E Loves Toys

DreamWorks Trolls Poppy Hug Time Harmony Figure Sold  on Amazon  and  at Target   and Walmart Ready to play! The Basics:  This doll is 10" high and comes with a soft plastic tiara (not pictured), a soft plastic dress and has her "hug time" watch built into her arm.  When you press the watch she says phrases from the movie, sings part of "Get Back Up Again" and the harmony part of "True Colors."  Both of my kids love this Poppy doll.  Even though my 1.5 year old is too young to enjoy the Trolls  movie, he loves to press the button on her "hug time" watch and have her sing phrases--he also loves dancing along to "Get Back Up Again" and "True Colors".  The "True Colors" song sounds a bit odd because it is only the harmony, I think that since there is also a Branch Hug Time Harmony Figure the song is meant for both of them to sing together. Poppy's dress is really well thought out--the plastic

GUND Baby Spunky Doggie ABC 123 Animated Stuffed Animal Sold on Amazon The Basics : This plush dog is 14" tall and has a felt collar with a dog tag that says "Spunky".  Spunky has the numbers 123 on one hand paw and the letters ABC on the other paw and he will either count to 10 or sing the alphabet depending on which paw is pressed.  Spunky claps his paws together and his mouth opens and closes when he sings. Very easy to understand My son got this for Christmas from his grandparents when he was eight months old, and at that time his three year old sister was much more interested in playing with it than he was.  Now that he is a little over a year and a half old he is much more interested in Spunky.  He particularly loves putting his hand in between Spunky's paws so that he can pretend to get high fives when Spunky is singing.  My four year old is still intermittently interested in Spunky, but mostly to put her finger in his mouth when he

Care Bears Sing-a-Long Plush Bears Sold on Amazon We bring you love! We got all four of these Care Bears (Funshine, Cheer, Grumpy, and Share) as a present from a friend.  These are well made and sturdy dolls (Cheer Bear has survived falling down a flight of stairs) with soft plush on the outside and their tummy symbols embroidered on with sparkling thread.  All of the Care Bears have happy expressions on their faces except for Grumpy Bear (of course!). So sparkly! When you push on a Care Bear's belly it will say one of four phrases--one thing that Grumpy Bear says is, "Wow!  You must be a hug expert or something!"  If you squeeze the left paw it will sing one of three songs.  Their arms and ears move and they bob from side to side when they talk and sing. I don't do smiles The real magic happens when you get all four Care Bears together and squeeze a paw.  They will greet each other and then sing together, with different bears havin

Disney's Frozen Olaf by Build-A-Bear Sold at Build-A-Bear Hi, I'm Olaf! The Basics: Olaf is 17" tall, soft, and incredibly cuddly.  He appears just like he did in the movie with teeth that jut out, crooked buttons, short legs and long "stick" arms. Olaf is about half the size of my four year old and she loves wrapping her arms around him and giving him warm hugs.  When Olaf got worn down from too many cuddles we took him in and the kind staff at Build-A-Bear added stuffing for free.  They also added a strawberry scent to his belly for $3.50.  The strawberry scent smells very synthetic, but my daughter loves it, so that's all that matters (I discreetly turn my head away when giving him hugs).  Other than the synthetic strawberry smell, my only criticism is that they didn't put any stuffing in his arms, so while you can hug him, he can't really hug you back. My tummy is a little pink from the strawberry scent Build-A-Bear offers

Disney Moana Adventure Doll, 14" Sold on Amazon  and at  Target My hair is beautiful and the "wear and share hair clip" is long gone! The Basics: This is a 14" tall doll with removable clothing and some amazing hair. I love how big this Moana doll's hair is!  While my four year-old makes me be the one to brush it out as it is too complicated for her, I really appreciate that Disney didn't just stick some Barbie hair on her and call it a day.  Moana came with a "wear and share" hair clip that my daughter promptly removed, put in her own hair, and then lost (I am hopeful that it will turn up again) but that hair clip didn't even begin to tame Moana's gorgeous locks. In addition to Moana's clothing being removable, she also came with a removable bracelet and anklet.  These things are easy to remove and really, really, really  hard to get back on.  The bracelet and anklet are each held by a single prong that fits throu

Inflatable Bouncy Horse/Pony by ToysOpoly Sold on Amazon So much fun! The Basics: This horse/pony (which really looks more like a donkey to me) is made of thick rubber and is 20" high, 23" long and the seat is about 11" from the floor.  The rubber has been textured to resemble fur and hooves and a little saddle is part of its back. We got this for my son eight months ago when he turned one and it is still ridden daily by both him and his four year-old sister.  It is very sturdy and has withstood being fought over, jumped on, stood on, and being carried by the tail and by the ears.  It has a good bounce but my kids do not lose their balance when playing on it (since the seat is only 11" from the ground they can keep both feet on the floor when they play on it).  The ears make for excellent handholds so I definitely recommend this version over other inflatable animals/animal hoppers offered by Toys0poly. Bottom Line: This is a must have for kids 1-4

