As you put down the 34″ mat for the first time you will notice it is brightly colored and full of stimulating images. The play mat comes with a removable arch to go above the mat where various toys are hung to give your child hours of entertainment. The addition of sewn in loops on the arches makes adding your own accessories simple. You will find that certain toys interest your baby more than others, and instead of trying to provide a generalized solution the Baby Einstein play mat allows you to customize it as you learn more about your babies preferences.

Children who are already familiar with the Baby Einstein DVDs will be delighted to see plush versions of their favorite characters included with this play mat set, and each character is designed to stimulate the senses as they crinkle, rattle and squeak. There is a colorful bead chaser set that allows them to push bright beads from one side to the other helping to stimulate their hand eyes coordination, and a teething ring in the shape of an apple will come in handy as your baby starts teething.

An extensive light show from a beautiful plush star is designed to accompany the sounds of Bach and Beethoven, and as your child listens to the soothing music of these classical composers various sets of dancing lights are triggered. This combination of lights and melodies provides a full entertainment experience that will stimulate your baby’s mind, and the star can also be removed and placed with your baby in their crib. In total there are ten minutes of musical compositions for your baby to enjoy, which should be enough to lull them to a restful sleep.

Overall we feel that this is one of the best play mats on the market, and is designed with the goal of giving your child an educational head start along the path of learning. With the safety of your child in mind it makes for an easy solution allowing you to have comfort while your little one plays to their hearts content.

Unlike traditional baby jumpers (which are typically suspended from a door frame) the Fisher Price Jumperoo is actually a freestanding, self-contained activity center. Not only does this prevent any injuries that might result from collisions with door frames, but it makes it possible for the Jumperoo to include a selection of interactive toys intended to make your child’s exercise time not only fun, but educational too! Fisher Price Jumperoos take over once your baby starts to grow out of their activity mat and also have the benefit that your baby can’t crawl away, so you can rest safe in the knowledge that even when baby is starting their mobile phase you’re limiting the potential for self-inflicted trouble without limiting their fun!

The Fisher Price Jumperoo is designed for babies who can hold their heads up unassisted, but who can’t yet walk or climb. This short but vital stage of your baby’s development takes place just as they’re reaching their most inquisitive, and instead of simply providing exercise a Jumperoo aims to stimulate your child’s senses and help foster motor skills simultaneously. It accomplishes this through a selection of educational interactive toys which your baby can access by swiveling the comfortable seat through a full 360 degrees, so there’s always something to look at and explore! The Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo provides a variety of textures, bright colors and fun music to engage your child’s visual and auditory senses – a brightly colored frog and parrot hang from soft, silky green leaves that encourage junior to jump higher and higher, while the more traditional “edutainment” toys are scattered around the Jumperoos seat frame.

There’s quite a collection of animals in all – in addition to the hanging frog and parrot there’s a monkey that swings, a lizard that spins around and an elephant that bobs up and down – even the seat itself is styled as a tree frog! Accompanying the animals there’s a colorful spinning drum that rewards baby’s interaction with lights, sounds and music. Because the Jumperoo is intended for use by babies of 6+ months there’s also a tethered teething ring, which is sure to be useful at some point (and which you can be sure has never touched the floor)!

When you’ve had chance to live with the Jumperoo for a few days you’ll appreciate that Fisher Price have considered parents as much in the design as the babies themselves. Aside from the various entertainment options the Rainforest Jumperoo has obviously been designed with practicality in mind – it’s possible to semi-collapse it for easy storage or transport, which proves ideal for taking it with you if you’re visiting family or friends. You needn’t worry about reassembly either, as setting it back up is a snap as well!

Since the Jumperoo is designed and manufactured by Fisher Price you can be sure that safety standards are everything you’d expect – the bouncer springs have covers over them so your child can’t stick their finger in them during play time, plus there’s a safety feature to secure the springs in place, effectively disabling the jumping/bouncing function. Finally, three position height adjustment will ensure a good fit for your baby, and will help you to enjoy the benefits of your Fisher Price Jumperoo for as long as possible.

Initial setup will likely take you a few minutes – while the instruction manual is pretty clear there is a fair amount of assembly required before you’ll be able to get going. Thankfully this is a one-time process, and while the jumper can be collapsed for storage this doesn’t require complete disassembly. Part of the complexity of assembly is down to the sheer number of activity toys that the Musical Motion Activity Jumper includes, and the frame is reassuringly sturdy once successfully erected.

