International Playthings provided this toy free for review. The opinions represented in this blog post are purely the bloggers own.

Crayola TaDoodles Drop and See Review by ToyQueen
This is part of the Beginnings Baby Collection and it incorporates the Tadoodles balls into a nice storage compartment on the side. The balls included are Yellow, red and blue. Children are working on grasp and release skills from the ages of 9 months and up, which means they are working on picking up and letting go. When they drop the ball into the top, there are different levers that can be pushed down and activated to move the ball to a different compartment teaching cause and effect play as well as more refined coordination. You may need to use hand over hand assistance first when activating the buttons to teach the children how it operates and moves the ball through the maze. The balls also change color from one compartment to another, so you can work on teaching colors and what color appears when two colors are mixed together.

3 month old Gavin playing with Sassy Illumination Station suctioned cup to booster seat tray

From the moment I opened the Sassy Illumination Station, I personally couldn’t wait to give it a whirl and twirl! It’s so visually appealing with many colors, has many textures to touch and makes a cool rattle noise when it’s spun that Gavin my three month old was immediately interested.  It’s very easy to activate all the moving parts with a quick flick of the wrist, and not only does it encourage hand eye coordination, it provides exciting cause-and-effect play for young infants.

I used the suction cup to attach it to Gavin’s booster seat tray, clipped him in and positioned the tray. This may just be par for the course, but being a developmental specialist at heart, I could sit forever and watch him play with a toy, marveling in all of the little tricks he has quickly learned to do in his three short months of life. It’s so much fun to watch his curiousity and thinking skills develop as he repeatedly explores such an inviting toy.

Gavin is young, and the toy is marketed for children ages 6 months and older, but even at three months he is able to reach for the toy in front of him and spin the toys repeatedly! Even better, as his fine motor control is not accurate yet, I’m constantly picking up items that he’s swiped off the tray and onto the floor!

But not this toy!  It sometimes takes a few tries to get it to stick and a little water on the base helps, but once it sticks, the suction cup is strong enough for this toy to stay in place while he plays.  Another feature I like is how this toy also separates from the suction cup base. Later on this will help develop more refined hand skills, as babies hold the toy with one hand and spin the wheel with the other.

Sassy has been a mainstay in my treatment sessions for many years, as my experience is mostly with working with many infants and young children.  I have most recently been impressed with Sassy’s commitment to working with therapists and developmental specialists in the design process, as well as the amount of effort placed on researching infant development to create safe toys that our children will love to explore but that simultaneously enhance their developmental needs.

Check out all of Sassy’s new baby products at www.sassybaby.com or check back here frequently at www.toyqueen.com as I have a few more of their great new infant rattles, toys and feeding spoons planned for review!

Though Sassy provided this toy free for review, the above thoughts are purely my own opinion of the toy.

Disclosure: http://cmp.ly/2/g1fntq

In an effort to not become cluttered with baby items I put a lot of careful consideration into my choices.  I did not register for a full size high chair, borrowed a friend’s old travel swing and bought an Infantino playmat that folds up to be stored to save on floor space.

This morning I was thinking of a way to entertain my 2 1/2 month old so that I could get a few household chores done in his presence with the use of my own two hands! So I decided to open up the First Years “Infant to Toddler Feeder Seat.” Don’t let the name fool you, he’s not ready for food for another two months or so, but he’ll get a great deal of use of this item before then, I know it! Love it already and so doesn’t Gavin.

Within two minutes it was hooked up to my dining room chair with two straps. I would suggest a towel underneath it to cover your chair for later on when food is introduced. The seat has three positions, so I reclined it all the way back.  At 2 1/2 months, Gavin is doing well developing his trunk (midesection) strength, but he does not have the ability to sit straight up just yet without my help or side (lateral) support. Being reclined, this helps him to be well positioned so he can use his hands to play.  As his strength improves he’ll progress to a more upright position. I put him in the seat with the tray and put a few of his favorite rattles in front of him.

Voila! The recline of the tray puts the items in a better perspective for him to view them and he entertained himself for a good 20 minutes banging away at the toys.  Not to mention he played so hard and so well he’s napping and you’ve got the benefit of this blog post, too!

Check out the new rattle on the tray he got for the holidays.  Sassy has just revamped their infant rattle line and this is one of the three that I purchased at Babies R Us.  Love it! It has a spinning ball on the inside that lights up when you barely hit it, which is great for teaching simple cause and effect at such a young age.  He can easily spin the ball already if I hold it up for him and the light is great in my diaper bag when looking for smaller items that may have been hidden. My friend’s 6 year old enjoyed it as well over the holidays pretending it was an airplane and a rolling car!

So don’t let the young age of your infant and the name of the tools fool you, just because it is a “Feeder Seat” doesn’t mean it can’t be used for entertainment and fun too!