Tiny Love Super Deluxe Lights and Music Gymini Activity Gym
by Tiny Love
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List Price: Our Price: $44.95 You Save: $15.04 (25%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $36.88 (click here) Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of Tiny Love Super Deluxe Lights and Music Gymini Activity Gym
Customer Review: The best baby purchase I've made to date!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I first saw this gym while registering at Toys-r-Us before my baby was born. Because of the sticker price I didn't even consider adding it to my registry; however, once my son was born I realized how alert babies are at such a young age and how intriguing colors and patterns are to them. He didn't really have many toys and I felt he needed something fun to look at and learn about. While killing time in Toys-r-us I ran into this gym on display. After a couple of weeks of deliberating, my husband and I finally cracked down and purchased the gym. Let me tell you it was the best purchase we have made for our baby up to date! We also purchased the windchimes separately and I highly recommend them to anyone. At 2 months he loved staring at the colorful animals and was already kicking the windchimes with his feet. By 3 months he was grabbing the toys with his hands and batting them to make them swing. Around 4 months he started noticing his reflection in the mirror. The mirror is also slightly movable and he would push and pull the mirror while looking in it so he could see different things around the room. I could literally have left him on this mat for hours and he would have been completely content. We took it with us everywhere... to grandma's house, to visit friends, to playgroup, even to a Christmas party... and our baby was completely entertained. The animals unhook and we clipped them to our stroller for shopping trips. Our son has a cousin his exact age and they both loved this! It was so fun to watch them play on it, and for all you photo moms... pictures taken on this mat turn out really well because of the bright colors!Tiny Love is also very easy to work with. One of the lights burned out on the play mat (all of their products have a lifetime warranty) and they replaced the entire musical pad free of charge. They even have a website you can go to to order replacement parts (www.tinylove.com; click on "contact us").
Our baby is now 10 months old so I (reluctantly) have cleaned and stored this away for our next baby. This has been the best purchase we've made. The only drawback I can think of is the price, but if your experience is anything like ours, the price is definitely worth it. Buy this one larger toy as opposed to several smaller toys. I did, and I would do it all over again. My baby got more play time and use out of this gym than he has out of all the rest of his toys combined.
The only other thing to note is that when my baby was really young (like 2 months old), he would sometimes get overstimulated when all the toys were hanging from the bars. I would put 2 toys on at a time and rotate them so he always had something fun and different to look at. That seemed to solve the problem (and it really only happened when he was really young). This probably isn't the case for most babies, but if your baby cries when you put him/her on the mat this may be why and hopefully this suggestion will help. In all, I highly recommend this gym! I've become a big fan of Tiny Love!
Customer Review: Entertaining from 0 to at least 8 months
Summary: 5 Stars
Our daughter has spent at least a half an hour every morning with this toy from birth to more than 7 months and it still has not grown old. One of the things I like best about it is that you can detach and rearrange the toys to change things up; there are plenty of extra attachment points so that if you have other toys with those standard clippy rings, you can attach them to the gym to add variety. The way she can play with it has changed over time, and I think she'll continue to be able to use it until she can walk.
0-2 months: she stared at the toys and mirror and particularly enjoyed it if someone shook one of the toys. She especially enjoyed the giraffe, which rattles, and the monkey, with its springy feet. The crinkly bird wasn't interesting yet. However, as for the elephant -- it has a wind-up mechanism inside that makes a ratcheting sound as you pull it out, then vibates upward as it retracts -- she found that ratcheting sound to be utterly terrifying.
2-4 months: she began to learn to reach for things by playing on this gym. The toys dangled at a perfect height for her wandering hands to grasp, and the design of the skinny legs and outsized feet of the giraffe and monkey made it easy for her to catch hold of the toys. Although she hated spending time on her tummy, she could be distracted for a few minutes by the music and lights on the mat. However, the elephant was still terrifying.
5-7 months: she can now rotate herself in place while on her back (accidentally), which has the benefit of positioning her beneath different toys, to add variety. She likes to reach for the mirror and pivot it back and forth, which provides her a view of baby -- then no baby -- then baby -- then no baby. It's like her own private peekaboo game. She is no longer terrified by the elephant, but she does stare at it with distrust. She'll spend 5 or 10 minutes playing with the nursery rhyme music and lights on her tummy.
I think she'll continue to find this toy entertaining until she can walk. At that point, it'll probably become a hazard in the house; I've seen another walking baby be able to pick the whole thing up -- it's very lightweight -- and then run in to various things with it.
Another nice thing is that the mat is machine washable, and it air-dries quickly. It did fade with the first couple of washings, but doesn't seem to be fading further with time. It collapses into a very flat package by folding in half, staying closed with two snaps; it is great to take along in the car and could fit very flat into the bottom of a very large suitcase.
As for the music, I find the "Mozart" setting to be incredibly irritating. But the nursery rhymes are okay. The music is at a good volume, loud enough for baby to hear from her position right next to it, but not so loud that it drowns out conversation or the TV.
Customer Review: LOVE this play mat!
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't usually go overboard with praise, but this play mat deserves it. We purchased it for a newborn and have been amazed how well it has grown with our infant!
At birth the colors and animals were stimulating visually and the Mozart music setting plays continuously when turned on. When the batting started, just making the animals move kept our infant busy for a very long time. Then the touching and grabbing began. So many different animals to explore! There is a monkey, a giraffe, an elephant and a parrot-like bird. There is also a plastic ring with discs that is easy to rattle with fingertips. All hangers can be rotated to allow the infant to pull them off, or can be turned to make sure they stay hanging.