The attention to detail that has been put into the design of the Musical Motion Activity Jumper is obvious right from the start, and flexibility is a key feature. There are a total of ten detachable toys available, meaning that you can take your baby’s favorite with you when you’re out and about or in their crib, making taking baby out of your home that little bit easier.

As with most modern baby activity centers there is the obligatory battery powered toy – in this case a light up keyboard. Although hardly a Steinway it’s actually quite fun, providing visual feedback via lights as well as the expected audible responses. A nice touch is that the keyboard notes are correctly tuned to actual musical notes (so if your baby is an aspiring Mozart you just might be giving them a head start on the road to fame and fortune!)

Among the other toys is a “bead chaser” (which is basically a wire track where your child can move colored plastic beads around), supposedly aiding the development of hand-eye coordination. In our experience this didn’t get used too much, but considering the number of other toys on offer that’s not too surprising! There’s also a teething ring that’s permanently tethered to the jumper, which should ensure that it doesn’t fall on the floor, and a spinning plastic toy in the shape of a frog.

Because a lot of the toys are removable it’s also possible to add your baby’s own favorites by simply dangly them from the looped tabs on the jumper frame. While we don’t recommend hanging heavy toys there are a whole host of small educational toys from the baby Einstein range that will happily expand available the playtime possibilities.

The seat of the jumper itself is nicely supportive and is made of soft hypoallergenic material. It’s easily removed for cleaning, which is invaluable feature if your child is prone to “little accidents”. The seat can also swivel through a full 360 degress, allowing your baby to turn and see you regardless of where you move in the room, although it might take a bit of practice for baby to get the hang of this!

All in all we like the Baby Einstein Musical Motion Activity Jumper, despite a few initial difficulties in setting it up for the first time. While we think it’s an excellent addition to the Baby Einstein product range, unfortunately it’s the only model of activity jumper that they offer. If you find that this model isn’t entirely to your liking you might also consider the Fisher Price range of “Jumperoos”, which have a variety of themes to expand your options, and regardless of whichever model you choose, baby activity jumpers are a valuable addition to any parents arsenal!

Exersaucers were first designed as an alternative to traditional baby walkers, which have seen a steady decrease in popularity (largely due to safety concerns). In fact, at first glance the Baby Einstein exersaucer looks similar to baby walkers, but instead of your baby standing on the floor their feet stand on a platform (or saucer), preventing them from moving the activity center themselves. To compensate for the lack of mobility most exersaucers include a diverse range of activity toys that are both stimulating and educational, and the Baby Einstein Discover and Play Activity Center is no exception!

In total the Baby Einstein exersaucer provides nine toys and activities:

• a green dragon hand puppet that will be familiar to babies who have watched the range of Baby Einstein DVDs and allows parents to join in the fun (silly voice not included, but you’re free to provide your own!)
• a chewable toy in the shape of a rubberized orange star will help your baby through the pains of teething
• a blue globe that can be spun by baby to make a rattling sound from the beads inside
• a tower of cloth shapes; a triangle, a circle and a square
• three spinning wheels; one that rattles, one that squeaks and one that chimes
• another rattle in the shape of a yellow sun
• a “bead rollercoaster” (basically a wire loop with threaded with colorful, moveable beads)
• a plastic “book” with pages featuring photos of various animals
• corresponding buttons that play the appropriate animal names, sounds, and music when pressed in both English and Spanish

Aside from these activity toys (that are bound to amuse and delight your child) you’ll be happy to know that the Baby Einstein exersaucer has been designed as much with parents in mind as their children. The seat is machine washable, and so is easy to clean of the inevitable baby food stains (we sometimes feed our daughter while in hers – lazy I know, but convenient). The electronic portion of the exersaucer has adjustable volume, with three settings, to give Mom (or Dad) a bit of a break from the educational, but somewhat repetitive sound recordings.

Three height settings mean that as your child grows you can gradually increase the height of the exersaucer, allowing them to enjoy the activity centre for longer. While this feature is not unique to the Baby Einstein model it’s worth noting that this is one of main benefits of exersaucers in general – they are able to grow with your child.

