When it comes to babies, I often struggle to find just the right present. I have a one-year-old nephew to shop for this year, and I don’t want to get him a toy he’ll only play with a few times then outgrow, or something that won’t hold his interest. I want to find a toy that he’ll love and play with for a long time (which incidentally gets me huge auntie cred!). So I was really interested when I saw Fisher-Price’s new line of Laugh & Learn Smart Stages Toys. These engaging and colourful toys feature an innovative learning technology that grows with your child for up to three years. Each toy boasts three levels of programmable content that can easily be adjusted to match your childβs development.
We recently had the chance to check out the Puppy’s Smart Stages Train from Fisher-Price, part of that new line. The first thing I noticed was the size of the train. At 18 inches long, it was larger than I had expected and nicely sized for baby and toddlers. Like every other Fisher-Price toy we own, it’s very sturdy and you don’t need to worry about dropping it (which happens a lot in my house!).
The included puppy, monkey, and frog rattles are the perfect size for little hands to hold onto and sit in any of the train cars. The train plays 50+ songs, phrases, and sounds that introduce letters, numbers, colors, shapes, opposites, and more.
Level 1 (6 months+): Explore
“Level one. Let’s have some fun!” At level one, baby can press any of the five shape buttons along the side for simple words and numbers, or press the smokestack for songs, lights, and to get the train moving. Busy activities like a slider ladybug, ABC spinner, number roller, and clacker beads foster coordination and fine motor skills. The motorized train encourages crawling, but for young babies, you can turn off the motorization so the train doesn’t roll away.
Level 2 (12 months+): Encourage
“Level two. Let’s learn something new!” The next level expands on the introduction of letters, colours, and shapes, and encourages baby to respond to questions and simple directions. I love the alphabet teaching song you get when you press the smokestack.
Level 3 (18 months+): Pretend
“Level three. Let’s pretend. Yippee!” The third level encourages older toddlers to engage in imaginative play. The shape buttons now give prompts like, “Orange wheels spin round and round. Can you spin too?”
We all know babies outgrow their toys almost before you can blink, so the Smart Stages feature is a clever idea that really helps you get your money’s worth. I think this would be particularly useful for families with more than one young child as you can easily move between stages with the switch along the side.
Oh, and one last thing. The Puppy’s Smart Stages Train runs on two C batteries, and you’ll be happy to know they come included! (Yay for no Christmas Eve battery runs!)
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Fisher-Price toys are available wherever toys are sold. The Puppy’s Smart Stages Train retails for $44.99 CAD but is currently on sale at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.
Win a Fisher-Price Smart Stages Vacuum!
Fisher-Price is generously offering another of their Laugh and Learn Smart Stages toys one lucky This West Coast Mommy reader. The Smart Stages Vacuum (ARV $29.99) encourages your baby to learn through real-world role play and features three light-up shape buttons that help teach baby about colours, shapes, and letters. Parents can manually change the level for content updates.
Enter to win in the Rafflecopter widget below. This giveaway is open to residents of Canada only, 18+. All entries will be verified. Prize delivery is not guaranteed by Christmas, so please plan accordingly.
Check out my other giveaways over in the right sidebar!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure: I received a sample item for review. All opinions expressed are completely honest and my own, based on my personal experience. Your experience may differ. This post contains affiliate links. This West Coast Mommy is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
I would love to win it for my little girl!
I would love to win this my little nephew who is about 8 months old.
I’d like to win this for a baby shower gift for my niece.
Well, Cub has a love/hate relationship with our actual vacuum cleaner. I feel like this might appease him!
My little one is obsessed with our vacuum lol. He says “vkoom” all through the day, points at it, presses the area where it starts and loves to see any and all crumbs. It’s really funny π I would love to win this vacuum for my little guy. Thanks for the chance, twitter fan@plumerea
I’d give it to both my girls to play with but my almost 3 year old would go nuts for it!
I would like to win this for my granddaughter Sarina – thanks!
I would love to win this because I think it would make an awesome gift for my nephew!!
I would give this to my granddaughter Sarina for Christmas – thanks
I would like to win it for my 10 month old son Westin.
I would love to win this Fisher Price vacuum for my daughter. She would have so much fun with it !
I hope that this is open to Canadians as your terms say “US Only”.
While my kids would love this, I’d donate it to our local foodbank like we do every year.
Besos, Sarah
Blogger at Journeys of The Zoo
Thanks for catching that! Fixed now. Yes, it’s open to Canada only.
I’d like to win this for my niece.
I would love to win this toy for my son. He turns 1 year old on December 20. I’m sure he would love it…cause I do.
My lovely son !!
I would love to win this for my own toddler. She loves when I vacuum, and tries to use my vacuum herself, so I know she would love this toy!
my friend just had a little one, i would give this to her
I would love to win this for my daughter!
I would love to win this for my yet to be born grandson!
I would love to share this with my grand daughter, Rosabella! She loves to watch me vacuum, and I know she would fully enjoy having her own π Thank you for the opportunity
I would like to win the Smart Stages Vacuum for my niece Sadie.
I’d like to win the Smart Stages Vacuum for my little cousin.
I would like this for my little grandson!
I would like to win for my granddaughter.
I would love to win for my daughter. She thinks it’s pretty great when I vacuum so I know she’d enjoy working along with me!
I’d like to win for my 9 month old daughter!
I like the fisher price toy because it has stages that will grow with my grand daughter and it looks like a real vacuum , she loves playing clean up lol
I would like to win this for my son.
I would love to win this for my newest grandbaby!!
I would love to win it for my step grandkids! Thank you for the giveaway!
I have a friend who has a little one and I know he would love this. Won’t say the name as I want it to be a surprise. π
I would love to win this for my little man…he’s 29 months old and loves to “help” vacuum.
My grand daughter loves to “help” out and she’d be extra excited to have her ‘own’ little vacuum to “help” out. π
I would love to win this for my son.
I would love to win this for my 1 year old granddaughter, Taylor. She has just learned to walk and she would have so much fun with this
I’d love it for my son.
I would love to win this for my daughter who just got the hang of walking on her own recently!
I would love to win this for my kids. They love to vacuum although my youngest (20months) is a bit scared of the big vacuum when it is turned on so he would love his own vacuum!
I would love to win this for my nephew who will be 8 months at Christmas, it would be a fun toy for him to grow into.
My son’y best friend has a sweet little boy that these would be perfect for.
I would love to win this for my baby boy
This would be for my youngest grandson in Germany – he’s 7 mths now but by the time I go over he’d be able to play with this.
I would like to win this for my niece. She is a mover and a groover. Never sits down.
I’d love to win this for my great-nephew.
This would be for my hairdressers young son.
I’d like to win this for the Christmas Bureau.
I would love to win this for my son! He would absolutely love this
I would like this for my new grandaughter
My goddaughter – I think she’d love it!
I would like to win this for my daughter π