Tiny Love Musical Stack and Ball Elephant Review

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Disclaimer: Tiny Love sent me the Musical Stack and Ball Elephant to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and I received no monetary compensation for this post. This post contains affiliate links.

 

When looking for toys for my one year old, multi-functionality is key. That’s why I was so excited when I heard about this toy from Tiny Love. It features balls that an be inserted either via a funnel, or directly into the cone. It is also a take on the classic stacking ring toy.

First Impressions:

The toy is a bright and playful toy, cheerful as toys should be. There is no assembly required, other than inserting three AA batteries (not included). The balls have rattles and are pretty small and easy for little hands to grip.

I was impressed, at first, with the attention to detail. The pretty patterns and different textures stand out. The various play modes are obviously well designed and thought out.

Features:

• Four stacking rings stack on the cone shape of the body, creating the elephant.
• Three balls can be placed into the elephant, either with the head on or off.
• The head can be removed to use it as a stacking toy.
• The head can be removed to make inserting the balls more challenging as well.
• Lights up and plays music when balls are thrown in and hit a large red button inside.
• The ball “gate” opens and closes to remove the balls.

• The balls feature a rattle inside, and have cute shapes etched in.

• The cloth rings double as the elephant’s hands and feet, and open and close using  a Velcro closure.

What I Liked:

As you can see, there is lots to explore here. My baby loves toys with balls – the balls on their own entertain him for a while. There’s the action/reaction of dropping the balls in and hearing the music. It also involves motor skills development in a few areas: dropping the balls in, stacking the rings, and with the Velcros on the elephant’s hands and feet.

The balls are rattles as well, and while my baby has mostly outgrown rattles, it seems like he hasn’t outgrown rattle balls! He is obsessed with these, and is constantly searching them down.

The rings are large and easy to stack, which means that he plays with it more.

I love that the ball play can be adjusted to the baby’s skill level, and used with the head/funnel attached, or without.

The various textures and elements keep my baby interested. There are the floppy ears, the fringe at the end of the head/cone, and the Velcro hands.

What I Didn’t Like:

My main issue is with the music and sound. I found the music to be tinny and unsophisticated – like the first ring tones. Honestly, this is personal taste, but it does cause me to give it to him to play switched off. That’s not such a bad thing in my opinion – since there is enough entertainment involved without the sound. I don’t think that everything needs to be electronic.

The “button” is hard to hit, and the ball needs to be put in at the right angle, meaning that more often than not placing the ball inside does NOT set off the music. That’s just another reason I give it to him switched off….

Who It’s Great For:

• This is a GREAT budget gift, as it’s all in one and you’re getting lots of bang for your buck.
• As with many stacking, sorting toys, this is more likely to be mastered at age twelve months or beyond, rather than the normal recommendation of 6/9 months. Because of the rattles, though, this toy can be enjoyed from age six months and up.
• This is great for sensory babies, because of the various textures.
• The rings are larger than average, and easier to grip. The balls are smaller than average. This makes it the perfect set for a child who is struggling with other stacking and sorting toys
• And finally, this is ideal for those of us with little space, as multi-function makes it a space saver.

Final Score *****

As a musical toy, I’d give this three stars, however, since it’s been functioning or us 100% as a non-musical, fine motor and cognitive skills toy, I’d highly recommend it in that context, and give it five stars. I do feel like such toys don’t need to be musical. I also think that for the $30 price point, you are getting plenty of bang for your buck.

Buy it here

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Disclaimer: Tiny Love sent me the Musical Stack and Ball Elephant to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and I received no monetary compensation for this post. This post contains affiliate links.

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