So if you read my previous posts you would have learned that my little man has turned 2! Yes he is growing up and with that I had the challenge of finding suitable toys. I was looking for toys that would not only be fun and entertaining, but it would be challenging and make him think. I was also looking for toys to keep him engaged as he has a tendency to go from toy to toy rather than really playing with any of them. I know this is probably normal behavior for a 2 year old but being a mom of 2 I need my oldest to play nicely with his toys sometimes so I can tend to my youngest. You see my 2 year old is constantly trying to get my attention that any toy that can keep his attention on is a plus in my book! So I checked out Hasbro toys as they usually have some good choices and I was right! I followed the 12-24 month toys and I found the Playskool Clipo Creativity Table, which Hasbro was nice enough to send me to review!
First let me say that it is a very cool toy! The age ranges are 18 months – 4 years so I figured it was going to be a perfect long lasting toy for my son. This table comes in bright funky colors that of course drew my son to immediately. Then he saw all the gears and that it took batteries and he was in love. You see my son thinks that batteries make things move and that toys with batteries are usually cooler! I think he just loves the noise the toys make when you turn them on and you can hear the batteries moving. It requires 2 “AA” batteries but that is not as bad as the toys that take the C’s and D’s or require like 8 batteries!
Anyways, back to the Clipo Creativity Table. Well it comes with 25 gears that all conveniently fit into the attached side storage buckets. The side buckets also encourage some thinking, as one side is a shape sorter and the other is a drop slot where you have to drop the right shape to it. Now my son was not too keen on letting it sit on his lap but he did sit next to it and play nicely with it. I love though that at the end of the day I can just throw all the pieces inside it so they are ready for him tomorrow. It is also a nice change of pace of just using regular blocks to build.
The Clipo Creativity Table is also a great development tool to help your child with their motor skills and of course their creativity! My son sat and just kept building with the gears on the three different motorized surfaces and watching them spin around! He loves how the pieces fit together and then onto the table and of course he loves pushing the button in the middle to watch the gears move! The only thing I did not like about this table is that it does say it is for 18 months and up and even though my 7 month old loved to teeth on the pieces, I don’t think an 18-month old could fit the pieces together. The gears do require a little strength and pushing and it is just right for my 24 month old. So I would definitely recommend this toy but don’t expect a younger child to be able to do it on his own just yet.
The Clipo Creativity Table is not the only Clipo product; there are other Clipo toys to add to your collection. I think Playskool did a great job in making a toy that was safe, fun, and entertaining. With my son a big block and building lover, it was a perfect choice for him and I think he felt more independent as the Clipo Creativity Table was actually his own little building table.
If you are interested the retail price is $29.99 and just came out last year. You can read more and see a live demo over at Playskool’s website.
(You can see the look on my 7 month olds face from his playpen as if he is like “Hey I want to play with that too!”
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