The brand Chicco came to India in 2008 and they have gradually become one of the top few chosen brands that parents trust and love. This post is a review of their Monkey Strike Game based on the experiences that I and Tigger (my son) had while playing with the toy. Yes, I do play with his toys too. Mostly with him but sometimes just on my own 😏 I say it is to test the toy but when it is so much fun, who wouldn’t want to play with toys?
Toys are to a child what the Internet is to the Generation X
Remember when the thought of going to a mall meant riding escalating and having fun at the bowling alley. If you are a 90s kid like me, you would be reminiscing those memories now. The heavy bowling ball, trying to figure out what weight suits you, running and skidding on those shiny runways and trying to score a single pin if not a strike. That pure joy in watching the pins tumble down as you finally master how to bowl right. Those are some precious memories. Chicco has brought back those memories in a toddler-sized package in the form of this monkey strike game.
The box contains 6 sets of pins. I say set because the top and the bottom are two different pieces that you put together. The top half has a cute little monkey face in bright colours with ears and the bottom half has a number in the matching colour. (There are so many different ways which Tigger uses them and I will come to it later.) The box also contains a bowling ball with three cute little debts for Tigger’s fingers. The ball is bright red in colour. There are instructions on the box, a separate instruction leaflet and a leaflet with the address and the contact number of their office.
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Here are the different ways in which we play with it thus far
Bowling:
Just assemble the monkey pins as you would assemble any bowling pin set. We did it the classic way – 1 pin in the first row, 2 pins in the second and 3 pins in the third row. I tried showing Tigger that he needs to come a little away and roll the ball but he found it more fun to randomly throw the ball at the pins and squeal in joy as the tumbled. He also made sure that any standing in was hit repeatedly till it succumbed to its ultimate defeat.
Stacking up:
One monkey pin was placed on top of another and this we tried to make towers, tall, wide-based, and he even tried to make a giraffe (That is the only thing that comes to his mind when I say Tall). First, it was as a whole set and then he split them into halves and tried making many iterations. He did get a little angry when they didn’t quietly stand strong but wasn’t that an opportunity for me to teach my little one patience, perseverance, acceptance and not giving up? I tried, don’t ask me if he understood.
Colours:
‘The orange monkey is feeling alone… Uhmm is that right? Where is the orange cup? Let’s try to put them together’
‘How about a blue cup and green monkey now?‘ I and Tigger used the toy as a tool to help learn colours
Where is it?
The cups were then used to hide a tiny toy or a smaller ball and I tried asking Tigger to figure out under which cup it was hiding. To my surprise, he found it no matter how many times I switched the cups. So, I naturally asked him to do the hiding and switching. He did so and asked me ‘Ball ennne? (Ball enge means where is the ball in Tamil). But before I could answer, he lifted the cup and showed it to me with even more excitement. The innocence of this little one!
The box itself comes with bright colours and neat instructions on what it can be used for, and other details that assist a curious parent buying a toy. Tigger is the type of kid that loves anything that comes in a box. He plays for a long while with the box itself, throwing things into and out of the box. And since this was a bright coloured sturdy box, he just couldn’t resist himself from playing ‘in-out’ for a long time. This is what I had mentioned in my review of Chicco’s Activity Ball review and I am happy to report this hasn’t changed at all
Other Details:
Targetted age group: 18months+
Price – MRP is Rs 1675
Online – Use this link to buy the same at Rs. 1394 from Amazon
Material – safe and sturdy plastic.
No choking Hazard. Always supervise the child even if it is a peep from the kitchen as the little one plays with his toy in the drawing room.
The monkey strike game was sent to me by the lovely folks behind Chicco, for my honest review. I have written this blog post with my original personal experience and the opinions here are completely unbiased. Do give this toy a chance and you will find yourself agreeing with me.
Chicco Monkey Strike – Tigger Review The brand Chicco came to India in 2008 and they have gradually become one of the top few chosen brands that parents trust and love.
