Playskool Busy Ball-Tivity Center

I bought this toy for both my children when they where younger and they both ADORED it. So for my friends daughters 1st birthday, I could think of nothing better. Both my kids positively LOVED it. It is so easy for baby/toddler to press the buttons, start the music and watch what is happening to the balls!! Played with constantly it was well worth the money and a great buy, and not one of those toys that just 'sits on the shelf getting dusty'. Hopefully my friends daughter will adore hers too. It is very educational as they will work out the air is pushing the balls, and also how to make the characters move etc, as well as being interactive. A 'must have' toy!

This is a really great toy! I bought this for my 9 month old grandaughter but my 3 yr old grandaughter plays with it all the time... the 9 month old crawls after her to get to this toy! There are numerous fine-motor challenges with this toy besides being totally cute! The animals are removable and the kids do play with them independent of the toy itself. It is a toy that the kids can use over the course of several years so that makes it a good value purchase due to usably/motor development challenges... honestly though the biggest factor is they both keep playing with this toy over and over!The only real downside I can find , which is strictly a matter of opinion, is there is no master shut-off switch on the bottom like the Busy Basics Busy Ball Choo-Choo, there is just an on/off button on the top which acts as the master switch... to activate the music and motion you push the ladybug seen in the pictures.I bought the Busy Basics Busy Ball Choo-Choo at the same time and the balls can be inter-changed with the Busy Ball-Tivity Center...a definite plus!IMO: Motor-skills wise the Busy Ball-Tivity Center is GREAT to assist in development, there are challenges a child can seek there; with the Choo-choo there are limited challenges for a child, but it is a very cute toy.FYI---If you could only buy one THE hands-down favorite of both grandchildren is the Busy Ball-Tivity Center!!! Hope this review helps you make a more informed purchase.

I am writing this review after 1 year of buying this toy. My son is 2yrs now and he still pulls this out once and gets busy with it.The toy is very solidly built. I am now missing the balls (of course), but all the other attachments are still working fine.I think the reason my son liked this so much is that this is very different concept compared to usual toys. the concept of air being used to make something else move, it quite intriguing for him.specially one of the attachements (the palm tree) was his favorite toy standalone for many months. on one of our international trips, this was the only toy which calmed him down during the tough days of severe cold temperatures and also pneumonia.5 stars to this toy!Update as of Sept 12 2013:My 2nd son (now One) uses it now and loves it. of course, some parts went missing, but the toy still works and still continues to amuse both my kids..

My 3 yr old and 10 month old both played with this extensively when we 1st got it. But it got old fast. After about a week it was upside down in the toy basket, with the balls who knows where. The 10 mo old is now nearly 14 mos, and walking. He will occasionally play with this toy, but it's not more than a minute or 2 before he's off to something more interesting. I guess that's about all I should expect. But I would probably feel better if I hadn't seen several boxes of this toy on the shelves in Marshall's a mere 2 months after I bought it, for half what I paid.

Playskool could film an ad using my 10 month old's reaction to seeing this in action for the first time. He squealed with delight, grinned, clapped his hands, and immediately wanted to interact with it. Obviously gains the attention of its target audience. My 3 year old is also interested in the toy, so I'm assuming it has "legs" and will provide entertainment throughout the toddler years.Here are my cons:1. It is noisy. The music is loud, and there is no option to lower or shut off the volume. I find this really annoying, and will probably either tape over the speaker to muffle it, or even dismantle the toy to see if I can shut the music off internally. Would be great to have a volume option - seems like a no brainer.2. The pneumatic air action lasts only FIFTEEN SECONDS (yes, I timed it), before shutting off and requiring another activation. I assume my 10 mo will figure out how to restart it eventually, but right now it shuts down and he wanders off unless I (or his big sister) sit and restart it. Come on, couldn't we have had 30-60 seconds of play??3. Only three balls are included, and they are bound to get lost or damaged. Five or six balls would have been nice.Otherwise, this is a lot of fun, although I am glad that I got it on Amazon's huge pre-Xmas sale and didn't pay regular price for it. For less than ten bucks, it was a great deal.