Tomy Colour Discovery Hot Air Balloon
Description Let your little one’s imagination take flight with the colour discovery hot-air balloon from TOMY. Play colour and shape matching games using the interactive balloon that’s got all the right answers. Scatter the seven colourful animal tiles around the floor and go looking for one of the colours.
Ask your child to call out the colour then land the balloon on the tile, the sides will glow the same colour as the tile, then the balloon will call out the correct colour. A game for recognising colours and stimulating memory, you can also go in search of the seven animals pictured on the tiles.
Flip them over, mix the up and start again. As well as recognising the colours on the tiles, the balloon is clever enough to recognise colours on other surfaces, too, so the play possibilities are endless. The balloon’s colours will scroll round as you fly. Fun phrases and a lively soundtrack encourage play and there are handles on the side so kids can hang on tight for the ride. Let’s fly high in the sky.
Review:
This toy comes in a well packaged box with a variety of coloured cards that the balloon lands on and names the colour. It also has a demo mode, which helps.
Essentially it is an interactive teaching aid.
My daughter got bored with this very quickly as there isn’t much the actual balloon does. The idea is good but the toy value limited. This toy would suit a child who is patient and has a good level of communication.
There is nothing wrong with the toy and it does what the manufacturer claims. I just found its capacity to engage my daughter was limiting.
It does promote a good interaction between parent and child as each has to ask questions and explore different colours.
There is a reasonable amount of technology that has gone into its production and the toy is robust enough, if dropped, not to break.
The other thing that the toy does is to act as a musical nightlight. If you press and hold the purple button it plays music and the balloon, randomly, changes colour.
The novelty of this toy will wear off and it isn't a lot of good for a child younger than three or four to play with independently. It would need to be in a batch of toys that was rotated for its interest value to be maintained.
PWT rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
TOMY Colour Discovery Hot-Air Balloon