~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Little Tikes Junior Activity Gym
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Most crèches or children’s play areas seem to have one of these activity gyms and they looked bright and colourful so we decided to get one for my brothers first birthday.
The activity gym as shown in the picture is made up of four side panels, each with holes in for the child to climb through. There is a small bright pink slide and a blue floor, which the children can go under or climb on to go down the slide.

As we unpacked the activity gym it looked relatively simple to assemble, as it was really just a case of slotting the panels together but don’t be fooled! It was not at all easy to assemble although the only consolation is that if it was that difficult to put together its going to be near impossible for it to fall apart! The brightly coloured plastic feels very robust and weather proof and I think this has been proved by the fact that my brother is now 5 and the activity gym has been sitting in our garden for just over 4 years now and still looks as good as new!

The activity gym is recommended for children aged 18months to 4 years old. My brother first played on it on his first birthday and quite enjoyed climbing up and going down the slide. It is very sturdy and because it is quite low in height it means that if the child falls of the slide they are not likely to be injured.

We placed ours on the grass although it did mean that grass stains were gained when crawling through the holes! Looking back it would probably have been better to put the cube onto a mat when in use so that there was no direct contact with the grass and things which may have been lurking in there!! We found that my brother did not have a great desire to play on this toy on his own as he got a bit older but when friends were round or he had a party it was well used. Although he is now 5 and too big to play on it really, he still uses it to create obstacle courses, as he is now strong enough to drag it across the grass and place it in position to leap from!

I think there is an element of disappointment with this activity gym because it looks so brightly coloured and really fun but in reality the slide is too small to really enjoy and the climbing through the holes is not really an interesting activity! The activity gym cost just under £50 and although it does not provide as much fun as I would have liked it to, I do feel that it is really well made as the colours have not faded at all and it is still very sturdy and safe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Interview with a 5 year old!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No one can evaluate toys better than a child so I have held my little brother hostage and asked him to answer some questions about the toy. The conversation below is unedited:

ME: Do you think this was a fun toy?
BROTHER: Well, it was sort of fun and sort of not fun
ME: Whys that?
BROTHER: because when you climb underneath it through the holes its fun but when you climb on top of it the slide is a bit small so its not so good
ME: You know it has lots of bright colours, well does that make it more fun looking?
BROTHER: Nah im not really bothered
ME: What do you think is most fun to do on it
BROTHER: I already told you, climb underneath
ME: Why?
BROTHER: Because you can hide and say secret words
ME: What secret words are they eh?
BROTHER: Secret!
ME: Do you think other children should get one or should they not bother?
BROTHER: I think yeh because its fun to climb underneath it

I think that perhaps the toy is appealing for adults to buy because of the bright and cheerful colours whereas the actual practicalities of playing on it aren’t so great as there is not much you can do. It is definitely suited to the younger age group although slightly older children are still likely to use it occasionally. The design in terms of stability and safety is brilliant but in terms of fun it is not as good as it could have been. As my brother said that he would recommend the activity gym even though he could point out some negatives about it, I think I will have to agree with him and say that yes I would recommend it if you can afford it and especially if you have more than one child as it will get more use that way, also because of how easy it is to clean and the good condition it stays in, you could probably sell it for a reasonable price once your children have outgrown it.