Fisher Price Beatbo Simply Rocks

Music is one of the central beats of life, the universal language and as it turns out, one of the greatest developmental tools for young children.

Fisher Price, the world leader in preschool toys and kids toys experts, Toy Universe, Australia’s leader in online toys, have found the perfect way to introduce Rythym and Melody to your child's life with the Fisher Price Beats Dance and Move Beatbo or Beatbo for short.

Beatbo is more than another toy with flashing lights and synthetic voice, it is an interactive play and learning center for preschool children and the closest thing a parent will get to a robotic preschool teacher in your very own home. With his flashing lights, over-sized buttons and really good voice synthesis the unit really delivers on the Fisher Price reputation for exceptional preschool toys that are tough and ready for your preschooler. Of course, if that is all BeatBo could do it just wouldn’t be Fisher Price.

Like so many Fisher Price toys the Beatbo is first and foremost fun, push any button and Beatbo jumps to life with a wiggle of his body and a flash of his belly, guaranteed to get a laugh, before you or your preschooler make a selection for the next activity.

Beatbo’s yellow button on his right foot, the "Dance and Move" button, will have your preschooler dancing along with Beatbo as he pumps out the tunes, the red button on the left foot launches the Customised Sing Beatbo which enables your child, you or anybody to record their favourite words which Beatbo will magically remix into a song. A great idea for grandparents who maybe aren’t as close as they would like to record a song for your child before sending Beatbo as a present.

The final button, the red one on Beatbo’s right foot launches the Learning and Games button that launches Beatbo into his ABC’s and 123’s in a burst of colour and light your child will be grasping concepts that are so important to early learning. The fun games include a great cause and effect module that sees BeatBo increase activities as your child increases their interactions with him. Another popular Beatbo game is the "Freeze dance", Beatbo dances and sings with your child but watch out, Beatbo might stop at any moment, will your child stop with Beatbo?

Fisher Price claims that Beatbo is great for Sensory Skills, Curiosity and Discovery and Gross Motor Skills development. Having looked at a whole heap of toys over the years I am confident that Fisher Price have hit the mark with Beatbo and all his educational qualities.

Of course, Beatbo is useless if the kids don’t like it. So with Beatbo firmly buckled into the Booster Seat of my Mini, I took off to test Beatbo in the real world of my Nieces birthday party. Before we left, Beatbo and I produced a sweet sounding mix of Happy Birthday for the occasion, I am pretty sure we looked a right sight driving down the freeway practising our Rhythm and Melody.

My niece Tracy is 2 and probably at the middle to upper range of the toys target age group of 9 months and up but still well suited to her. As Beatbo and I entered the room I made sure my new little mate was belting out Happy Birthday at the top of his little synthetic lungs. As I placed him on the ground Beatbo burst into a little jig and started to thump and bump his way across the floor, by the time he got to "Hip Hip Hooray" all the children were singing along. Well done Beatbo. My sister handed me a beer, my work here was done.

Watching Beatbo for the rest of the day was highly amusing as he hopped and bopped singing and talking between 15 odd children. but the highlight for me was watching two younger children who were just starting to stand as they hung onto the coffee table for dear life whilst bouncing their nappy clad butts, the future of Twerking and Disco are safe! Beatbo even ran the pass the parcel game with his Freeze Dance game. Awesome.

So is Beatbo worth the money, absolutely. The cost of Beatbo is far outweighed by the benefits of fun education for your toddler, combined with his customisable song chart and his groovy flashing lights, Beatbo will be a massive hit with every child in the 9 month and up range. Parents will love that Beatbo is Fisher Price and everything that name represents in preschool childrens toys.

Magda de Berg, a successful online business entrepreneur based in Australia, is the founder and owner of Toys Online Store - ToyUniverse.com.au