Leapfrog Roll and Rhyme Melody Block > Reviews (1)

This was bought as a present for my son Samuel when he was born 2 1/2 years ago. He played with it a lot in the first year or so, then as he grew older it fell to the bottom of his extensive toy box, but has now come back out of hiding as my daughter is starting to show an interest in noisy toys!

The melody block is aimed at 1 - 30 months. Alice loves listening to the music on it already and she is 9 weeks old. It requires 3 x AAA batteries which come included in the block, and the original batteries are still working now! Its dimensions are: L18.2 x W22.7 x H20cm.

Instructions come included with the block.

Leapfrog

This melody block is made by the award winning company Leapfrog. Leapfrog are known for their interactive and learning toys catering for newborns to 9 year olds.

www.leapfrog.com

What is it

The block is essentially a large cube, with 6 different sides - think a big dice! When the block is rolled, the side of the block which is facing upwards comes into play, and will either play music or sing a rhyme, depending on which setting you have it on. The block is designed to introduce the baby to melodies, colours, rhymes and rhythms animals and their habitats, and different textures. It encourages gross motor skills when playing with the block on the floor, and the brightness of the cube entices the baby to touch.

As mentioned, you can have the block on two settings - music, or a rhyme. This is adjusted using the easy press buttons on one of the sides on the block, plus an on/off button. The music ranges are African, Hawaiian, Caribbean, Asian, Latin and Classical.

As the block is made from material and has batteries inside, wipe clean is recommended.

The six sides....

* Blue - This side features fish in an underwater theme. It features the Leapfrog Frog snorkelling with the fishes! When on rhyme mode the lady sings a song "Blue fish, with scales that shine, if I pet you will you be mine?. The music is also catchy! One of the fish has a different shiny texture for the baby to feel.

* Purple - This side is the night sky with a large silver half moon and stars - which is also a mirror. The music on that mode is Asian, and the rhyme sung is "Shiny moon in a purple sky, I see myself as you go by"

* White - This is a polar bear in an arctic setting, the silky polar bear is set away from the block and can be moved from side to side. It has the classical music on this side and the rhyme is "White polar bear in the icy snow, slipping and sliding, away you go!" This side also has a Velcro opening to access the batteries.

* Yellow - This is the side with the 3 buttons to change modes. This has a lion with a crinkly mane for the baby to feel. The rhyme is "Hello Lion in the African Sun, tickling your mane is really fun!"

* Red - This is a fox, complete with a little pocket where you can hide the fox - this being its foxhole, the tune matches this scene "Red fox running about, are you in, or are you out?"

* Green - This is a jungle scene with large soft green leaves which you can open and shut, behind the leaves is a large green parrot, and several animals playing amongst the grass!

"Green leaves, open and see, who's that hiding in the tree?"

---WARNING ---- EACH RHYME IS EXTREMEMLY CATCHY AND YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF SINGING AND HUMMING EVEN WHEN THE BLOCK IS TURNED OFF!

The songs are sung by a female British voice, which is very easy to understand as she speaks clearly, and the music is funky, loud and very catchy.

Price and Availability

It is available on the Leapfrog and Mothercare website for £14.99. Lots of sites are also selling these used, for around the £5.00 mark. I think the full price is well worth the money.

Overall

Myself and both kids love this block! Its easy to roll, and Sam now being older likes to roll it around the room in order to make his favourite side sing (the fish!) and he also likes to play catch with it - we play a little game with it where we catch it, and whatever is played we have to do a silly little dance to it and sing, which he finds very amusing! He knows most songs on it now, and also recognises the different colours and animals. As its light, its easy for him to carry around. Thanks to the two settings, if Sam gets bored of the rhymes we can easily switch it to the music setting as the buttons are easily located - and now easily pressed by Sam himself.

As Alice is still only small - she can't even hold it yet but I like being interactive with her so we sit and play the tunes, Sam sits with her for ages playing the tunes and moving her hands around to the funky music! I'm sure she will enjoy the block as much as her big brother!

Myself and my partner love the block.... but find the tunes do stick in your mind for the remainder of the day! But as they are so catchy we don't really mind! We haven't had to replace the batteries, and even after two years the block is still looking brand new as its very durable. Overall, this was a great present to be bought and can give it no less than full marks!