Vtech Baby: Babytime Centre

Whilst Master Craftiness has been busy with his activities, so has Baby Craftiness. At 9 months his brain is rapidly developing so he is now at the stage where he needs mental stimulation more and more. That's when we discovered just how much he loved this toy!

THE VTECH BABYTIME CENTRE

This is the keyboard part of the toy which acts as a standalone toy in itself. Baby Craftiness will happily play in his playpen with this alone for about 15-20 minutes. The keyboard appeals to little hands to explore it by forming a smiley face. The favourite part for Baby Craftiness seems to be the joystick part of it. Perhaps that's because it seems a bit like forbidden remote controls and phones. Press a button and it will play songs or repeat colours or shapes. The repetitive nature of the console is designed to help with language development and phonics. As Baby can't speak yet it is a little too early to form an opinion on whether this helps or not.

The next part of this system is the really clever part; the plug and play. Plug the base unit in to the TV and baby can then interact with the characters. Pressing different buttons will initiate different outcomes; press the red button to cause a ball to appear and again to disappear. What most seemed to grasp the attention of Baby was when he could control certain characters from The Night Garden. The other theme was characters from the zoo.

I was initially a little dubious as to whether a computer system such as this would hold a baby's attention, but it seems from his reaction that it most certainly did. It certainly seems a factor as to why he loves it so much is because he realises that there is a cause and effect to his actions. He has learnt that his action causes a reaction from the characters.

You are also able to upload photos of relatives, pets, friends etc on to the system which really raised a smile from Baby. Imagine what a thrill it must be for a baby to see their family on TV!

The system is aimed at 9-36 months and there are a whole host of features, one being baby sign language featured within the games. As Baby is only 9 months I really feel we are only just starting to get the amazing benefits from this console. Within a few months I think that we are going to get more and more use out of this.



But as you can see for now Baby is very contented with his new toy.......