Little Playzone with Sounds and Lights Reviews

• Good play pen

  
  By A2WIPUJO15AZ8N on 2005-02-22
  Perks:
  
  1) Looks kid-friendly. Neat and colorful. It is oodles better than my first playpen purchase, a bizarre contraption we later discovered is also marketed separately as a dog enclosure!
  2) Has a locking gate.
  3) Is pretty stable on hard floors when placed on 2'x2' interlocking foam playmats (purchase separately).
  4) Has suction cups for hard floors (I haven't used them).
  5) Each wall piece is light weight and easily assembles and disassembles.
  6) The play wall comes with batteries already installed. Thank you.
  7) The bear stickers other reviewers have complained about were not included in my kit (spring 2005). I won't miss them.
  
  Drawbacks:
  
  1) The Playzone is small. I found it less expensive to buy two and combine them, rather than pay for shipping on several extension kits.
  2) The battery-operated music is loud and there is no volume control. I taped cardboard over the speaker (located on the exterior wall) to muffle the sound.
  3) The mirror is the same flexible mirror found on all toddler toys. I dislike these mirrors because they provide distorted images and are not durable for future generations of kids who will use this Playzone.
  4) I wish the gate lock was easier to manipulate. You push a button and slide a latch to retract or release two prongs. Locking the gate can take a second because I have to slightly lift the gate so the prongs extend properly into the holes in the lock. I'll get used to it. If not, wall segments are easy to pull apart and reattach (though that's kind of loud).
  6) The gate is not full length top-to-bottom. There is a trippable lip you step over when going into or out of the Playzone.
  
  All-in-all this is the best play yard I've found on the market as of spring 2005. With a few tweaks it could be great.
  
  Update four months later: The Playzone is still great. Our kid can push two segments of gate outward a little at the yellow joints, (this is noticeable because we configure the Playzone in a square shape), but it's not a big deal. We don't bother using the gate door, preferring to just walk/climb over the wall. Our kid enjoys the music buttons on the entertainment panel, but I wish this panel was included in a separately-purchased expansion kit so that the core product was sold at a lower price. Two Playzones combined leave ample room for Mom and Dad and baby to play together. Our cat can jump in and out via a couch placed next to the Playzone (a good thing for us).
  
  I have not experienced a problem with the door hinge that another reviewer mentioned. My door locks when you close the door and move an outside lever that pushes two blue plastic "bolts" from the wall base out and into holes in the door. A locked door shouldn't open when a toddler pushes or pulls on the door. If that happens in your case, yeah, contact the manufacturer.
  
  I envision never needing to lock and unlock the door. While our kid is small, it's easier for us to climb into the Playzone. When our kid grows bigger, we'll just leave the door unlocked.
  
  

• small

  
  By A1PRJKOYX5X95E on 2004-11-01
  The play area is small and the extension pieces are hard to come by. The only merchant that carries the extension pieces is One Step Ahead and they charge an arm and leg for shipping. It's cheaper to buy two sets (instead of purchasing individual extension pieces) if you have the room.
  
  

• Great toy -- buy 2 and forget the extensions

  
  By AZ7BDY455TD5P on 2005-04-24
  Our son loves this -- he doesn't think of it as being a "cage", but rather as a fun play area. He hardly ever cries when we put him here, unlike his play pen.
  
  Suggestion -- buy 2 sets, which is equivalent area wise to buying 4 extensions, but costs less (especially with shipping), and provides 2 gates and 2 activity walls, unlike the extensions, which are just plain blue walls. A single set is no bigger than a playpen.
  
  Another suggestion -- remove the bear stickers (which are on the blue walls) or turn these walls inside-out so that the sticker is on the outside of the play area. Otherwise, your child may tear off (and eat?) the sticker.
  
  
  
  

• Serious Hazard with this product!

