Fisher Price Sparkling Symphony Gym

I first saw the sparkling symphony gym at a friends house when al was just 4 weeks old. I lay him under the lights and music and he was there for nearly 40 minutes quiet as a mouse and perfectly content.

In summary of the product it comprises an arch with 5 piano like chunky keys that light up, a bar which suspends 3 dangly things (supposedly a sun, moon and star but i'm dubious) and a magic button which makes lovely twinkly noises. Size wise its about 2 foot wide and stands about a foot tall. You need to assemble it yourself but its so simple even your husband could do it! Price wise it's around £34.99. Its available in most toy stores such as toys r us and mothercare

It operates on two settings. the first setting plays one tune and flashy lights when the dangly things are hit, and each key plays a musical note. on the second setting each key plays a few bars of a song and you get about ten minutes of music and flashy lights when the dangly things are hit. The tunes alter between good old classical tunes, and more modern(ish) nursery rhymes, so baby gets everything from brahms lullaby to looby lou.

When baby gets older the gym turns round 90 degrees to make a little 5 keyed piano. The dangly things supposedly hang from the sides but more often then not dangle from baby's mouth (great teethers). Junior gets a chance to show off his piano playing forte to anybody who'll listen to him pounding the keys.

It is noisy and when hes resting his bodyweight on the keys it can drive you a little bit mad but if he's anything like my son he'll love it. Its lasted him 18 months so far so the price is definately worth it.