As a parent and a teacher, I can’t get enough of age-appropriate educational games. Kids learn through play, and when the toy is developmentally appropriate for the child, then great things can happen! I wasn’t always so great at gauging what “age appropriate” was with my first child, or even with my nieces and nephews who were born before my daughter was. I would believe the age on the box of the toy and hoped the child liked it. After I had my own kids I noticed that some things that stated age 12+ months didn’t really appeal to my child until much later, while other toys that were geared for 36+ months she loved to play with. So, in the end it doesn’t really matter what the box says; what matters most is what appeals to the child and where they are at developmentally.
When my family was asked to review the i-Mat: My Animal World interactive play mat by Creative Baby Inc., I knew my youngest daughter who is 1 1/2 would fall into the right age range, but my oldest daughter who is 4 would also enjoy the mat. Both my girls love animals and since we are in a techie-world, they are pretty good with gadgets, so the voice pen that came along with the mat was a no brainer for them. There are different games to play on the i-Mat, as well as different languages to learn. After testing out the i-Mat a few times, my oldest quickly became a pro at using the included pen, while my youngest is just learning how to manipulate the included pen to work with the mat. Both my girls can play together, and it’s quite amusing listening to my oldest explain things to my youngest!
My overall opinion of the i-Mat is great. I love the ease of putting the interlocking foam pieces together, the easy to use pointer pen, and the ability to wipe down the surface if it gets dirty. There are no wires to worry about, and the soft mat creates a safe play area for younger babies. The set retails at $79.99 and makes an awesome holiday present for little ones this year! You can also purchase additional pads with different learning topics for about $25-$30 each. You can check out a video on the i-Mat main page, as well as find out more information on ordering and the various packages they offer. Also, be sure to connect with i-Mat on Facebook and Twitter to stay in the loop on product updates and promotions!
My boys would love this. I’m not sure which would be a bigger hit, My Animal World or Under the Sea.
Gumma likes this one! I think this may help our little guy with his speech and how to pronounce different sounds when no one is looking. I like that there are more animals on the mat then the usual barn animals. I have a few apps on our kindle that he plays with, but this one will be more fun.I think it will help with his listening skills as well when the pen asks him where an animal is. thank you for sharing.
we have a couple of mats like this but the fact that this is interactive is so awesome! I definitely need to get this for my daughter
My son would love this – it combines the tech-y stuff he’s starting to notice with a very visual landscape. So cool!