My Cheeky Monkeys and the Apptivity™ Monkey

Sponsored By Nuffnang

Is it just me or do you hold your breath when the kids want to use your iPhone®, iPod touch® or the iPad®? These devices are a great source of entertainment and education but they also cost a lot of money and I am always worried about smashed screens or broken devices. I do think they provide great ways for children to learn though so I am always on the lookout for new and fun products to protect our iOS devices, allowing me to breathe easier which and the kids to be able to learn through play. Thanks to Fisher-Price® we were given the opportunity to test out the Apptivity™ Monkey and The Laugh & Learn™ Apptivity™ Case.

  Airlie & Jonty  using the Apptivity™ Monkey                                                     Aston using Apptivity™ Monkey        

The Apptivity™ Monkey from Fisher-Price is a cute and happy little fella, he is an interactive soft toy that can be used either on its own or with certain iPhone® and iPod touch® devices.  The monkey itself is soft and cuddly; it is bright and cheery looking and lets kids learn while having fun.  It offers children four areas of fun and learning with fun interactive sessions about the alphabet (A-Z), numbers and counting, shapes and colours, and songs. The fact that it is both educational and fun got my interest straight away because as a parent I always want to make the right choices to help my children learn, especially though play. One of the things I loved about the monkey when being used this way is a child could actually push on the monkey’s paws/hands and interact with the monkey. Over the past 12 years of being a parent I’ve purchased many toys and I’ve noticed that there are many toys that don’t seem to be easily used by young children, even though that is what they have been made for.  In the end when the kids can’t use and interact with the toy they become bored with it and the toy is put down leaving me and I am sure other parents who’ve found themselves in the same boat wondering why do we spend so much money on something that doesn’t capture our child’s attention?  I think it was positive to see how it provided 4 areas for the children to interact and learn. The use of methods that encourage hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills and learning though cause and effect by playing with the monkey which are really important skills for kids to learn. I also thought that the fact that the monkey worked both with the free Fisher Price Monkey Apps downloaded via  iTunes increased why I liked this product.

Aston playing “Laugh & Learn Learning Letters Monkey App” on the Apptivity™ Monkey

When we used the Apptivity Monkey with the free Monkey App it made the monkey even more fun. We tried out the “Laugh & Learn Learning Letters Monkey App” which you can download for free at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/laugh-learn-learning-letters/id525811595?mt=8   The Apptivity Monkey has a plastic case attached to the front of its body to place in your iPhone® or iPod touch®. It has a lock that helps keep your phone safe and secure, so little fingers can’t open it up and take your phone out. It also has a section of plastic covering the home button so little ones can’t press it and go out of the app and into others and you can avoid those embarrassing moments when you find them calling your boss or friends! The little lock on the front of the case is easily opened by an adult with a small coin or even your finger nail but due to the skills you need to open it a young child would find it quite difficult to do so. When I placed my iPhone inside the monkey it worked in sync with the Monkey app and allowed the app to be controlled by the paws of the monkey which I thought was really cool and so did the kids. This technology is pretty amazing and I am excited about how this will help my kids learn. From a very young age we try to teach our kids the basics and having a product that allows us to use our iPhone® or iPod touch® makes this even easier to do so. The availability of apps to use these days for kids to learn though play is astounding and with many of them free or costing next to nothing it makes the case even more attractive.  The Apptivity Monkey is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4/4S, iPod touch 4^th generation and also requires 3 AA batteries.

The other product available that I’ve tested is The Laugh & Learn™ Apptivity™ Case for iPhone & iPod Touch.  This case has been out for a little while now but I thought it was worth letting sharing my thoughts on this as it is a great case for little ones too. The case is durable and great for babies who may be dribbling or teething. The Apptivity case has suitable handles for little hands and also has multi-coloured beads for babies to play with too just like a rattle. On the back it has a mirror so bub can look at themself and explore through sight, sound and touch.  Similar to the monkey the case encloses the device behind a screen and also has the capability of making the home button not accessible to little fingers. I think this is a great feature as Aston constantly pushes the home button when using my iPhone and has both called people and deleted apps in the past. If you do want to be able to access the home button you can flip the iPhone or iPod touch around the opposite way to make the home button accessible too. This can also be done with the monkey too but with small children I do really think this is a great feature of the product. The Apptivity Case works with iPhone®, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod touch® 2nd, 3rd & 4th generation.

A great App to try out for free is the “Where's Puppy's Nose? For Baby”

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wheres-puppys-nose-for-baby/id415895632?mt=8 
To download  more of the free Fisher Price apps please visit this link below:

http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=110000&e=app

Aston playing The Laugh & Learn™ Apptivity™ Case for iPhone & iPod Touch

Thanks to  Fisher-Price® I'm very excited to be giving away 1 Apptivity™ Monkey to a lucky reader of Oh Gorgeous Baby! To enter all you have to do is leave a message below telling me why the  little one in your life would enjoy this fun product. If you can't comment please email your answer to Oh Gorgeous Baby Giveaways

The Promotion will be open from 12:01 am Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time (“AEDST”) on 18th October 2012 and will continue until 5:00 pm AEDST on 26th October 2012 (“Promotion Period”).

For full Terms & Conditions please visit http://blog.nuffnang.com.au/tcs-apptivity-monkey/

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