Little Tikes 5-in-1 Adjustable Gym

We bought the Little Tikes 5 in 1 Activity Gym when my daughter was just a few months old. I feel I'm only now able to write a comprehensive review as she has only recently started to use the gym for the last purposes it is intended.


** What is it? **

The Little Tikes 5 in 1 Activity Gym is one of these multi-use toys. It is designed to grow with your child from birth onwards and adapts so that it can be used ...
...Wincy Spider and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and are great for the kids to sing and dance along to.

The only downside to the sound is that there is no volume setting and it is quite loud.


** The Modes **

The first mode is the ~baby gym mode~. This is what I bought this for originally. I hadn't realised that it was a 5 in 1 toy and had bought it solely for the gym part.

In this ... more

We bought the Little Tikes 5 in 1 Activity Gym when my daughter was just a few months old. I feel I'm only now able to write a comprehensive review as she has only recently started to use the gym for the last purposes it is intended.

** What is it? **

The Little Tikes 5 in 1 Activity Gym is one of these multi-use toys. It is designed to grow with your child from birth onwards and adapts so that it can be used for different purposes as your childs requirements change.

As the name would suggest, there are 5 uses to the gym. I will go into them individually later on in the review, but so you have an idea of the purposes, the 5 modes are:
A baby gym
A seat with activity table
A desk with seat
An easel
I think the last mode is supposed to be where the activity bit lies flat and the baby can stand and play with the toys or cruise around it.

** How Easy is it to Assemble and Change Modes? **

The gym comes in 2 pieces (plus 2 plastic bolts). The main unit, with all the toys on is connected to the 2 legs and the seat/footrest needs to be attached. They are all made from strong plastic. I, personally think it looks a bit cheap and my first impression of the legs and the seat was that they were made from flimsy plastic, but they have lasted and haven't had any damage so far, despite 3 rough children playing with it.

It is very easy to assemble for the first time. The main unit swivels on the legs, so that it can be adjusted depending on the mode being used. The seat is just slotted into the holes in the legs and the bolts screwed on to hold it in place. Very simple (believe me, if I can do it anyone can). The seat has 2 positions as it is also used as a footrest in the baby gym mode.

Changing modes is again very simple. There are 2 slides on the activity table that when slid across will release the pins that hold the table in place. This will allow the table to be turned into the desired position and when the slides are released, the pins will click back into place. The footrest/chair may also need to be rotated depending on the mode, but this is as simple as removing the bolts, turning the chair and replacing the bolts again.

** What activities are on the table? **

There are 3 toys which can be pulled out from the table (but not removed). These rattle and twirl to make noises and patterns. There is a mirror in the middle and there are 4 buttons, which light up either when pressed or in time with the music.

There are sound settings which can be changed depending on the mode being used. There is the option for the music to be played by motion, so that when the baby moves the music will play. There is the option for the buttons to be played like a piano, where each button plays a different note and there is the option for a whole nursery rhyme to be played when a button is pressed. The music plays tunes such as Incy Wincy Spider and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and are great for the kids to sing and dance along to.

The only downside to the sound is that there is no volume setting and it is quite loud.

** The Modes **

The first mode is the ~baby gym mode~. This is what I bought this for originally. I hadn't realised that it was a 5 in 1 toy and had bought it solely for the gym part.

In this mode, the toys that come out of the table hang down so the baby can hit at them and if you put the music to motion it will play when the toys are swiped at.

It all sounds very good and looks great when it's set up. I had expected our daughter to love it. The baby lies in between the 2 plastic legs and the activity table will be right over their head. Our daughter hated it! To be honest when I look at it now, I can totally understand why she hated it at this point because it is rather big and I would imagine it could feel quite claustrophobic under there for a baby. I found that because the plastic legs were right beside her, when she was swinging her arms uncontrollably (as babies do), she would hit her hands off of the hard plastic and end up crying. As the music is also quite loud, I thought this may have added to the problem and made it even more scary.

So, despite buying the gym for this purpose, we never made use of it in this mode.

The next mode is the ~seat with activity table~. Once my daughter was a bit older, we bought the gym back out and set it up as a seat with the activity table.

This was a much bigger hit. She could sit on the bench style seat by herself or with a friend and all the activities on the table are within arms reach. There were a couple of downsides to this mode. The first is that the toys which come out from the table don't hold themselves up. I'm not sure if they are supposed to, but if they did it would be an improvement. The toys can still be spun or rattled while flat in the table, but it's not quite as easy for the child to get their hands round them to spin them. The second downside is the seat. As it's a bench style, it is quite difficult for young children to get themselves in and out. Also because it's plastic it's a bit slippy and I often find that my daughters bum has slid off the back and she'll be sitting on the floor with her legs over the bench. It's not high, so she doesn't hurt herself and she can still reach the toys, but just a bit of a pain. Despite these problems, this is the mode my daughter has used the most so far. She enjoys sitting at her own wee table, playing with the toys, singing and dancing to the music etc, so this mode was a big hit with her.

When the child is old enough, the activitiy table can be tilted to reveal the ~desk mode~. This is one of the modes my daughter has only recently started using and she absolutely loves it. It's got a whiteboard, so I guess if you were brave enough to give a toddler colouring pens, they could draw on there with them. We just use paper and pencils though. The desk is not flat, it's at an angle, so the child sits on the bench and the desk faces them. This is great for younger children as it's the most natural position for them to draw. My daughter finds this much easier than sitting at the kitchen table when making her creations.

The other mode my daughter has just started using is the ~easel~. The desk can be turned the opposite way, so that it faces away from the seat to enable the child to stand at it instead of sitting. There is a clip at the top of the board in this mode, so that you can fasten your paper and let your little one loose with their paints. This is great as the plastic is so easy to clean and it saves you worrying if the paint is going to come off your table. The only downside to this is that it's not very high, so isn't really suitable for older toddlers. It's at the perfect height for my daughter just now and she's 15 months (and average height for her age), so a 3 or 4 year old may have to stoop.

Lastly, I think (I don't have the box and can't think of any other purpose for this) is the ~standing mode~. This would be pretty much the same as the sitting mode, but turned the other way so that the activity table faces away from the seat and the child could stand and play with the toys on the table. We never used this for my daughter, purely because she liked the bench part of it. I think it would be quite good when finding their feet though as it would be a support and would aid in strenghtening legs.

** Price **

I bought this as an impulse buy and it cost me £35 just over a year ago from Next, and it's still available for this price on their website. I'm pretty sure it could be bought cheaper elsewhere though, so would advise shopping around.

** Conclusion **

So, there you have it. Not the best buy in the world, especially for the £35 I paid for it. However, if you can pick this up for a reasonable price, I would say to go for it. It could just be my little one that found it scary as a baby gym, but even if it's not used for that purpose, there are plenty other uses to make it a worthwhile purchase. 

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