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We have a 20 months old son and I've been rather appalled by some of the toys. There's a brand vtech that specializes in toys that makes random sound and light

We have a 20 months old son and I've been rather appalled by some of the toys. There's a brand vtech that specializes in toys that makes random sound and light and even worse, makes some sort of callback sound a few minutes after the last interaction with the toy to make sure the toddler comes back and continues playing with it. I don't get why anyone would think those toys are good. It doesn't teach anything, pressing a button will result in completely different sound randomly so there's not even a cause and effect relationship between an action from the toddler and the light/sound coming out of the toy. That said, coming back to this article, we did get some metal toy cars for our son and he happily makes vroom sounds while moving them around (he has learned that from the older kids in our apartment building). So at least imagination influenced by seeing other kids hasn't completely disappeared.

zzleeper 4y ago
Vtech is pure evil, they are the most useless annoying toys; I would prefer giving kids YouTube than let them play with those unless it's with a hammer
- sam_lowry_ 4y ago
  You mean, the now banned RGB cartoons or the still kicking Ukrainian family with kids making indecent sounds while doing random stuff?
nikoraisu 4y ago
We did well out of these: https://www.smartgames.eu/ https://www.smartgames.eu/ At 20 months you’re still a bit early, but some of the games for younger ones make a nice transition from ‘playing with blocks’ to puzzle solving. Plus they go up through the ages nicely - our oldest is 7 and there are plenty of good ones for him. Also they serve as a good gateway drug to board games…
- nicolas_t 4y ago
  Thanks for the recommendation, those look good. For the gateway to board games, we're planning on getting the my first orchard game from haba when he's a few months older. Later on, I stocked up on the discontinued lego board games :)
Cyphase 4y ago
Sad to hear this and my sibling comment about VTech. I have (vague) fond memories of the VTech toy laptop that I had when I was a kid. Lots of fun was had. And today computers are my favorite toys. This is the one I had (or if I'm wrong, another SKU or something, because this is extremely familiar): https://web.archive.org/web/20230413054933if_/https://i.pinimg.com/736x/fe/9e/8c/fe9e8ca78fc9816c03ce8658684e758f.jpg https://web.archive.org/web/20230413054933if_/https://i.pini... I'll specifically point out the letter keys that are half red, showing musical sounds (do re mi, etc.). Definitely not random.
hluska 4y ago
Vtech is fucking evil. When my kid was around 20 months old, she got really into Brio. This kit gave us hundreds of hours of entertainment- she’s seven now and still plays with it: https://www.brio.us/products/all-products/railway/classic-railway/classic-deluxe-set https://www.brio.us/products/all-products/railway/classic-ra... It’s a well made wooden train set. It was great for helping with her fine motor skills, taught us a lot about working together and was genuinely a lot of fun…even for her old dad.
- isoprophlex 4y ago
  If you also have duplo, search for duplo-brio connectors. Quadratic fun combining both toy sets!
  - PennRobotics 4y ago
    Alternatively, 3d print your own. The online selection is incredible: bridge adapters, track switch levers, and connectors between non-Brio tracks as well. (I realized how widespread these parts are online after my toddlers got a Duplo-Brio gift that was purchased from an online shop but was obviously printed.)
- e-master 4y ago
  [+] for Brio, though it’s so expensive that i often joke I have half of my savings in these brio train sets.
gambiting 4y ago
I don't understand the extremely negative comments about VTech here - they have some great toys. Our little boy loves the line of cars they have(toot toot drivers), we have an interactive car garage that's really fun to play with, and also in a lot of cases I find their toys offer better money/value ratio than Fisher Price. And they still do educational laptops: https://www.vtech.co.uk/brands/brand_page/electronic_learning https://www.vtech.co.uk/brands/brand_page/electronic_learnin... We've had their walker as well, the buttons definitely weren't random on that.
peepee1982 4y ago
I like some of the Vtech toys. I bought my youngest a Vtech Marble Rush recently for his third birthday and we build a lot of stuff with it together. My oldest son (8 now) got a toy laptop when he was around that age, and he learned shapes, counting, and letters with it. It's looks really beat up now, but it still works and it wasn't too annoying or stupid. In general I don't think electronic toys for toddlers are a good idea. But those two things from Vtech turned out to be allright.
- nicolas_t 4y ago
  Yeah, I'm also sure the toys targeted at older kids might be better too, I've mostly had experience with toys for younger toddlers that were given to us by well meaning friend and family. So far for toys targeted at toddlers, we've been extremely happy with the lovevery toys.
newaccount74 4y ago
Some toys aren't educational, they are just there to distract your toddler for a few minutes. Maybe you don't have a use for them, because your kid will happily look at a picture book while you fold the laundry, but not all kids are like that. One of my kids wants almost constant attention and won't let me get any housework done, so I've really learned to appreciate the few annoying toys that are interesting enough to keep him engaged for a few minutes.
- nicolas_t 4y ago
  We're lucky in that he's happy to try to "help" folding the laundry, it does result in it taking at least 4 times as long but it's a nice educational task. But yes point taken, although at that point, I think some of the better tv shows (like numberblocks) might be better than those toys with callback function.

