Activity table?

[Rachels]

Abigail clearly needs a workstation of some kind. She is pulling up on everything and wants to STAND, thank you. I may swing by TRU and see what I see, but does anybody have a good activity table or workbench or something that would be good for a baby Abby's age (10 months)? Thanks!

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[josephsmom]

Leap Frog has a really nice activity table with music and lights. The music is very pleasant. There are several different instruments. The table has 2 different modes: one in which the instruments play a large variety of different songs, and one in which letters, numbers, color names, prepositions, etc., are set to music. It's a very nice toy. If you want to go lower-tech, Fisher-Price also makes a nice activity table. The table top has 2 surfaces. One has "busy-box" type toys, and the other is a surface for building with the chunky blocks that are included. Joseph received both of these as gifts. I thought they'd be redundant, but he really enjoys both, and plays with them differently. Have fun!

Helene
mommy to Joseph 12/29/01

[August Mom]

We have the Leapfrog Leapstart Activity Table as well and DS LOVES it. He's been playing with it for months (without the legs), but we're thinking about putting the legs on it soon because he wants to pull up on everything. It's the perfect height for pulling up with the legs on. Also, I do not find the music annoying. There are 2 volume levels or, you can use it without the music and lights as there are still things to spin, push, slide, etc. If you do buy this at TRU, pick up a coupon book. Through March 30, there's a coupon for $5 off this table.

Another good pulling up toy is the Neurosmith Jumbo Music Block. This is DS's favorite thing to pull up on. And, it's soft so when he falls he doesn't hurt himself. There are different activities on each side of the cube and different songs play depending which side of the cube is up. At 7 months, though, DS can't really work many of the activities. Also, we got another cartridge because the songs that come with the Jumbo Music Block get old after awhile. We got our Jumbo Music Block at Sam's Club for $35.

[cara1]

We have the Fisher Price Activity Table. It has a reversible table top with stuff to do. Although DS loves this toy, he never really used the table part. He does love the blocks (lego-like) that came with it, and we also loved the storage part under the table top for toys and things. Generally now, the table part sits on the floor by itself and doesn't get much attention, but the storage part gets a lot of use. DS has some toys in there, and one of his favorite things is to climb inside, and throw out his toys. It's pretty funny, actually, especially the first time when I didn't even know he could get in there by himself! He certainly gets a lot of use out of this toy, but not in the ways you'd think!

[atlbaby]

Arielle has the Chicco activity table which she really loves. It's a 2-in-1 type, the top can be flipped over. One side has a bunch of toys on it that mostly can't be removed, and then it flips over to a board that they can build on. There are 14 different size/shape/color blocks that store underneath. At first Arielle didn't care for the block side, but now that's all she wants to do! So I like because now at nearly 17 months she still enjoys it. Here's what it looks like, since I probably didn't explain it well!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000IZYR/ref=pd_sbs_t_2/002-5858817-9527213?v=glance&s=toys

In regards to age-recommendations, I got it for Arielle's birthday but she would surely have enjoyed it at 10 months too!

Hope you find something!

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01
#2:) EDD 10/24/03

[LisaS]

I second the Chicco activity table. I had originally wanted to buy DD the Leapfrog table (which she loves playing with at friends houses), but she received the Chicco table as a gift when she turned 1.

She loves both sides -- the side with the toys has a phone with a receiver that comes off that DD has become very attached to - she picks it up and carries it around the apartment talking with the receiver pressed to her ear. It also has a little "computer" type toy that makes noise (but that's the only noisy/electronic part about it) that she takes off and sits with on the floor and plays with.

She also loves taking out and putting back the blocks into the tray underneath. She hasn't quite gotten the hang of building with them, but she loves to knock down whatever I build and then hand me the blocks or bang them together.

You can't go wrong with either the Leapfrog or the Chicco. They're both great tables. The main difference is that the Leapfrog has more musical and electronic interactive features while the Chicco has the flip side of the table to build on.

[colleenfs]

Julia loves the Leapfrog Table. Everyone in our playgroup got it for Christmas! I like that it has a loud and a quiet mode, and the music is very pleasant. Nice to hear something jazzy and not tinny. There are so many songs on there that we heard one for the very first time today!

She also has the bare bones FP table, which was lent to us by a friend. I keep it in her room now, and it's the first thing she goes for every time we enter her room. It's very basic, but she loves to take the blocks and bang them together.

Another great toy for pulling up is the FP Crawl and Cruise Playground. Julia still likes to play with this. Now she plays with it from the outside.

Colleen
Mama to Julia 1-10-02

[atlbaby]

I'll second the FP Crawl and Cruise Playground as another great pulling up option! We got it for Arielle when she was about 7.5 months old and had just mastered crawling, thinking it would be a "crawl" toy for a bit. But then she began to pull up within week or two and we were SO glad we had something for her to pull up and cruise on (other than furniture!)

The music takes a bit to get used to, (as do most of these toys I find) but she loved it for months! Even when we put it away I kept the balls around for her to play with.:)

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01
#2:) EDD 10/24/03

[josephsmom]

Yes, the Crawl & Cruise is great for pulling up, standing, and cruising. But the music is really awful! I find a lot of the Fisher Price musical toys annoying, but this is one of the worst! The Leap Frog music is infinitely better.

Helene
mommy to Joseph 12/29/01

[August Mom]

I agree about the music on the FP Crawl & Cruise - it is very annoying. DS played with it once at a friend's house and it was immediately off my list of possible toys to buy. Definitely listen before you buy.

[candybomiller]

We have the leapfrog table and DS loves it. He got it for Christmas and used it to stand up with right away. I don't know if that has anything to do with the fact that he took his first steps at 8 months, but he's been pulling up on it forever now. The only thing I would caution is this: The first time DS pulled up on the table, he tipped it over on himself. He hasn't done it since then, but the bottom of the table isn't very secure, IMO. After we put it together, DH and I both asked "Is that it?" We've thought about weighting the bottom of it, but since DS has learned to compensate, it hasn't been a big deal. Just something to be on the watch out for.

HTH,
Candy
Mom to Matthew, born 5/22/02