While the physical benefits of exersaucers have never been proven we love to watch our daughter practice standing in hers, knowing that the soft seat is there to support her if her legs give out. Although obviously exciting, it can get frustrating for babies when they’re first trying to stand, and with the Baby Einstein exersaucer you know that when baby gets bored of standing they can still sit and play, without getting themselves in too much trouble.

All in all we’ve been really happy with our Baby Einstein activity center. We had some difficulty choosing between this exersaucer or one of the Fisher Price Jumperoos, which also look really good. Because we bought early, while our daughter was still young, we chose the exersaucer, but I think that we still might try her in a Jumperoo when she’s a little older. I’m not sure we’ll need to though, as currently she’s perfectly happy and can’t get enough of her new Baby Einstein exersaucer and spends much of the day mashing buttons to create a cacophony of animal noises!

Right from birth your baby will benefit from external stimuli, and after a few weeks they should respond well to both colors and sounds. However, increased energy levels and rapid growth mean that parents face an ever changing challenge to maintain a schedule of activities that will ensure their babies continued well-being and give them the best start in life. An additional benefit of allowing your baby to burn off excess energy is that it can also help to establish healthy sleep patterns.

While very young babies can’t even sit up by themselves for the first few months, they can still enjoy and benefit from a baby play mat. Although there are many options available on the market, each providing their own benefits, there are several distinct types of baby play gym that you’ll need to choose between, depending on your childs age.

The first type of baby gyms are activity play mats with freestanding arches. Typically a range of stimulating baby toys hang from these arches, and more advanced models include music and sounds, with some even including a dedicated light show to amuse and delight your child. The mats included are usually brightly patterned and padded for your babies comfort. A typical example of a play mat with activity arch is the Baby Einstein Activity Gym.

Some play mats that are a variation on this type of baby gym have sides that can be fastened up which, while shallow, are still deep enough to stop younger babies from leaving the confines of the environment. Your baby will be able to enjoy an activity mat in many different ways as they grow, and because they are extremely portable they can used to provide a familiar environment when you’re away from home. Activity mats should only ever be used on the floor, and your baby should always be supervised when using one.

The second type of baby gyms are “activity jumpers”. These are only suitable for older babies who are able to sit up by themselves, which in practice can be from 4+ months old. They consist of a suspended harness, much like a traditional baby doorway bouncer, but are freestanding and are surrounded by an array of activity toys to help learning and coordination skills. Activity jumpers are very much like baby walkers in appearance, but notably have fixed bases. Because that are relatively static they often have more activity toys attached than walkers. The current leading manufacturer of baby activity jumpers are Fisher-Price, who produce a range of “Jumperoos” spanning a variety of themes, including their most popular “Rainforest” model, complete with colorful toys and prerecorded ambient jungle sounds. The closest competing model from another manufacturer is the Baby Einstein Musical Motion Activity Center, which emphasizes your babies movements by rewarding them with stimulating melodies.

The third and final classification of what you could call a baby gym are stationary activity centers like the Evenflo range of “Exersaucers”. These are the modern equivalent of baby walkers, but combined with a number of activity toys similar to those found on Jumperoos. Exersaucers help babies to develop leg muscles and standing abilities while presenting them with a range of interactive learning toys, typically arrayed around them in a “ring” that they can explore using a seat that rotates through 360 degrees. Exersaucers were developed to provide an alternative to baby walkers, which are increasingly considered a hazard when used by babies who are able to manouvuer themselves into dangerous situations. Like Jumoeroos, stationary activity centers should only be used for babies who are old enough to support their own head and neck unaided. It’s also worth noting that although the name “Exersaucer” is a registered trademark of Evenflo that other manufacturers offer similar products. For example, the “Discover and Play Activity Center” is the Baby Einstein equivalent of an exersaucer.

Finally, when considering which product to invest in it may be worthwhile for you to visit a store where your baby can “test drive” each activity center before you buy. Every baby is unique, and will respond differently to specific sights and sounds – it’s difficult to predict if a particular item is right for your baby without personally testing it first. Some babies respond particularly well to the bouncing action provided by a Jumperoo, but others are happy to just lie back and enjoy a play mat, while a stationary activity center is a good all round option.