Featured Company:

Hasbro Playskool Step Start Walk 'n Ride

Today's shopping tips: "Be wise in purchasing ..... find best value one"

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Manufacturer: Hasbro
Brand: Hasbro
List Price: $29.99
Our Price: $21.45
You Save: $ 8.54 ( 28% )
(prices subject to change)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

Average Ratings:

It's 2 toys in 1! As a sturdy, stable walker, the Step Start Walk 'n Ride helps babies learn to stand, take their first steps, and walk. Then it easily converts to a first ride-on toy! It has a locking mechanism that only parents can activate, so children can't change modes by themselves. Kids can explore the hands-on activities in both the walker and ride-on modes to see fascinating sights, hear silly sounds and touch interesting textures.


DESCRIPTION:

Amazon Maximum Age: 3
Manufacturer Maximum Age: 3
Amazon Minimum Age: 9
Batteries Included: 0
Binding: Toy
Brand: Hasbro
EAN: 0492040311558
Feature: Includes two toys in one - The sturdy, stable walker helps babies learn to stand and walk
Label: Hasbro
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Manufacturer Minimum Age: 9
Model: 5545
Publisher: Hasbro
Release Date: 2006-09-06
Studio: Hasbro


FEATURES:

• Includes two toys in one - The sturdy, stable walker helps babies learn to stand and walk
• Converts to baby's first ride-on toy, with a locking mechanism only parents can activate
• Features hands-on activities in both the walker and ride-on modes
• Kids can see fascinating sights, hear silly sounds and touch interesting textures
• Comes with a soft antenna, colorful spinner, clicking gearshift and storage area under the hood



SIMILAR ITEMS:

• Hasbro Playskool Busy Ball Popper
• LeapFrog® Learn & Groove Musical Table
• Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Baby's First Blocks
• Playskool Busy Ball-Tivity Center
• Fisher-Price Little Superstar Sing-Along Stage


CUSTOMER REVIEWS:

Customer Rating:
Summary: I love Playskool toys and this one especially!
Comment: Where Fisher Price has completely missed the mark in the last 10 years with ugly characters and garish, obnoxiously noisy toys, Playskool has picked up the slack. This car/walker is really cool. It's colorful and offers something for various baby stages. If they're not ready just yet to walk or ride, they can play with the gizmos located front and back. My daughter really enjoys the gadgety things and walking 'by herself.' We have hardwood floors and because of the wheel design - not very sophisticated being all plastic parts - there is enough friction that they don't go so fast as to roll right out from under her. Normally I'm not in favor of the giant plastic accessories that are supposed to help babies progress through their natural baby cycles, but I definitely recommend this one just for the fun value. Oh, and for the aching back that comes with toddling toddlers.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Great little walker
Comment: I have 3 kids - a 5 1/2 year old boy and twin 15 month old girls. I sort of expected my girls to do everything at the same time my son had done things, which would have meant walking at 12 months. They didn't.

It seemed like they were in the "tentative steps" stage forever without getting on to actually walking. One baby was doing better than the other and had been stuck in this stage longer. I remembered my son had a Radio Flyer walker wagon as a baby and wondered if that had helped. We still have it, but it needs some serious elbow grease to be used again (it got left in the rain... now it's in pieces, I thought I would refinish it some day... yeah, some day.)

So I bought one of these. One baby took to it IMMEDIATELY. I have never seen a baby go so crazy for a toy. She would just zip around the first floor of our house happy as can be. It's great that it is light weight so that even though the wheels are not able to swivel, the baby can sort of "float" the whole thing to make turns. But it's sturdy, too - there is a hump in the floor to get into our kitchen and she always gets stuck at this hump. I tried pushing down on the handle bar to raise the front wheel and this thing will not tip. I know someone else complained of tippiness but ours does not tip, not even when you want it to!

After a few weeks of this my baby is walking all over the place. Whether that was coincidence or if this gave her the push she needed, I don't know. I do know she loves this toy, though. It's great exercise for her, too. Even now that she is walking on her own she still loves zipping around behind this.

My other baby didn't care for it as much - she was the better walker when I first got this, and now her sister has passed her up big time. I think there really is something to this helping them polish up that walking skill. Gives them confidence and so on.

The activities on the toy aren't too entertaining which is actually a good thing. A friend of mine has a much busier FP walker and the babies get distracted by the toys, don't even use it as a walker.

I am not sure what I think of the ride-on feature of this yet. We actually briefly had one of these when my son was a baby because I wanted the ride-on car - but he was too tall by the time we got it, or so I thought. Now, much to my annoyance, he keeps turning this back into a car and riding around on it - and he's one of those absurdly tall 5 year olds so he's more like a 7 year old. So even though as a ride on toy this looks super tiny and useless - maybe kids can make do. My babies aren't at the ride-on stage yet, though.

Overall I highly recommend this. Not all kids will love it but for the price it's great to try. It goes together easily and holds up very well - plastic is rain-proof. :-)


Customer Rating:
Summary: Functional from beginning walker to toddler age.
Comment: We received this toy as a gift just when my son was just about the right age. As he was starting to learn how to walk, he took to the toy eagerly. He enjoyed putting things in the small storage compartment, spinning the flap-spinner, and shifting the 'gear lever'. In our apartment, which has berber carpet, he walked behind it without any slippage or imbalance of the toy. At Grampa's/Grandma's, where the floor is bare wood, the wheels did slip, and he did fall a few times.

Now my son is well into his toddlerhood, and he still plays with it with regularity. In ride-on mode, he now adds his imagination and says that he's driving a race-car or even a truck. It seems like the toy has had a good life, and I do not yet see the time when we'd give it away.

The toy is light, which makes it easy to carry (if the need arises). It may seem that its light weight would mean that it's flimsy, but it has survived one year of good use with no breakage. This may be because of its simple design. In walker mode, the toy does not flex -- it seems sturdy. Conversion between walker and ride-on is easy, but be sure to listen for the 'click' of the lock.

I recommend this toy if you have carpeted areas to use it on. It's also OK on pavement, but I advise adult supervision. I believe (but without proof) that this toy does encourage walking and did help my son learn to walk while having fun. (I'm sure that there are plenty of other factors. But it helps.)

My only irritation with this toy is the color. Ugh.

Customer Rating:
Summary: A little boring
Comment: We have had this toy for a while, we got it when my son was about 9 months old, now he's 16 months. I think he has played with it for a total of 15 minutes in all that time. He plays with it for 30 seconds or so and then gets bored. Even when he was first learning to walk, he didn't find it helpful. It really just takes up more space than it's worth.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Tips easily
Comment: I admit, our version of this toy is a couple of years old, but as far as I can tell, it hasn't changed. The wheels don't turn well, and in walker mode, it tips over VERY easily. My daughter got hurt a couple of times, and I threw it out. The kids do like the spinner on the back, though.

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