Fisher-Price Zoom ‘n Crawl Monster

(Fisher-Price $34.99)

Here’s one playful monster with a big mouth that doesn’t close and two ways of playing. For starters your sitting up baby can drop balls into the bright orange monster’s head and watch how they spin around and pop out. It’s one of those set-ups for a favorite game of put and take or fill and dump that babies like to play again and again. Repetition is a way of gaining mastery of small motor skills and their budding notion of cause and effect. If I do this…that will happen. So this is a fun toy for babies who are sitting up but not yet on the move. Once baby is on the move, it will be even more fun to chase the monster, which can zoom, spin and spit out balls while it sings, makes funny sounds and says phrases to keep baby on the move. Marked 9 months to 3 years. We doubt the upper range of this, but we do think sitting up babies and young toddlers will like the repetition and active physical play of this friendly toy with two volume settings. However, one tester reported that her one-year old found the "funny sounds" less than amusing. In fact, when the volume was turned up, she was reduced to tears. It comes with four try-me C batteries that you will need to replace for best play actions.

SNAP: For beginners, this fill and dump toy gives kids a sense of power in making something happen. A swipe of the hand on the roller bar gives them instant feedback. Dropping the balls in the top gives small hands repeated reasons to grasp and release the colorful spheres and make sounds and motion happen. For the next stage, Zoom 'n Crawl Monster is a good choice to motivate reluctant crawlers to get on the move.