Chicco : Hello Baby Animals Telephone

As I've said in previous blog posts and reviews, I am a firm believer that babies and toddlers are like sponges and anything you want a child to pick up is best introduced as early in their life as possible. This, I believe, is especially true when it comes to foreign languages.

So when Chicco sent me their Hello Baby Animals Telephone I was intrigued as to the concept.

Suitable from 12 months, this telephone toy is great. It is bilingual having a man speaking English and a woman saying the same words and phrases in French. It is designed to help children discover first words and numbers in French (or English!) including animals, numbers, greetings, animal sounds and short phrases. The fun phone book on the left of the phone is great fun. Lexi really enjoyed flicking back and forth and hearing "Dog" then "Chien" and "Rabbit" then "Lapin" among others. You can then advance to pressing their phone number (simply the hash key followed by the corresponding number) to hear the animal sounds and answer to you "phoning" them.

The handset is really tactile and easy to hold so Lexi had lots of fun "phoning" people like Mummy does and speaking on the phone to them. The toy itself is really well made, sturdy and robust. It put up with being endlessly dropped and bashed by Lexi and doesn't have a single mark on it.

It is really easy to switch between languages as there are two large buttons on either side of the luminous display at the top each with the corresponding country's flag on it. Lexi soon picked up which side was English and which French and loved listening to something in English and then swapping it over to French and imitating what the lady was saying. After only a few minutes of playing with it, Lexi was already saying "Bonjour" (actually more like Bunjoo!) and "Chat" "chien" and "trois" (Lexi translated this as Twaaaaa!).

One of the best bits for us parents is that there are two volume levels too so when singing and continually listening to "one, two, one, three, one, one, one" gets a bit too much, we can turn it down so it's not too loud but still audible for your little one!

The luminous display is cool too - with dancing numbers and shapes corresponding to different buttons being pressed and different songs and phrases. Lexi soon recognised how to get various displays moving and dancing depending on what she pressed and she loved it!

Chicco haven't just stopped here with just one bilingual toy, there is a whole range of them for varying ages so why not pop over to their website and take a look for yourself.

The Hello Baby Animals Telephone retails with an RRP of £19.99 which I think is a great price for it as it is affordable and would make a fantastic birthday or Christmas present for both sexes and any age between 12 and 36 months. It is available from lots of good stockists including Very.co.uk. You can also learn more about Chicco and their products on their UK website too here.

Chicco have always been well-known as a Company that makes fantastic toys for both fun, learning and both! Their Hello Baby Animals Telephone not only started Lexi on her journey of learning foreign languages but she had fun whilst doing it and therefore had a huge smile on her face...

Thank you Chicco. Your toys have always been firm favourites in our household but above all, your Hello Baby Animals Telephone is especially Loved By Lexi!