  
  By A3UY76JQA5J4VS on 2005-05-09
  I purchased this product for a 9 month old. Very often the door would open with him just holding on to stand up. A small blue object dislodged from the door hinge and found it in the toddlers mouth!! I returned the product and notified the manufacturer. Please return this item if you have one.......or remove the small chocking hazard peices.
  
  

• Great Play area

  
  By A3ESPL7N89RK0F on 2004-11-09
  I bought the playzone for my son when he was 8 or 9 months old and he loved it. I bought 2 extension pieces and although it costs more, it's well worth it. I was able to get things down around the house and not have to be worried about him getting hurt. I put some other toys of his in there as well. he thought of it as a playhouse because i had other toys in there. so when the door was shut, he didn't mind it at all. it also came in handy outside while doing yardwork and not having to worry about him running all over the place. My husband at first didn't like how much it all cost(with the extra pieces) but then he said that it was worth it.
  
  
• a life saver
  By A3VBTOUYJEIR97 on 2005-03-02
  my 6 month old daughter loves to wiggle around and a regular pack-n-play just wasn't big enough, she would often cry because she would not have any room. with this little playzone she can roll around and move with no restrictions. a happy baby makes a happy mommy. we purchased 2 extension kids to make it a bit bigger. my 2 year old son loves this toy too, he thinks it's fun to turn it into a fort.
  
  
• Sanity Saver
  By AEK5GOE7UFP2P on 2006-06-10
  Our 10 month old son is all over the place. He is into everything so we thought we would give this a try. We bought two (from EBAY as a pair - saved almost 50.00 including shipping). Over all this is a fantastic product, and great for keeping little ones out of danger when you can't hold them or watch their every move.
  
  The Good:
  1. The Playzone is thick plastic which is sturdy and so easy to clean.
  2. The colors are nice (red, blue, and yellow)
  3. Has built in play wall which my son loves.
  4. If you buy two you have tons of room. There is enough room for my son, his cousin, my husband and I all to fit in and have room to play and move around.
  5. Has a gate that is childproof. We have not had any problems unlocking and locking it. Anyone with children knows that anything childproof is more of a hassle to use.
  6. The walls are about two feet tall. They have enough height to keep him inside yet short enough for him to look over and feel less confined.
  7. Easy Easy to put together and take apart.
  
  The Bad:
  1. If you decide to take down the pieces are very big and will not be easy to store. With two Playzone's dont even bother with storing anywhere but in an attic unless you have a whole closet or bedroom out of use.
  
  
• Great toy that grows with your child
  By A2O18T2N0MTA2W on 2004-11-03
  I love it! I bough the Lil' Playzone when my daughter was 7 months old, it was a safe and fun place for her to play while I had to cook or do the dishes. Now that she is 15 months old and walking, I leave the door open and she uses it as a playhouse. She loves the keyboard and the phone. The only thing that I would recommend is to add a thick mat to the bottom, you can cut it to fit inside, to keep the walls stable.
  
  
• Great, safe fun
  By A18W2NHCVEEYI0 on 2005-10-08
  This was purchased for my grandson and the squeals of delight when he got in it for the first time were definitely worth the money spent. It is so big that his daddy who is 6'3" tall was able to sit down in it with him. It is easy to clean and very sturdy. The activities especially the buttons for the various songs were no trouble for this little guy. I look forward to bringing it in the house for him during the winter months so he'll be able to enjoy it year round, but I especially like having it outside during the warm summer weather. One word of caution, if you have it outside and have the playmats underneath, make sure you don't have it in direct sun. The playmats will melt due to the mirror, as I found out the hard way.
  
