Recommend: V-tech Move and Crawl Ball

Price: $14.99

This was one of those items I purchased when i got really excited that Jude was expressing interest in toys. After buying it and realizing that they box was right - it's not meant for a 3 month old, it went into his toy basket and sat there for awhile. The box indicates it's intended for 6+ months. Jude is almost 6 months now and has been using it for a couple of weeks.

The purpose of the ball is to encourage crawling. There are electronic weights on the bottom of the ball that move on their own. The lights and sounds get baby's attention and encourage him to reach for the ball. After tapping on it/hitting buttons, etc, the ball begins to move just a little and encourages baby to follow it. Jude is not crawling yet, but he rolls after it a little and just seems to enjoy pushing buttons, etc. Also there is a little lady bug on top that he likes to flick at.

Pros:
- develops motor skills and is educational.
- comes with batteries
- reasonably priced/reputable brand
- two different auditory levels
- each button has two or three different "sayings". So, you're not always hearing the same thing. I will also add that when we first started playing with this toy, I would put it in front of Jude and push the buttons for him and he'd watch it. I'd get tired of it after a few minutes and let it go. It seemed at first that it just kept repeating it's self. However, as Jude begins to play with it more, it starts to "unlock" new songs/sounds, etc. So, the more he plays with it, the more it encourages him to keep playing.
- turns off on it's own after a few minutes of being in active to save batteries.


Cons:
- the automatic turn off could happen a little later. Some times I wish it would keep going to keep Jude interested for a few more seconds. Sometimes when it just shuts off, he stops paying attention... it's a catch 22.



Would I Recommend: Yes. If you're looking for one of those toys to get baby moving around this is one that I'd recommend. As I said, he's not crawling, but I'll put Jude on his belly in front of this and as it moves he goes from belly, to back, to side spinning it around. I know there are a few out there, but for the price, you almost can't beat it.