Ocean Wonders Aquarium offers great entertainment for baby
by kgrady - Written: Oct 29 '02 (Updated Feb 05 '03)
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Pros: babies can operate by themselves
Cons: fish swimming/bubble making mechanism is noisy, doesn't project on ceiling like old aquarium
The Bottom Line: A good crib toy that your baby will be able to operate. Seems to do a good job with battery consumption.
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| kgrady's Full Review: Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium |
I purchased the Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium as a replacement for our Fisher Price Peaceful Planet Aquarium. My daughter Maggie loved the original aquarium, but when I set it up for my son Jack to use, I found it was broken -- the music still played but the fish didn't swim anymore.
I had noticed the Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium on one of my many trips to Target and decided to pick one up for Jack. Like the Peaceful Planet Aquarium, the Ocean Wonders Aquarium has music, lights, bubbles, and swimming fish. The Ocean Wonders Aquarium adds some new activities for baby.
The Ocean Wonders Aquarium is rectangular in shape. On the front, there is a panel that represents the aquarium. Inside the aquarium are a clam, two fish (One is big and one is small. According to Fisher Price, they are a mommy and a baby.), and a starfish. Underneath the area where the fish are, there is a rolling ball, a large button and a lever. Spinning the rolling ball makes the clam's mouth open and close, revealing a pearl inside. The button allows the child to turn the aquarium on and off. The lever makes the starfish spin around. You attach the aquarium to the crib with two plastic straps and a string.
The parent's controls are located at the top on the back of the aquarium, easily accessible from outside the crib. There is a panel in front of them, blocking them from the child in the crib's view, so they probably won't be touching them. There are three controls: a mode switch, a song/sound button, and a volume dial. The mode switch allows you to turn the aquarium on or off and switch between three modes:
1) Music, lights, bubbles, and swimming fish
2) Music and lights
3) Music only
I haven't timed it, but the instructions say you get five minutes of play in the music, lights, bubbles and fish mode and ten minutes in the music and lights mode.
I like the music, lights, bubbles and swimming fish mode the best. The fish move around (up and down in a circular pattern) and bubbles come up from the bottom of the tank. Lights glow on and off. The only disadvantage to this mode is the mechanism that makes the bubbles is quite noisy so you have to turn the volume up.
A button cycles through the three songs and three sounds. The songs are kind of "Enya-esque" and there is one song I don't know. The order for the songs and sounds is:
1) unknown song
2) Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
3) Brahms' Lullaby
4) cycles through the three songs
5) bubbling brook
6) raindrops
7) ocean waves
I'm not sure I really like the songs. They're not annoying, just a little strange sounding. I think they're supposed to be "oceany" or something. You can preview all of them at a cool demonstration of this toy on the Fisher-Price web site.
Fisher Price suggests you can use this toy to soothe your baby to sleep. Jack is now 8 months old and when I turn the aquarium on, he immediately cranes his neck to see what's going happening. I keep the aquarium in the crib mostly so he can amuse himself when he wakes up. Maggie also likes to turn it on for Jack (the button is quite easy to reach through the slats of the crib).
I like that the Ocean Wonders Aquarium can be easily operated by the baby. Jack turns it on an off very easily. He also likes to play with the clam and starfish. Often he will wake up in the morning and play with this toy for a half an hour before he starts making noises that he wants to get out of his crib. That alone makes it worth ten times the price!
The one thing that I wish the Ocean Wonders Aquarium could do is project the lights on the ceiling. This was my favorite feature of the Peaceful Planet Aquarium. Since Jack is fascinated by light and shadow on walls and the ceiling, I know he would enjoy this.
Batteries
The Ocean Wonders Aquarium requires 4 "D" alkaline batteries which are not included. Jack and Maggie have been playing with it for about 3 months and we haven't had to replace the batteries yet. Maggie seems to be incapable of going in Jack's room without turning the toy on, regardless as to whether Jack is in the crib or not. Perhaps she really likes the music?
Fisher Price has a note in the directions regarding batteries: Low battery power causes this product to operate erratically: no sounds/no lights/no movement; and product may not turn off. Remove and discard all four batteries and replace with four new "D" alkaline batteries. I expect this note is based on experiences customers reported with the Peaceful Planet Aquarium.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 24.99
Type of Toy: Baby Toy
Age Range of Child: 0 to 12 Months
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