Chime Garden product reviews

It was by pure chance that I discovered how much my little 10 week old son loved this. It was on the floor, after my 8 year old son had been 'exploring' the cupboards again, and was left switched to mode-2, which plays a part of a tune then pauses until the child hits a flower, then it plays the next section of tune.

I was walking around trying to sooth a tired and grumpy baby and I started to stand on the Chime Garden unit. Realising what was sure to happen if I didn't change tack right away, I stepped off it and stumbled past trying to regain my balance. As soon as the tune started to play, my baby boy went quiet, his eyes went wide, and he started making that peculiar -coo-ing that tells me his interest has been caught.

So, sitting down with him in my lap, and the Chime Garden in front of him, I gently used his hand to tap a flower... and a bit more tune played, accompanied by happy -coo-ing noises and gurgles. Another tap, another tune-bit, more gurgles. Figuring I was on to a winner here, we spent the next 20 minutes working our way through the various tunes, but by far his favourite is Mode 2.

Though he has little in the way of accurate control of his limbs, it was very clear to see that he made plenty of attempts to hit the flower himself, and got very frustrated when I turned the unit so that his 'target flower' was on the far side. Happiness returned when 'Smilie Face Flower' was again closest to him and he was able to wave his arms and bat in it's general direction... and of course much joy was apparent when Daddy would guide his hand to the flower and give a discrete push on his behalf, triggering more of the pretty music.

Overall, an excellent toy in my books! Well constructed and fairly sturdy (as plastic flowers go), the unit did exactly what it stated it would, and was a winner here, with plenty of colours and textures to draw the attention and give interaction. Well worth exploring as an entertainment option even for the younger babies, even if Mum and/or Dad have to lend a bit of physical support here and there. Awesome 'parental bonding' time here.

This toy is best suited for a child who enjoys sitting up. The smiling faces and bright colours are very appealing. The flowers are easy for a 6 month old to touch in order to start the notes or music. My older son (3 years) enjoyed teaching my 6 month old how to use this toy and he liked using it as a piano to make up songs for his little brother. So I would rate this toy very highly if you want initiate interaction between siblings. When playing with this toy on his own my 6 month old was more interested in eating the flowers and as this toy is quite light I thought it safe enough for him to do so. It would have been nice however to have had a suction pad or something that could have been attached on the base to anchor it down. The light weight means that even when pushing the flowers to make the music the toy can easily move away from the seated child and as my son can not crawl after it I was constantly moving it back to within his reach.