Our family loves the Discovery Channel, especially Discovery Kids. Even though we’re way behind the times and haven’t seen any of the penguin movies that are out there, the girls have seen the penguins at the Aquarium, and they love Paz the penguin from the Ready, Set, Learn section of Discovery Kids.
My youngest was thrilled when we received the Paz’s lift-off Rocket for us to review through Parent Bloggers. Not only was it a review product for her, but it was also a rocket (very cool), had Paz and his friends (very cool), and it made noise (very cool)! What a great combination! (There have been a lot of older kid/tween products for review lately, not so many for the preschool set, so she was feeling left out.)
Our family loves space and rockets - we’re going to the local Planetarium the Monday after Thanksgiving, and we’ve been studying the Solar System for 2 years now. So a Rocket Ship fits in perfectly. LG loved the characters, and that she could move them around in the rocket and in the moon buggy. She also loved hitting the sound button, and seeing that there was a different sound when the rocket was on the ground/table than when it was flying in the air. Flying it in the air was fun - lots of running in circles! Her sisters (9 and 7) tried to wait patiently to play with it, but within a half hour they were all playing with it excitedly. It’s stood up for several weeks now, and they still enjoy playing with it. Many other characters besides Paz have gone for rides in the rocket now, too!
I liked several things about it:
- The toy is very open-ended, and allows for a lot of creative, imaginative play.
- The characters are easily handled, and aren’t a choking hazard - they don’t have pieces that move that could fall off.
- The doors on the Rocket snap back into place very easily if someone is playing too hard or if it crashes upon landing.
- The characters, buggy, and Rocket have all withstood many crashes without any serious damage.
- In a house where I have banned toys that talk, the volume on this toy is low enough that I don’t notice it. It is also a toy that only talks when you press a button - not one that talks at random.
- There has been a lot of creative play that mixed things up - Dora rode on the Rocket, and Paz had lunch at the toy kitchen. The characters and Rocket are fun by themselves, and the Rocket can be fun without the noises, too.
- The toy came with batteries pre-installed. yay! I hate hunting for batteries!
There were a couple things I didn’t like:
- The box says ages 3+, but the child playing with the toy on the box looked to be about 1 1/2. My kids didn’t notice, but I know others would, and then consider it a “baby toy”.
- It’s plastic made in China. I’m leery of that, but I do trust Discovery right now. They haven’t had any recalls.
Overall, I think it’s a great toy! A lot of fun to play with and not too many pieces to lose! We give it 5/5 stars, with a bit of a twinge about the plastic made in China.
Recently:
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- Book Review: Playing with Fire
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