: Wobbly and not baby friendly
Summary: 3 Stars
My daughter is 9 months old and is just learning how to walk. She received this as a gift for Christmas last year and was unable to use it at first despite being able to pull herself up to standing. The wheels on this are simply far too slippery. As soon as my daughter would begin to pull herself up on this it would roll away and bring her back to her knees. The gear shift, front compartment and rear rattle barrel were captivating to her though. After really getting the walking motion down on her Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Stroll-Along Walker I let her have another go at this. Pulling herself up is easier now but it'll still roll away from her from time to time. The wheels definitly need improvement for this to be an effective walker.
Another concern I have with this is that when my daughter does manage to get herself standing and walking on it, the handle that she's holding onto seems to be really unstable. It will wobble from side to side as she walks and that's not so helpful when she as a 9 month old is already a bit wobbly on her feet. The handle could stand to be made from some firmer plastics that wouldn't allow so much movement.
The space for my daughter's feet (which is small, but not as small as other reviewers have made it out to be) could stand to be bigger. My daughter is on the taller side of the 9 month old height scale but the depth of this part doesn't seem to affect her stride.
Overall, if you have a little girl who's ready to start walking I reccomend purchasing the Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Stroll-Along Walker. It's very stable, doesn't move an inch when my daughter pulls herself up on it and has plenty of room for those babies that may have larger strides.
Customer Review: Great for both kids!
Summary: 5 Stars
Our 1 year old loves this walker. And our 2 1/2 year old enjoys scooting around on it in "car" mode. He doesn't care that he's too tall for it. :)
It works just fine on our pergo flooring. I read some reviews that said it's for carpet only. Don't really know why they'd say that. It's not scratching the floors. The wheels don't rotate 100%, so if the floors are a little too dirty I would imagine scratching would be a problem. But we sweep often. The nice thing about the wheels not being perfect is that it doesn't move forward too quickly. If my son looses his balance or is done "walking" it just scoots forward slowly and he sinks to his knees. We had a Mega Blocks dump truck that doubled as a walker for my first son and it was a couple weeks before he was able to control the speed. Until then I had to hold it as he walked along so it didn't zip forward. I only had to hold this one the first two times my son used it, and he's not nearly as coordinated as his older brother was at this age.
It's easy to snap in and out of walker and car modes. It does take some getting used to and you have to be careful to not hurt your fingers. But after a few transitions it's a piece of cake. We had a Winnie the Pooh car/walker for our first son that required a screw driver and 10 minutes to go back and forth, so the transitional feature was worthless in my opinion. So even though this one can be a little tricky, the fact that it's a one step process that takes 3 seconds is a huge plus.
This is simply a great toy at a very good price. It's perfect for indoors and will be fun for both of my boys for a long time. And may even last for the little girl on the way. It seems very durable.
Customer Review: If only the wheels had some traction
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought my daughter this Step Start Walk n'Ride hoping to get her to learn to walk quicker (little did I know what I was getting myself into as soon as she sated walking, LOL). She already knew how to stand and cruise along the edge of the couch so I figured this would provide her with a little security and freedom. Thank goodness I supervised her constantly! I never felt like she was safe when she used this toy to "walk" as it rolled faster than she could walk and she wouldn't let go so she almost hit her head on it a couple of times. Then I tried putting rubber bands around the wheels hoping they would add some traction on the carpet but that did nothing. The wheels still rotated too quickly. I do believe this product failed as a walker.
HOWEVER, from then on, we only used this toy as a buggy (car). After my daughter learned to walk, she loved riding this thing. And as she grew older she would go all over the house putting little thing in the hood. Speaking of the hood, she caught her fingers in it more than a few times, not too bad but it would still hurt her little fingers. She loved cranking the "gas" cap and the key. Imaginative play was really big for her with this little car (she'd pretend to drive to the grocery store and bring back groceries to make her favorite dishes.) The car is close to the ground so she grew out of it too quickly.
The plastic is really durable and easy to clean. It's easy to put together, too. Also, you can get this toy elsewhere for less $. I would NOT recommend this as "Step Star Walker. As a rider? Definitely but then you can probably find something better out there that your child can enjoy for a lot longer, I'm sure.
Customer Review: All potential, no results
Summary: 1 Stars
I purchased the Step Start Walk 'n Ride because (1) it is convertible, (2) its activities are accessible while walking and riding, and (3) appeared to have extra leg room in walk mode. I was going to get it for my 10-month-old daugher's birthday, but it was apparent she'd already be walking by then, so I bought it early. She waited impatiently while trying to "help" me put it together, and before it was completed, she was clicking the gear shift. (I was rather anxious to see her give it a whirl myself.)The assembly was fairly easy, although it took a little elbow grease to snap some of the plastic pieces into place. But it was soon time to take it for a spin. Once assembled, it's in "ride" mode, so we sat her on it just to see how she looked. It was very low, and looked uncomfortable with her knees up so high. I said to my husband, "By the time she learns to ride it, she'll be too tall for it." Moving along, we converted it to "walk" mode. Our next disappointment was the handle wasn't as wide as other walking toys she'd played with. Additionally, the little curve in the back that appeared to be "leg room" was too narrow. Each step she took hit a rear wheel, leaving her crying on the floor.
I immediately decided to exchange the Walk 'n Ride for the more expensive Fisher-Price Stride-to-Ride, which I've seen her enjoy. However, although easily assembled, the toy was impossible to disassemble. The parts that snapped in place were not meant to be un-snapped. Thankfully, when I called the store they said I could return it as is, along with the box and receipt. It's going back tomorrow!