The Busy Ball Popper is an air-powered, ball-popping baby toy, made by Hasbro Playskool.  The Busy Ball Popper comes complete with five brightly colored balls, silly sound effects and 8 happy tunes.  To enjoy the fun, simply pump the plunger, put the balls on the spiral track, and watch them pop out of the top and either roll back down the track, or spill over onto the floor.  The experience is heightened by the addition of the fun sounds to accompany the “popping and dropping” fun.  The sights, sounds, and continuous action of the Playskool Busy Ball Popper encourage lasting play and stimulate motor development skills.  This is a toy that is ideal for children from 9 months to 3 years.

Pros:

• A great toy for teaching cause and effect, because the action will not begin until the red plunger is pushed, and the music will not play until the balls begin moving.
• Creates a great repetitive situation for teaching certain words to children, like “ball”, “push”, “stop”, “out”.
• Also an ideal toy for fine-tuning motor skills related to putting the balls in the track, picking them up from the floor, pressing the plunger, and potentially even catching the balls as they are blown out of the top.
• The balls are the perfect size for small hands to grasp, and place into the track.
• Toy that appeals to most children from 9 months to 3 years and is a toy that children of different ages can play with together.

Cons:

• For parents, the music is a bit loud and can become irritating.  Also, the balls tend to fall all over the floor and need to be repeatedly picked up.
• The funnel can get knocked off and even though it goes back on easily, it may disturb the child’s fun.
• Because the balls tend to roll away when they spill out onto the floor, they can get lost.  This toy does not work right without all 5 balls, so you may consider purchasing extras from the Hasbro website.
• The balls are not meant  to be chewed on, and teething babies can damage the balls to the point where they will no longer work in the ball popper.
• One of the older models (from 2007/2008) had a hole (where the balls come out) large enough for a small child to stick his arm into, so this could cause injury.  There is supposedly a newer version that has a cover over this hole, to keep a baby from getting his arm stuck.  You may want to check into the model that you are getting when you order.

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