The balls are fun for little ones but boy is it LOUD, 18 Nov. 2012

After about 30 seconds with this piano I was reaching for the superglue to mute its speakers. There are two volume settings - unpleasantly loud and DEAFENING. I can see no reason why could possibly be a good idea to subject any child (or their parent) to the louder setting. But, superglue in place, it is now just about acceptable.

The twist on the usual piano toy is that every time a key is hit, a little hammer sends a coloured ball up a tube. This movement really grabs the attention of both my 10 month old and 2.11 year old, they both enjoy bashing it. It is a very sturdy toy and feels durable.

There are four settings:

- colour: pressing a key results in the corresponding colour being sung;

- numbers: pressing a key results in the corresponding number being sung;

- instrument: pressing a key selects selects an instrument and then the toy can be played like a keyboard (the least annoying setting);

- song: pressing a...

This review is from: LeapFrog Poppin' Play Piano (Toy)

A hit!, 27 Aug. 2013

When I initially saw this online, I had doubts whether it was suitable for my 1 year old. I subsequently saw it in a departmental store and tried it out. The colourful leaping balls captivated me from the first go! The keys are arranged in scale thus you can play simple tunes like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Row Row Row Your Boat etc. I could only recognise one of the prerecorded songs, namely The Entertainer. Bought it from Amazon as soon as I came home as it was cheaper. My 1 year old loves banging on the keys with fingers and feet(!), making the balls leap vertically (and roll horizontally like a pinball machine!), biting it and carrying it around the room. It is sturdy, well made, no sharp corners, good sound/volume - I don't find it particularly loud. Withstood 4 months of play so far. Kept all of us entertained! The only downsides are (1)would have liked the prerecorded songs to have been popular nursery rhymes and (2) keys ought to have been made more similar to a piano with...

This review is from: LeapFrog Poppin' Play Piano (Toy)

Good fun and strangely appealing, 6 Dec. 2012

This daft little piano has been a big hit with our fifteen-month-old daughter. She has taken to dragging it around with her as she toddles, so that she can play it in any room she likes, like a proper little busker.

She's too young for the numbers and colours teaching to be relevant, but if she's happily banging away at the keys and she starts to associate some things together then it certainly won't do any harm. Hopefully she'll stay as keen on this toy in the future (obviously not too far into the future) as she is now, and it will start to have a little educational benefit too.

Other reviewers have said it is loud. I see their point, it's quite loud in the loudest of the two settings- maybe that's part of the appeal... the volume control (high/low/off) seems to have been designed for adult fingers though, it's not easy for the child to change that setting even though it's a visible button on the top of the piano, so you can be fairly sure if you set it to the...

This review is from: LeapFrog Poppin' Play Piano (Toy)