FisherPrice Brilliant Basics Babys First Blocks

Posted In: Babies

Pura Deely says...

My little boy has played with this in various ways - he is nearly 18 months now.He is just now really getting the shape sorting probably because the lid doesn't stay in place so like others have said, what's the point of putting them in the holes if there is an easier way of just taking off the lid and putting them in the box?But he also takes the blocks and stacks them.The one good thing about the removable top though is that I can teach him to put things away, then I put the lid on (he tries) and we put the box away.

Posted on October 25, 2011

Marilyn Neverson says...

This is such an inexpensive, simple toy, yet it is hands down my 9 month old's favorite toy! If he starts crawling away from us all we have to do is put the blocks back in the bucket and shake it around and he just has to come over and dump them all out. He is starting to get that the pieces go in the holes, but mostly he just crawls around holding either the yellow lid or a block in each hand. He also loves to put the blocks into the little "slide" made for balls in another toy we have. Miraculously, with my son and 2 dogs, we have not lost a block yet!

Posted on October 26, 2011

Earline Kobold says...

I bought this for my baby months ago, and he has never had much interest in it.I'm glad of that now, since I saw the Prop 65 warning to California residents on Amazon's description of the toy.I'm offended that Fisher Price seems to think that it is okay to sell toys that contain dangerous chemicals to children.Plus, the toy isn't that great!



As other reviews mentioned, the top easily pops off of the toy giving babies no incentive to use the shape sorter function of the toy.My son would usually just grab the lid and knock the thing over.Then he would go on to the other toys that were more interesting for him.I would not buy this toy again or recommend that anyone else do so.

Posted on October 26, 2011

Roxanne Strimback says...

The idea is good, but my son always dumps the block everywhere in the room since the lid dosen't snap on the box.. not recommend to everyone

Posted on October 26, 2011

Bobbye Gaiter says...

My 8 month old has been playing with this for 2 months, and she LOVES it.She feels the shapes, chews on them, throws them, bangs them together, etc.However, she doesn't actually put the shapes through their correct hole.The lid comes off way too easily!She rips the lid off, bangs it on the red box, throws it, chews it, but never uses it as it is intended.Perhaps if the lid snapped on somehow she would learn how to put the shapes into the holes.

I do use this toy to say the name of the shape and the colors, and I try to show her how they fit into the holes, but she's not interested.

One good thing is you can wash them in the sink with soap and water very easily.You can't do this with a lot of toys.

Posted on October 27, 2011

Enedina Viens says...

My son received this toy as a gift for his 6-month birthday. At the time, I remember hearing about how some plastic toys (often made in China) contain harmful chemicals that are known to cause cancer and feeling concerned that this toy might be one of them. I didn't do anything for awhile, seeing how my son enjoyed playing with the toy and thinking (stupidly) that if this toy were truly harmful, it wouldn't be sold in the U.S.



One day, I came across this toy on Amazon and noticed the warning to CA residents under "Product Details." I couldn't believe it when I read this toy is made with harmful chemicals known to "cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm." I bet a lot of people who are giving this toy 5 stars are not aware of the warning.



UPDATE TO REVIEW ON 10-28-09: Amazon has removed the warning about the harmful chemicals, and in response to an inquiry I sent them told me "Product information from the item detail is added or deleted upon manufacturers information." Amazon suggested I contacted FP, which I did, and the FP rep said he couldn't find anything in their records indicating the toy's manufacturing had been changed. The toy's production has not been altered since 2007. He suggested that perhaps the warning wasn't accurate, and that's why it was removed. That may be, but it seems like a pretty big mistake for Amazon to make on multiple FP toys. I see now that none of the FP toys that previously had this warning have it now.



As for my son's reaction to the toy, he liked to bang the pieces together and put them in his mouth, but he never bothered to try to sort the shapes since the top doesn't stay in place, as others have mentioned. My son always removed the top and took out all of the pieces, no matter how many times I showed him how to sort the shapes with the top in place. Talk about poor design! I should have given it 1 star for the "educational" rating in hindsight, but I figured that theoretically it could be of some value if a child didn't remove the top. Also, Amazon wouldn't let me go back and change my ratings.



I just got another shape sorter for him from Amazon (the Tolo Rolling Shape Sorter), and within minutes he tried to put the shapes in the slots because he couldn't remove either the top or the bottom of the unit. Now that's an educational toy!

Posted on October 27, 2011

Dominick Angiolelli says...

The quality and colors are great

My one major "beef" is that the top doesn't snap on. So when my son gets this toy he immediately takes the top off, dumps out the block and crawls away.

There is no longer a purpose for the toy. Maybe I can fashion some kind of snap on device.

Posted on October 28, 2011

Lucienne Karvis says...

My Mother-In-Law got this for my son when he was six months old. He has played with these blocks pretty much everyday since then. They are small and light and easy for those little teeny hands to grab. When he first got them he would bang the blocks together, bang the blocks on the bucket, and then grab the bucket with his feet and study it. Then he tried to grab two blocks at once. Then three. He would grab the blocks out of the bucket. We stack them, he knocks them down. He grabs the lid and bangs it on everything in sight. Now that he's figuring out how to put things into other things he'll put the blocks into everything, into the middle of his stackable rings, into buckets, into the actual bucket and occasionally he'll place a block on top of the lid and then look at me like - did I do that right? We're also now putting just the lid on the floor and setting the blocks into the right holes so he can see what goes where, which he is very interested in.



I love it that some day, when he's older, he'll make the connection between the actual block and cutout shapes and start putting the blocks through the correct holes. I think that mental connection is more important then just forcing things through whatever hole they happen to fit in. I guess eventually babies will get the concept either way but for us this is the perfect shape sorter.

Posted on October 28, 2011

Stewart Brands says...

As my 14 month daughter works on getting the right shape in the right hole. It's true that sometimes she just gets frustrated and picks up the lid and throws the shapes in the bucket instead of sorting them, but when I play with her talk to her and ask her where each shape goes she really focuses and we get them together. She looks so proud of herself when she gets them right, too! But even when she is playing by herself and taking the lid off, it's still a very fun toy for her to put them all in, take them out, and do it all over again!

Posted on October 31, 2011

Marcia Tycer says...

This is a basic, durable, inexpensive toy. However what I don't care for is the fact that the lid doesn't snap on. I'm sure this is that way so babies can take it off, but I prefer the sorter that the child has to put the shapes through the holes. My baby figured out that it was easier to take the lid off! I like the Smartronics cookie jar sorter much better.

Posted on November 3, 2011