Hape Wooden Pound and Tap Bench with Slide Out Xylophone| Music Hammering Pounding Toys for Toddlers Age 1 Year Old and up, t 30th Anniversary - 2016 Limited Edition

We gave this to my daughter for her 1st birthday and she LOVED it. It was the perfect gift for her developmental stage. She favored it over all her other gifts (and other toys) and spent long sessions playing with it daily. She's 15 months now, and still loves playing with it. This is a great bang for your buck toy. The balls are just the right size for her hand, and loves those on their own (she has many balls, but favors these). She's always carrying them around the house. Pushing the balls through the holes is really fun to her. You have to push just a little to get them to go through, it's a good challenge, but it never frustrates her. She always claps when they go in. The xylophone tinkling as it rolls down is very satisfying. It's also fun on it's own to make music. Then the hammer option is another element that she thinks is fun. All these things help her develop her motor movements. It's a smart toy. It combines the Montessori ball drop, music, hammer, etc. Can't say enough great things about this toy. Quality is fabulous and it looks nice. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. (My mom's dog chewed up one of the balls, but we were able to order a replacement set that fit perfect from Hape.)

This is amazing. So well thought out. Toddlers love it! The mallet head is rubberized, so it doesn't make a terribly loud noise but is still fun for the child. The inner rings of the ball placement holes are also rubberized to hold them in place when the child is hitting them. The ring of color around each hole matches the corresponding ball which creates an opportunity for color matching. All edges are nicely rounded and the finishes/ paint seem durable. The xylophone is good quality and fun! (The adults in the house have been playing with it as much as the children.) It comes with a book of beginner songs to practice, which is awesome!

We love this toy! Honestly I think it's my favorite toy my kiddo owns, lol. My toddler who is now 20 months, has had this toy for a little over 6 months now and still plays with is almost daily.The craftsmanship is wonderful, it's extremely sturdy, I've caught the little guy briefly standing on it(until mom comes running over to stop him, of course) multiple times and he's 25 pounds. Even all the removable parts and constructed very well. You can tell that this company really cares about quality.Here's a breakdown of how the toy works: when the xylophone and the balls are all in place, the child hammers each ball through (takes a 2-3 taps) and the ball rolls down the xylophone hitting the metal pieces making a pleasant sound on its way. It's very easy to use, and it's an easy concept for the learning toddler. I'd say at 1 year and up is a great age, earlier than that maybe just the xylophone part and close monitoring with the hammer as it could pose a choking hazard (long handle).The xylophone is removable if the child feels like just a jam sesh on it which is great, it has a little handle for easy portability and my little one likes to just run around with it sometimes. Another great thing is that other objects work fine at making music on this xylophone, even a plastic megablox piece for example, which allows a little room for creativity and exploration of materials.I do wish they sold extra wooden balls though, or maybe if it came with an extra set. If your playroom, or toy box is anything like mine, there are lots of little things and stuff like that can easily get seperated and temporarily misplaced. After all this time, that is the only draw back for me.(...)

I gave this to my grand-daughter (7 months). even though the recommended beginning age is 1 year. She does fine with close adult supervision and limited play (she can lift it and bang it around if we allowed). I like to get toys with several developmental activities that will last a long time and this fits the bill.At her age, we played with the balls (very brightly colored and large enough so not to be a choking hazard). She could easily grab and hold them, put them in and out of buckets; she really was interested in tracking them as they slowly rolled on the hardwood floor.She tried to put them in the designated holes on the bench, but I don't think she fully grasps that task yet.Very interested in the sounds when we pushed them through the holes and watching them roll out! Encouraged her to semi-crawl and reach for them. I tapped them in with the hammer to get them through, but it took some force (she can't do it yet) and it's a little loud!I love that it's two toys in one with the xylophone that pulls out and used by itself. A WORD OF CAUTION WITH THE HAMMER: We will not let her play with the hammer without close supervision. The long handle is a definite choking hazard! She could tap it to play music when we held it with her. We also hit the keys with the balls and they made music - safer for babies her age. The sound on this one was fine - in tune enough as expected for a toy.Non-toxic; the colors are very bright and interesting to a child. Well built and seems it will be long-lasting. So much to learn (colors, numbers, shapes, fine/gross motor skills, cause-effect, music!). For all that - I think the price is very reasonable.