Baby’s First Toy 6 Piece Gift Set  includes 6 vibrantly colored rattles  and teethers that are designed to soothe the sore gums of a teething baby, as well as encourage development of  motor skills, all the while teaching to entertain himself.  Baby’s First Toy 6 Piece Gift Set is made by Sassy.  This toy set features a Flipper Gripper Rattle, Gummy Guppy, Coolin’ Droolin’ Teether, Bird Wrist Rattle, Lively Links,  and Bee Wrist Rattle.  Each of these toys is made up of bright colors, patterns, and different interactive features, each designed to encourage baby to develop different motor skills.  For example, the Gummy Guppy Teether builds awareness and muscle strength of the lips and tongue which are necessary for speech.  The Lively Links help encourage the development of baby’s grasping reflex, while the rattles help baby to understand cause and effect.  This is a great  learning toy set for newborn babies and older.

Pros:

• Wrist rattles are ideal for travel, as they are small and attach to baby’s wrist, which helps to avoid dropping on a car ride.
• All of the toys are very easy to clean.
• Toys are a great size to bring on road trips for baby to play with in a car seat.  They are also small enough to conveniently store in a diaper bag or the seat- back pockets of a car.
• All toys are suitable for a small baby, rather than just one or two of the toys in the set, as is the case with some of the competitors products.
• Coolin’ Droolin’ Teether can be refrigerated or frozen to provide additional soothing to a teething baby’s sore gums.
• The Lively Links can be used to hang other toys from  car seats, mobiles, cribs, and strollers.
• All toys are light-weight and easy for even very young babies to hold and play with.

Cons:

• It has been reported that there is a potential that the Coolin’ Droolin’ Teether  can begin to leak if it is handled too roughly.  Although, Sassy only uses distilled water in this teether, this may be a big negative for some parents.

The Garden Bug Wrist Rattle/ Foot Finder Set is a set of 4 brightly colored, smiley faced, patterned and rattling interactive toys. The set includes 2 wrist rattles (rattles that attach to baby’s wrists), and 2 foot finders (socks with garden bug characters), and is made by Lamaze. This set encourages the development of hand-eye coordination and exploration. The bright colors and cute garden bug characters make this set visually stimulating to baby, and the rattling sounds create auditory interest.

Pros:

• These toys are ideal for taking on road trips or in the strollers, as they Velcro on to baby, so they can’t be dropped.
• Toys are small and fit easily into a purse,  diaper bag, or a pocket, so they can entertain baby anywhere.
• Both the rattles and the foot finders are made of soft fabric that is comfortable against baby’s skin.
• This set is machine washable on delicate cycle, so it is very easy to keep clean.
• The bug characters work well for a baby to chew when teething.
• Great for babies that are not yet able to grasp and hold a non-attaching rattle.  As baby develops more grasping skills, she can hold these toys rather than wear them.

Cons:

• Using all four of these toys at the same time may be overstimulating to some babies, so may be better to use only one of the foot finders or wrist rattles at a time.
• The socks (foot finders) are made of t-shirt material, rather than normal sock material and have the potential to stretch out while on baby’s feet, making them fall off when baby kicks.  They may stay on baby’s feet better if put on over other socks.
• The size is quite small and does not contain stretch elastic, so the size may limit use to very young and small babies, unless used as hand-held rattles.
• The rattles are not very loud, which some people find does not stimulate their baby as much as louder rattles do.

The Animal Exploration Tunnel is an activity tunnel designed to excite babies with interactive developmental toys including discovery flash cards, bird that “tweets“, water filled teether , soft sun rattle, and ring rattle, as well as pictures of Baby Einstein characters and realistic animals on the floor mat. The Animal Exploration Tunnel is made by Baby Einstein.  The Animal Exploration Tunnel comes complete with a 4-foot long tunnel, with mesh windows, movable toys, and a  crinkle floor mat with bright images.  This is the ideal toy for early crawlers or babies that you are trying to encourage to crawl.  Best suited for babies 3 months and older.

Pros:

• Mesh cutouts in wall of tunnel allow for peek-a-boo between parent and child.
• Many of the toys are removable.  They can be moved from the arch to the mat, or taken out of the tunnel for a bed-time buddy or car ride entertainment.
• There are additional rings that can be used to hang other toys (that did not come with the tunnel), for added and constantly changing interest.
• The tunnel is really light-weight and can be easily lifted and moved out of the way.
• Because of visual images on the floor mat, the Animal Exploration Tunnel encourages both tummy time and movement in the tunnel.

Cons:

• The Animal Exploration Tunnel is quite large and takes up a lot of space when it is fully assembled.

• It is necessary to remove the metal support tubes to fold up the Animal Exploration Tunnel and put away.  Some people find this cumbersome.
• Children should never be left unattended while in the Animal Exploration Tunnel, as there are several common sense warnings: 1.  There is a potential suffocation hazard if used on a soft surface, other than the floor.  2.  There is also a potential fall hazard if this product is used some place other than the floor, as the tunnel is very light-weight and children can move it.  3. The tunnel could collapse on baby if the metal supports are used for support to stand with.
• The mesh sides of the tunnel are fragile and are easily stuck to Velcro in the wash.

The Bendy Ball is a brightly colored, soft plastic ball made by Baby Einstein.  The Bendy Ball has the recognizable Baby Einstein cheery, colorful caterpillar character around the center of the ball.  The flexible plastic makes this ball easy for little hands to grasp, hold and shake.  There is also a smaller rattle ball contained inside the bendy ball for additional visual and auditory interest.

Pros:

• Easily held and rattled by little hands.
• Because of soft exterior, ball is safe to be thrown on the ground to enjoy the different rattling sound that causes.
• Very durable.
• Easily clipped to a stroller or car seat using links.

Cons:

• The caterpillar is a bit hard and could cause injury if swung or thrown as a weapon.
• The Bendy Ball is a little bit heavy, but generally picked up by most young children above the age of 3-months.

The Curious Crab Rattle is a brightly colored crab-shaped rattle made by Sassy/LeapFrog.  The crab is made with clear claws that contain colorful beads that rattle when shaken. He also has vibrant colored crinkle fabric for his feet with the names of the colors on each foot to help a baby learn and recognize colors.  The crab is complete with a happy open smiling face that doubles as a handle for a baby’s small hands.

Pros:

• Toy is designed with bright colors to attract an interest a baby.
• Rattle and crinkle sounds created by this toy allow for cause and effect learning, as well as audio stimulation.
• Crab mouth works well as a handle for small hands to be able to grasp, hold, and shake.
• The varying colors and fabrics of this toy make it perfect for tactile investigation.
• The varying colors of the feet help baby to learn and recognize colors.

Cons:

• The crab’s body is made of hard plastic that could injure a child or parent if swung or thrown like a weapon.
• Only soft parts on this toy are the feet, which are not easily held by a teething baby.  Some children may have  hard time grasping and holding on to the handle.
• The hard plastic of the crab’s body and claws can get broken or cracked with repeated dropping, so it needs to be checked regularly for any sharp edges that could cut a baby.