You can tell Christmas is coming (only 71 days to go but who's counting ? Err ... me ?! ) because we've been receiving loads of fabulous toys to test recently. When I was offered the chance to review a Cook & Play Potsy, I jumped at the chance but I had very high expectations as soon as I saw the name LeapFrog because they produce consistently high quality, educational but fun products. Time to see if this one would live up to the brand's good reputation.
The toy is aimed at 12-36 month olds but 5-year-old Juliette was absolutely dying to play with it too and pointed out, "See Mummy ? There are big children playing with it on the box so I'm allowed to too" ! Oh OK, you've convinced me - time for some big-sister-little-brother playtime !
The Cook & Play Potsy is basically a plastic cooking pot with a cute smiley face, a lid, a spoon and various ingredients that you can add - cheese, broccoli, tomato, peas and sweetcorn. All very healthy ingredients (good for the healthy eating message), brightly coloured and nice to chew on ! The kids would already have been happy enough playing with it as a plastic toy, Juliette using it to pretend-cook in her kitchen and Pierre putting them all in then taking them all out again. And again. And again !
But this is LeapFrog so that's just the beginning ! Turn it on (wow, yet again the batteries are included - this is obviously a new development in the toy market and one that I am really really pleased about) and it springs to life, talking and singing and making cooking noises. Pierre absolutely loved making it do things by throwing in ingredients and - above all - smacking it with the spoon !
Depending on which way you turn the knob and which ingredients you put in, the pot will sing a song, say a rhyme, teach you about colours, numbers, opposites, food ... I've never been particularly bothered by the American voices on a lot of electronic toys on the market but I know that some people are and I did notice that this one has a British accent, so if that's something that annoys you, you'll be relieved !
Both Juliette and Pierre have been having fun playing with the Cook & Learn Potsy, discovering how many different things he says and stirring up different combinations of ingredients. Juliette has been very proud of her different "soups" ! I noticed on the write-up that you can also go online to choose and download songs for a custom playlist and choose from 8 personalised email messages but I haven't explored this aspect yet. Parents can also connect to the online LeapFrog Learning Path for customised learning ideas from LeapFrog, where I noticed they mention "free activities and printables designed to expand the learning in your child's toys", but again, I haven't had time to explore this any further.
As well as really appealing to the kids, I love the fact that the toy is parent-friendly too. I've already mentioned the fact that the batteries are included but I also love the volume control, which should be a compulsory element on all electronic toys in my opinion, the fact that the songs aren't headachey or annoying and that it is so easy to tidy away thanks to the lid on the pot.
In a word, yes - it did live up to my high expectations !
star rating : 5/5
RRP : £17.99
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