Recently, Emma's Diary sent me this Taf Toys Musical Owl Toy Arch to test & review. Here's how we found it!
It arrived well-packaged and Lewis enjoyed opening it up! On first impressions, it looks great. Good-quality stitching, colourful fabrics & eye-catching design. It has a hot-air balloon, 2 little flowers, a tree and the musical, light-up owl in the middle. The tree & the hot-air balloon have 2 different rattle noises inside, one almost like a bell and one like beads.
The 'music' is activated by hitting the owl, though sometimes you have to hit it quite hard. Once knocked, it plays a short 2-3 second long noise - it sounds like a piano, it has 3 variations then the fourth hit it plays a little song for around 12 seconds. Again it sounds like a little piano piece, it's definitely not an annoying sound like most baby toys which is nice! The battery compartment is underneath a velcro fastening on the back of the owl, and is well padded. It also has an on/off switch here too.
The owl in the middle also has a little light in it's chest, which flashes when the sounds are playing. It's not very bright, so it isn't immediately noticeable. I don't think Zara really notices it unless it's dark in the room as she is always more fixated on the hot-air balloon! That is definitely her favourite toy on the arch. It does have much more striking patterns than the rest of the toys and is very colourful, which is why I think she likes it so much and is most drawn to that one!
The clips on each side to attach it to your babies seat, pram, cot etc are really stiff and it takes some muscle to open - which is good as once you've fought to get it in place it is very sturdy and doesn't budge. It is difficult to get it onto thicker poles such as the carrycot edges, but there is very little risk of it falling off or being pulled down once it's there.
The arch is also attached to the clips with a sort of click-tilt mechanism. This is brilliant for adjusting it for height depending how your baby is lying or sitting. It also makes it really easy to get your child out of the seat or pram without the struggle of removing the arch first, as you can just tilt it out of the way instead.
The Musical Toy Arch retails for around the £30 mark and is available from online retailers such as Amazon & Argos. I think it is pretty fairly priced, although there are other similar items on the market for significantly less - I do like the design of this one and I am impressed at the quality of materials used and the stitching. I wouldn't worry about any parts coming away and creating a danger for my baby. The lights & sounds are also something that isn't available on other similar products, and most other arches tend to have hard plastic items attached - I much prefer the soft toys for a baby as young as mine. (Zara has just turned 3 months old) If this product becomes part of a sale or has an offer price, I would definitely recommend grabbing it while you can!
Overall, I would recommend the Taf Toys Musical Owl Arch to other mums looking for a similar product. A quick run-down of Pros & Cons below.
Pros:
Bright & colourful
Soft toys with no hard plastics (with the exception for the battery pack on the owl which is well-padded!)
Soft foam arch
High-quality fabrics and very good stitching
Nice music played, not annoying and not too loud
Sturdy clips with tilt mechanism
Cons: Slightly higher-priced than similar items on the market
Very stiff clips, difficult to attach to some places
The clips have scratched the paintwork on the edge of the carry cot
The owl has to be hit quite hard sometimes to play music
The light could be brighter
Thank you to Emma's Diary and Taf Toys for allowing us to review your product, we are grateful for the opportunity!
If you are interested in us taking part in a test & review of your own products, please get in touch using the 'Contact Me' tab at the top of the page!