  
• Great product for crawlers
  By A39N5UU34LGDMH on 2006-07-27
  My wife and I were looking hard for an item like this for a month visiting various baby stores such as Babies R' US, etc...
  However, we realized that all they carry in stock are something called "gates" which refrain babies from entering through some type of passageway.
  This product is very good that it can serve as a small, confined play-zone, or you could spread the grids to make it a good 8-foot long fence that can be used as a bigger version of the "gates".
  It also comes with one section comprised of small play-center with sound modules, little clickers, and other small gadgets that baby spends some time to play with. One thing I like about this item is that it has a small door to enter the playzone with small locking device.
  When your baby starts to crawling around, it probably is one of the hardest times. You have to be on watch every single moment. My wife couldn't handle it during the daytime, so she's tried something like high chair, walkers, carriers, etc. But by far, this is the best system to give both the mom and the baby a good break. I highly recommend this item.
  However, I think it is a little over-priced at $100, also it was only available online, so shipping charge was quite a bit.
  But for us, it was worth the money. You can also buy extension kits if your baby requires more space.
  
  
• Freedom!
  By A2AI5PYD1UZA8G on 2006-07-22
  My six month old recently started crawling and was getting into everything...the fireplace, pulling on cords, chewing on the dog cages etc. I needed something that I could put him in while I did dishes, cooked, cleaned etc. This is great! I ordered the playpen plus 3 extension kits on ebay (its cheaper that way) and now he has tons of room to crawl around. So far he has not protested being in there, which was not the case for his pack and play. Those things are just too small to use for an active baby.
  
  If you buy, I'd reccommend at least 2 extension kits. The play wall is fine, but could be improved. My son loves the spinning things above the keyboard, but when he plays with them he is always inadvertantly hitting the keyboard below. Trust me, this can be annoying as the keyboard is a little on the loud side.
  
  
• not so happy
  By A2CQ2ZBDSGL1VP on 2004-10-29
  i believe that this is to small for any child. it is about the same size as a standard crib. i would not recommend it.
  
  
• need to watch your kid... slides with a slight push
  By A20OWBU3O09L5K on 2006-06-11
  my 6 month old baby loves this playpen, esp. its playzone side. however, the entire fence can move/slide when he pushes it, or when he tries to hold on to it to stand up. it's currently standing on foam playmats (since we have hardwood floors). maybe it won't slide that much if it were standing on carpet floors... something parents need to watch out for.
  
  
• Good, flexible playpen
  By AK95AUC8SRHMP on 2007-02-09
  This playpen is nice because you can get extensions (or, like we did just buy two of the full set) and configure it for your needs. It is particularly useful because you can keep it on the smaller side for normal use, but add in extensions when other kids come over to make it larger. Everything fits together well, is easy to assemble, and the battery-powered sections are amusing for the kids. Some pieces are little rough, nothing alarming though.
  
  
• Parents life saver
  By A26AGFVWTXKZIC on 2005-12-01
  When first child was born a friend let us use a very similar one from One step ahead. We made it huge by not closing the ends together but make a semi circle wall against a wall outlet free wall and she had the best time in her area I never had to worry about her safety as I went about my daily chores, she even took naps in it. She cried when I took her out of it. And she enjoyed it outside as well. We had to give that one back and when our new baby was born we bought this and have road tested it with my 16 month old nephew he loves it as well and his parents are buying it for him and his new brother on the way. I would say of all of our baby gear purchases this was the best!!!!
  
  
• I agree with AJ - great space, minor drawbacks
  By APG7V931I21Q5 on 2006-05-03
  I just bought this for my twins (with 2 extensions). It was either set up a play yard or remove the entire contents of my livingroom to make it safe. I agree that the music is too loud. I took out the batteries. My kids have so many musical toys, they didn't need another. I also agree that the gate latch is tricky to operate. You need a simple, one-handed latch when you're carrying baby in and out. I tend to go over the wall to place a child inside or step over it to get in myself. I tried putting a puzzle mat floor under this, but it made it even easier to move the walls around. This is a problem for infants just learning to pull themselves up. I find it is more stable on the carpet. Overall, I'm very happy with this product. My boys are excited at the end of the day to come home to a space where they have the freedom to crawl around and play with their toys unrestricted.
  
