Musical toys that make you cringe! So many toys for infants and toddlers are plastered with music chips that are so out of tune and are just about as far away from encouraging musical appreciation as I can imagine. My suggestion, go with the quiet toy and put on some music you like.
Stephanie Oppenheim on Toys
Thoughts on Toys from the Co-Founder of the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio
What I hate are toys that are so loud that it makes you wonder if they are damaging your kiddo’s hearing as well.
My son got a toy truck for Christmas that he adored but we had to take the batteries out of it because the volume on it was so loud that I could hear it two rooms over loud and clear!
Trust your instincts–there are more limits on noise levels for power drills than there are for toys. We have worked with the League of the Hard of Hearing in New York on this issue. They warn against both bursts of noise as well as consistently loud toys like the truck you mentioned. The introduction of “try me” packaging has meant that toys have to be loud enough to be heard in retail settings. The last few years has thankfully brought more and more volume controls–but you still have to be careful.
We have found that Neurosmith’s musical toys are quite nice. They use familiar nursery rhymes and classical music. Several of my customers have post-graduate music training and love these toys.
Regarding the second issue, my sister told me many years ago that placing some scotch tape over the speaker would reduce the volume. It works!
I so agree! They are the wonderful exception to my rant. Neurosmith’s music blocks have been a long time favorite, see our review: http://www.toyportfolio.com/GeneralSearch/SearchResult.asp?ProductID=4172.
Hmm…the scotch tape idea sounds like something we might give a try. He loves the truck and it does some sort of “dancing” motion and it’s one of his favorites. However, the volume was just so loud.
We may put the batteries back in and try the tape!
Thanks!
I recommend the clear packing tape – it’s thicker and stays stuck better. Learned that trick a few years ago, it definitely works.
One of our testers solution was to leave those toys at their grandparents house…