Fire HD 8 Kids Edition Tablet Sold on Amazon ,  and at Target , and  Best Buy So many choices! The Basics: Two-year warranty, one year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, and a twelve-hour battery life This is an amazing little computer. Its case is advertised as "kid proof" and so far it has definitely lived up to that: it has fallen, had food stuck to it, had drinks spilled on it, and been fought over yet it still works the same as the day we got it. I don't know how many books, TV shows, and apps there are for this (Amazon says 15,000+ and I believe it), but whenever we type a favorite series or character (like "PJ Masks" or "Minnie Mouse") we get a variety of books, games, and shows featuring that character . . . and it hasn't failed me yet! We first bought this for my daughter for potty training--it was reserved for use in the bathroom to encourage her to take her time and relax. I entered "potty" into the search bar and fou

Fisher-Price Corn Popper Sold on Amazon , at  Walmart , and at  Target This corn popper is basically identical to the one that I played with in the early 1980s, and according to the internet, has not changed much since it was first sold in 1957. It's a pretty basic principle: when you push or pull the corn popper a disc in the middle moves up and down shooting the little balls to the top of the done and creating a banging sound (the website calls it a "popping" sound, but it is clearly a "bang"). Bang! Bang! Bang! My daughter loved it until she was about three, and now my 1.5 year old son loves to push it around. Sometimes he pretends it is a vacuum cleaner, sometimes it is a lawnmower, and sometimes he just wants to make a lot of noise. My only complaint is that even though this toy was designed to be used by a toddler and have plastic balls hit the inside of the dome, it gets scratched and scuffed pretty easily. I remember this bring an issu

Pillow Pets DreamLites Rainbow Unicorn Sold on Amazon  and  at Walmart My four year old sleeps with this every night and considers it one of her prized possessions. Bedtime cannot occur until her unicorn has been found and placed on her left side next to the wall. When turned on it displays one crescent moon, a unicorn head (which is not as creepy as it sounds) and about seventy stars. It has four different light options: orange, blue, green, and shifting between all four, but you'd think there was only one setting because it has been decreed by my daughter that it shall remain blue at all times. I told you the unicorn head wasn't creepy The fabric part of the doll is soft and cuddly, but the projector plate which takes up most of the doll's back is hard plastic. Fortunately there are no sharp edges so I have judged it safe to sleep with--much to my daughter's delight since we normally have a firm "No hard toys in the bed" policy. The only real

Fisher-Price Little People Disney Princess Songs Palace Sold on Amazon Both of my kids (ages 4 and 1.5) love to play with this palace, and there is something for everyone to enjoy. The 1.5 year old loves how easy it is to make it play music: there is a fanfare of trumpets every time the doors open, music plays when the dance floor spins, and every time you put one of the Little People Disney Princesses on a pedestal it says something in her voice or plays a song snippet from her movie. The four year old loves the many different rooms in the palace and the little details in each room like Mrs. Potts in the kitchen, Sebastian and Flounder in the fountain, and Cinderella's dress in the attic. Maybe the human world isn't so bad! What I like: How sturdy this palace is! My 1.5 year old has repeatedly lugged it from room to room in our house (sometimes by a palace turret, sometimes by a door, rarely by the base) and it is not showing any signs of cracking or other w

Disney Princess Shimmering Dreams Collection Sold on Amazon  and  at Target So pretty! This set of all eleven Disney princesses is really awesome! Each doll comes with its own outfit and shoes and has moveable arms and legs as well as a head that swivels. The outfits are shiny and the glitter comes off a little at first, but this photo was taken after a month of use and the sparkle and designs are definitely still present. I love how the doll heads are all different so that they really look like their movie characters! They all have different eyes, noses, mouths, and face shapes--whoever sculpted them clearly worked hard! Most of the hairstyles have the hair down which makes it hold up pretty well during play, however Tiana's updo is looking like it's going to have to have some rehab soon to get rid of all those flyaways. Bonus: the back of the box has some beautiful art and inspirational sayings about each princess. I cut it out and put it in my four year old

Disney Sofia the First Bedtime Doll  (Mattel) Sold on Amazon Ready for bed! Bedtime Sofia was an awesome doll for the first few months. She is soft all over except for her head and was perfect for snuggling the night away. She came out of the box with some bedhead--but that's perfect for bedtime, right? Her eyes open when she sits up and close when she lays down, the only problem is when you try to put her on a pillow and her eyes will be half-open. Sofia says ten different phrases and her amulet lights up when you press it firmly. The amulet was a little too hard for my three year old to press, but I thought of that as a win since it meant she wasn't up all night listening to Sofia and she didn't mind needing help to get Sofia to talk. After a few months the light in the amulet refused to go off and she stopped talking when it was pushed. About a week later the batteries ran out and the light died. After replacing the batteries Sofia talked again and