  
• PLAYZONE - Pros & Cons: Still a Good Buy
  By ACZ7K3BHDBKKX on 2006-07-17
  I purchased the Little Playzone because we needed something to limit our little guy's access to things that could hurt him in the living room without discouraging his desire to creep and crawl. I was originally looking to purchasing a full size play pen but I didn't want to pay the price nor worried about taking up precious storage space. This has worked great and has met our needs well. It is larger than the standard Pak-n-Plays and the flexible side connectors allows us to move the sides to configure it to different shapes. This accommodates different toys. The little gate is a wonderful feature, my older children can get in with "little brother" and play with him without having to step over the sides. If purchasing this for a crawling or toddling child, I would recommend purchasing at least one more side panel and connector. I didn't do this and wished I had because it would have helped in the beginning. The extra space would have made it easier for me to get in and play with him and help him get use to being limited in his space. Also if you do not have a padded floor, I would highly recommend purchasing some sort of padded flooring. We have used an old king size comforter folded up. This was fine at first but he has now figured out how to scoot the edge over and crawl under the comforter. This causes his little knees and hands to get cold (on the tile floor)and get little "burns" (chafs)from rubbing against the hard tile. This doesn't seem to bother him but it is bothering me;so we'll be purchasing the padding / foam blocks as well. We plan on using it outside when he gets a little bigger and is walking. The only thing I wished it did have was an "on/off" switch or volume control for the little keyboard. While it is NOT exceptionally loud, there have been a few times when it would have been better if we could have turned it off or at least lowered the volume. (Long distance phone conversations, dinner talk, etc.) We do have a tile floor so sounds get amplified. A carpeted floor probably would not have this problem. Overall this has been a very good purchase and has helped greatly.
  
  
• Babies first play pen
  By ANTU3KHCWP3KX on 2005-10-27
  My wife nagged me until I caved in and bought this play pen; overall I think this was a good investment. I feel comfortable leaving my little girl in there to play with her own toys or what's attached to it. You can secure the door or leave it open while your child plays. The colors are nice and bright and it seems very durable. I'm sure she will be able to use it for quite a while.
  
  
• A Grandmother's Best Friend!
  By A110V9QFQZD4JQ on 2006-03-09
  In this day and age of nonexistent playpens, it was nice to find something that would contain and keep my yr old grandson safe. As I am his daily daycare provider, I needed something that would give me a little free time yet provide him with a sense of mobility. A friend took pity on me and did the research, finding the Little Playzone. We now have two; one at my house and one at my daughter's. My grandson does not seem to mind being closed in with his toys. My only complaint is that there should be more activity stations - not just the one and perhaps a little more thought into what the station really does. Don't buy this thinking the "entertainment" will hold a baby/toddler's attention. It is good for the first few days and then of little interest. If you are adverse to listening to kiddie music over and over, be prepared as this function is at foot level and whether they mean to or not, it is always hit or kicked and the songs go on and on. Overall, this is a good alternative to the old style playpen; larger with solid footing that allows for crawling and beginning walking. Most of all, it gives the caregiver some freedom with the child being safe and secure. It is easy to set-up and very easy to move around. Not inexpensive by any means, but it was definitely a good purchase for us.
  
  
• Grate solution for children and parents
  By A2WKMDZTOH072B on 2005-08-17
  I have 8 month triplets. they started crowling from the 5th month and my wife was getting crazy trying to hold the children in one place. I bougth 2 playzones and combined them so i could multiply by four the inner area. I highly recommend this solution for twins, triplets and above. Bateries don't last long.
  
  
• Melissa Carlson, Tyler Texas
  By A1PR3S2RM38RGN on 2005-09-29
  This is one of the best things I have purchased for my little girl, she is so entertained by it I don't even have to shut the door. She and her little friends play for hours inside the playzone.
  
  
• Has taken over our living room!
  By A1RE4GU6S5ZF52 on 2006-05-03
  We are using this in the living room and really like it. We didn't feel that one was large enough so we ordered 4 extra panels. I would recommend just buying two complete sets if you want to expand it. Turns out to be cheaper and you end up with an extra wall of music.
  