Each animal has a different stimulation. One animal is crinkly and one has a vibration when pulled down. Each animal has a differnt texture and all are multi-colored. They are great to touch and able to be "chewed" on when pulled down- with adult supervision of course. Each animal has been a favorite at different stages.
During tummy-time, the mat offers a crinkle elephant ear that also hides a bird for "peek-a-boo" play. The bird has a squeaker. The giraffe's tail and the zebra's mane are fabric pieces for the baby to touch and the flowers are lit and play music if pressed by baby when on the nursery rhyme setting. The mirror is actually big enough for the infant to see themselves and has a fastener sewn into the mat to keep it from moving away when touched/grabbed.
We've owned this mat for almost 6 months now and still love it. Bright colors, lots of tactile stimulation, with animals that hang and are able to be moved to different locations. You can hang your own toys also, so we change the toys around often offering a "surprise" each time it's used- which is daily.
The toy has been completely safe. The arches fasten with snaps that are very tight and very easy to assemble.
Because our baby spits up a lot, we've had to wash this mat often. The musical flowers just slide out, the arches snap out and the mirror comes off the mat via a velcro fastener before washing.
We wash the mat in the washing machine and dry on low heat and, so far, it looks great. No sign of wear whatsoever. After washing, the bird squeaker just needs the water to get squeezed out before drying.
The only tiny complaint I can find about this mat is that the music, in my opinion, is slightly too loud and sounds a little harsh for a newborn. It is still better than most other musical toys we own.
I don't give 5-star ratings often, but this activity mat deserves it on all levels. Perfect for either boys or girls. I would definitely rank it in the top 5 of my MUST-HAVE list for new parents.
Customer Review: Good...
Summary: 4 Stars
Pros:
-daughter really likes the toys that hangs (fyi the elephant vibrates when you pull on it..i didn't know this until several months in)
-the mat has parts made of different material. Once my daughter was able to flip herself over, she would crinkle the elephant ears or touch the zebra mane
-it comes with a mirror, which is pretty expensive if purchased separately (although my daughter doesn't really use it, my niece who is the same age, LOVES it)
-easy to wash. Once my daughter flipped over, we'd need to wash it more often..she'd leave puddles of drool all over the mat! I throw the hanging animals into a mesh bag and throw that and the mat into the washing machine.
-the hanging animals can be easily removed and put on strollers or car seats.
-simple to take apart
Cons:
-the arch in which the animals hang on is pretty low. When my baby is on her tummy, the animals hit her in the head. I could take them off, but she plays with them when she's laying on her back. Not too much of an issue but thought I'd mention it.
-the music and lights never quite worked. From the get-go, the music was CREEPY b/c it sounded like the batteries were dying...even though I replace the batteries. The lights would NOT turn off even though I switched it to OFF. So I stopped trying to use it.
-I wish the lights/music were attached to the top of the arches instead on the mat. For babies that can't yet flip over, they lay on their backs so the music/light feature on the mat is useless. However, I just improvised by velcro-ing a lamb that plays music to the top of the arches so my baby could look up and see the lights and hear music. Well maybe at this stage (she is on her hands and knees now) my baby would've liked it, but i wouldn't really know b/c mine doesn't work!
My friends have the Fisher-Price Rainforest Melodies and Lights Deluxe Gym and I like this mat slightly better. the Mat is softer, the arches are higher (also good if you want to switch out the toys and they happen to be longer, which is usually the case), and there are lights/music on top for babies on their backs. The fisher price mat doesn't have the various textures as this one, no mirror, but hey, nothing is perfect, right?
All in all, its a good mat.
Customer Review: Great toy for baby and mom!
Summary: 5 Stars
We didn't get this toy right away and weren't sure how much our son would like it, but we picked it up when he was about four weeks old and I am so glad we did.At first he was mostly interested in the mirror (which is a tiny bit warped, by the way, but not too bad at all), although the toys are close enough that he could see them and would spend some time looking at them too. Now he is almost three months old and he still loves the mirror, but also spends lots of time smiling and batting at the toys. He can happily spend about half an hour in there. If he does get bored, I move him to another spot to change the view and he's usually happy again.
We also detatch the toys and take them with us in the car, stroller, etc. He particularly likes the monkey (which has a big smile) and smiles back at it when he sees it. The elephant has a sparkly tummy that he also stares at for a long time.
Some things we didn't know when we bought it:
1. Each of the toys has something different that is interesting about it. The monkey and the giraffe are both rattles, while the elephant is one of those pull toys that shake. The parrot has crinkly wings.
2. The mat washes well but has faded a bit after only a few washings (we put it in the dryer on low). This is my major disappointment with the toy - for the price it should hold up a bit better. The toys have to be washed with a damp cloth.
3. The whole thing colapses down quite flat. We took it with us on a plane trip and it fit nicely in the bottom of a suitcase.
4. The music is quite tinny, but not bad for a toy. It does get old after a while (there are only two settings), so we usually put on our own cd when we want music.
5. The mat is nice and soft (good if you have have hard floors) and has some interesting textures: the giraffe's tail, the zebra's mane, etc.
All in all, we are quite pleased with this toy. My son seems to find it entertaining, and he hasn't even begun to use all of its features. I think we'll get a lot of use out of it in the months to come. Hope that helps!