Price Tag: $14.99
Official URL: vtech.com 
Rating:  

“My First Words” by VTech features popular characters from Winnie the Pooh. It has several modes of play that are controlled first by a switch that changes from “off” to “learning mode” to “music mode”. Then it has a day/night slider. Depending on how these switches are set, the different buttons do different things. 

Three buttons across the top teach animals, shapes and colors. (triangle/bird/yellow, heart/dog/red, circle/cat/blue) a light up star is next to those buttons, and below that are a Kanga and Roo button, a “twisting” Winnie the Pooh that you can twist from side to side, and a “bouncing” Tigger that you can slide up and down.

LEARNING MODE

In “Learning” mode, pressing the animal shape buttons teach your child shapes, colors, animals and sounds. Moving the characters identifies them, the objects that they are carrying, different phrases and sounds will play. The day and night slider will identify “Day” or “Night”, repeat different phrases and sound effects. Lights will flash along with the sounds. 

MUSIC MODE 

In Music mode the animal shape buttons play fun music and make animal sounds.  The day/night slider will play a short tune.Lights will flash along with the sounds. Move the characters and different songs will play. 

The songs that this unit plays are: Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone, Three Little Kittens, Little Miss Muffet, Hey Diddle Diddle, Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill and London Bridge is Falling Down. 

POWER SAVE SHUTOFF

If your child does not play with the toy for 10 seconds, the unit will either play some fun sounds or ask a question to try to get your child to play with it some more. After another 10 seconds of no input Winnie the Pooh will say “Goodbye” and the unit will power off. 

DURABILITY 

This toy holds up well to use, being dropped, and even having small amounts of liquid dumped onto it (although we do NOT recommend this!!) The buttons and switches are very well made and do not break easily. 

PACKAGING 

This unit is a bit difficult to remove from its packaging because it uses twist ties to affix it to the cardboard box. These ties wind through holes in the unit and it can be hard to work them out. I would recommend unboxing and wrapping this unit to save time and tears when your child unwraps the toy. The toy requires two AA batteries which come pre-installed but which VTech recommends that you replace, as they are just for demo purposes and may have run down already if you purchased the unit in a store. 

BOTTOM LINE 

This toy is a bit loud and annoying, but the voice used does sound like Pooh which is nice. We just wish it had a volume control! This toy is a good gift for a child that can sit up on their own and grab objects. In our experience kids tend to start losing interest in it when they’re able to walk, and then recover interest for a while when they start exhibiting early verbal skills.