It was Toby’s first birthday recently and we had a (sort of) party just for his grandparents and a couple of our friends. If you are planning a first birthday party though, Fisher-Price have a whole section of their website dedicated to helping you plan the party and find the perfect gifts. There are loads of tips as well as printables; from invitations, to gift cards, place cards and even bunting and goody bags. There’s also a handy check-list so you can make sure you haven’t forgotten anything!

Even though we weren’t really having a party for Toby the lovely people at Fisher-Price sent him a fantastic birthday present: the Laugh & Learn Love to Play Puppy.

The Details

The Laugh & Learn Love to Play Puppy is an interactive soft toy suitable from 6 to 36 months. It has two modes of play: learning and musical games which are activated by pressing different parts of the puppy. It has an RRP of £19.99 and is availale from a wide variety of retailers. Prices can vary depending on the retailer – it is currently £14.99 at Argos.

The Pros

•  The puppy is a great size – big enough for easy cuddles but not too big to be overwhelming.
• All the buttons are very easily activated making it very easy for Toby to play with the puppy by himself.
• There are lots of different sounds and songs – in learning mode the puppy says the name and colour of the body part being pressed, the music mode has lots of familiar songs and rhymes such as heads, shoulders, knees and toes and pat-a-cake.
• The sounds can be turned off  temporarily by pressing one of the feet (although this is easily switched back on by pressing again) or can be completely switched off using a switch hidden by velcro on the back of the puppy.
• The switch also gives two volume settings.
• The red light up heart is great for younger children as they can see and hear when press it.

The Cons

• From a child’s point of view there aren’t really any downsides – from an adult’s point of view the only problem is that all the sounds and songs can get a bit annoying after a while, but I think the same can be said of all these kind of toys (and you can always switch it off if it gets unbearable!)

The Verdict

The Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Love to Play Puppy really does make an ideal first birthday gift. Toby’s face lit up when we first gave him the puppy and showed him how to press the different parts. At the moment he especially loves the songs and pressing the heart to make it light up. I am sure when he gets a bit older though he will enjoy learning the words for the different parts of the body and singing along too. This is a toy that I can really see Toby getting a lot of use out of for a long time to come.

**Disclosure: I was sent  a Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Love to Play Puppy in return for this review. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.