The VTech Spinning Lights Learning Hippo gives a new meaning to cute and educational. It’s amazing, not only because hippos are super adorable, but it’s basically a fun way for kids to learn and understand concepts like letters and numbers.
The hippo is a solid purple color with a friendly face and a little bird on its back (symbiosis, people!). This vocabulary builder uses moving lights with six fun activities to encourage language development, as well as introducing numbers by making a connection between what kids see and hear.
Kids can be in one of three modes when moving around the alphabet circle: alphabet, animals and objects, and song. So, as they spin throughout the circle, the hippo will teach kids letters, a fun fact about the animal or object, or sing a cheerful melody, depending on which mode is active. In music mode, kids can also move the rolling ball in the center of the musical hippo to add fun sound effects to the 26 songs.
Kids can pull the adorable bird on the hippo’s back to spin the lights around the alphabet circle. When that happens, they are activating a random spin, which is basically Wheel of Fortune (except instead of money they get to hear something educational or fun, which for 1-year-olds is a lot better than money). Or, they can move through the lights one at a time with the tail.
If kids move the hippo’s mouth, he will ask one of 50 quiz questions to reinforce learning, such as “Push my tail to find the watermelon,” or “Push my tail to find the ‘Y.’” This requires kids to make connections, such as knowing that a watermelon begins with the letter “W,” and then moving the light to that location.
In addition to all of the above (I know, I can’t believe there’s more either), kids can press the “ABC” or “123” buttons to hear the alphabet and other fun songs and count from one to 10, respectively. Kids can sing along to the alphabet and the hippo prompts kids to count along with the lights to introduce numbers.
True to VTech products, the hippo also has three levels of sound, so kids can enjoy playing with this toy at an appropriate volume wherever they are (and save some headaches in the car for Mom and Dad!)
The amount of educational value that is jam-packed into this toy at such an affordable price is amazing. VTech always brings the latest and greatest to educational toys for toddlers and little ones, and the Spinning Lights Learning Hippo is no exception.