zzleeper 4y ago

Vtech is pure evil, they are the most useless annoying toys; I would prefer giving kids YouTube than let them play with those unless it's with a hammer

sam_lowry_ 4y ago
You mean, the now banned RGB cartoons or the still kicking Ukrainian family with kids making indecent sounds while doing random stuff?

nikoraisu 4y ago

We did well out of these: https://www.smartgames.eu/ https://www.smartgames.eu/ At 20 months you’re still a bit early, but some of the games for younger ones make a nice transition from ‘playing with blocks’ to puzzle solving. Plus they go up through the ages nicely - our oldest is 7 and there are plenty of good ones for him. Also they serve as a good gateway drug to board games…

nicolas_t 4y ago
Thanks for the recommendation, those look good. For the gateway to board games, we're planning on getting the my first orchard game from haba when he's a few months older. Later on, I stocked up on the discontinued lego board games :)

Cyphase 4y ago

Sad to hear this and my sibling comment about VTech. I have (vague) fond memories of the VTech toy laptop that I had when I was a kid. Lots of fun was had. And today computers are my favorite toys. This is the one I had (or if I'm wrong, another SKU or something, because this is extremely familiar): https://web.archive.org/web/20230413054933if_/https://i.pinimg.com/736x/fe/9e/8c/fe9e8ca78fc9816c03ce8658684e758f.jpg https://web.archive.org/web/20230413054933if_/https://i.pini... I'll specifically point out the letter keys that are half red, showing musical sounds (do re mi, etc.). Definitely not random.

hluska 4y ago

Vtech is fucking evil. When my kid was around 20 months old, she got really into Brio. This kit gave us hundreds of hours of entertainment- she’s seven now and still plays with it: https://www.brio.us/products/all-products/railway/classic-railway/classic-deluxe-set https://www.brio.us/products/all-products/railway/classic-ra... It’s a well made wooden train set. It was great for helping with her fine motor skills, taught us a lot about working together and was genuinely a lot of fun…even for her old dad.

isoprophlex 4y ago
If you also have duplo, search for duplo-brio connectors. Quadratic fun combining both toy sets!
- PennRobotics 4y ago
  Alternatively, 3d print your own. The online selection is incredible: bridge adapters, track switch levers, and connectors between non-Brio tracks as well. (I realized how widespread these parts are online after my toddlers got a Duplo-Brio gift that was purchased from an online shop but was obviously printed.)
e-master 4y ago
[+] for Brio, though it’s so expensive that i often joke I have half of my savings in these brio train sets.

gambiting 4y ago

I don't understand the extremely negative comments about VTech here - they have some great toys. Our little boy loves the line of cars they have(toot toot drivers), we have an interactive car garage that's really fun to play with, and also in a lot of cases I find their toys offer better money/value ratio than Fisher Price. And they still do educational laptops: https://www.vtech.co.uk/brands/brand_page/electronic_learning https://www.vtech.co.uk/brands/brand_page/electronic_learnin... We've had their walker as well, the buttons definitely weren't random on that.

peepee1982 4y ago

I like some of the Vtech toys. I bought my youngest a Vtech Marble Rush recently for his third birthday and we build a lot of stuff with it together. My oldest son (8 now) got a toy laptop when he was around that age, and he learned shapes, counting, and letters with it. It's looks really beat up now, but it still works and it wasn't too annoying or stupid. In general I don't think electronic toys for toddlers are a good idea. But those two things from Vtech turned out to be allright.

nicolas_t 4y ago
Yeah, I'm also sure the toys targeted at older kids might be better too, I've mostly had experience with toys for younger toddlers that were given to us by well meaning friend and family. So far for toys targeted at toddlers, we've been extremely happy with the lovevery toys.

newaccount74 4y ago

Some toys aren't educational, they are just there to distract your toddler for a few minutes. Maybe you don't have a use for them, because your kid will happily look at a picture book while you fold the laundry, but not all kids are like that. One of my kids wants almost constant attention and won't let me get any housework done, so I've really learned to appreciate the few annoying toys that are interesting enough to keep him engaged for a few minutes.

nicolas_t 4y ago
We're lucky in that he's happy to try to "help" folding the laundry, it does result in it taking at least 4 times as long but it's a nice educational task. But yes point taken, although at that point, I think some of the better tv shows (like numberblocks) might be better than those toys with callback function.