  
• Made my life easier
  By A3ULCYWAPJCVL on 2006-06-08
  As a grandparent, this was the best thing I could of bought my daughter in law. When I had to baby sit my grand daughter for a month when she was just starting to walk. This gave me the freedom to let her roam around and use it as a gate also. Having 2 was large enough to spread it out in my living room, blocking of the areas she wasn't to go into. Plus letting me close it when I needed to do things when I couldn't keep my eye on her. I would recommend this to everyone with a small child.
  
  
• this item is great!
  By AHQEBFCQF6G1C on 2007-02-13
  We purchased this item 2 months ago for our VERY active 1 year old. We found that it was nearly impossible to keep up with her all the time, however when we put her in the pack n' play she would scream. This is THE perfect alternative. We did purchase two of them (she needs a lot of space). The assembly was easy, its easy to get in and out of, but she could not pull it apart- the gate is very secure and she loves the toys attached to the back of the pen.
  
  My only complaints are this: it's still relatively small- as i said we purchased two of them to make a large pen- the superyard XT comes with more panels but i felt that the edges were sharp, there's no gate, and it's hard to pull apart.
  
  Also the toys run out of battery so fast, and there is no on or off switch for them
  
  
• Peel off those Bear Stickers
  By A1VVAH8TWB9MNL on 2004-10-26
  I love the Lil' playzone because it gives me a larger safe area to place my daughter while I do dishes etc...couple things to consider though; first you need to get a couple of extensions or you might as well use your pack n play, and second peel off those bear stickers. Mine were loose when it arrived and would not stay stuck down. If finally peeled them all off when my 6 month old started peeling peices off and eatting them!
  
  
• My daughter loves it!
  By A23EFJAYYG0DRH on 2005-08-30
  The playzone was super easy to put together, and my 10 month old daughter loves all the fun things it has to play with. It is very durable and easy to clean off if need be. It is roomy enough for her to play with lots of other toys in it too!
  
  
• Best option out there for a playpen
  By A3CFFIPJWYEYFG on 2005-12-21
  Since they no longer make "Playpens" this is a great option. We bought two units. (Rather than getting the equivalent number of extensions, thereby getting two activity panels and two doors) It is very handy to corral all the toys to one area and if you need to take a quick shower it is great to put on a video and know that your little one will be safely inside the play area. It was a bit spendy though considering to make it worth it you need two units and you must pay shipping.
  
  
• Little playzone with Electronic lights
  By A1QJFJNPXKO5A0 on 2006-03-24
  I read AJ's review and agree with all he said. We have twins and we purchased it with 2 extensions, on ebay. We wanted to buy it on amazon but as others have stated it was too expensive with shipping. It is actually cheaper in the long run to purchase two units at a local "right start store".
  I would rate the play yard good to very good. How durable remains to be seen with our twins. Already the girl is pulling herself up on it and rocking back and forth.
  The negatives are also well addressed by "aj". The biggest issue I have is the door lock, it does not open easily and the pins have to be in precise alignment. My wife climbs over, so it is not an issue for her.
  
  
• OK!
  By A32LK8Z91J173M on 2006-11-04
  I found the music on this play yard is very loud! Other than that, it is fine.....
  
  
• Amazingly important to a busy mom!
  By A28WY5PTGGLNKB on 2007-02-09
  As a WAHM of 4 - including 11 month old twins - the only way I can ever get a lick of work done, is to corral my busy babies. They have had this playzone since they were old enough to sit up. I bought two extensions to start with, but have since upgraded to a total of 4. it is SO worth the money for the upgrade. I have set up "activity centers" of my own inside of it, with little people stations, stuffed animal stations, blocks stations, book stations, etc. And I change it up constantly so they don't get bored. Now that they are walking, they fight over the phone, but still love their playzone! I definitely recommend this for any busy mom!
  
  

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