best baby playards

Good play pen, February 22, 2005

= Durability:  = Fun:  = Educational: 

Perks:

1) Looks kid-friendly. Neat and colorful. It is oodles better than my first playpen purchase, a bizarre contraption we later discovered is also marketed separately as a dog enclosure!

2) Has a locking gate.

3) Is pretty stable on hard floors when placed on 2′x2′ interlocking foam playmats (purchase separately).

4) Has suction cups for hard floors (I haven’t used them).

5) Each wall piece is light weight and easily assembles and disassembles.

6) The play wall comes with batteries already installed. Thank you.

7) The bear stickers other reviewers have complained about were not included in my kit (spring 2005). I won’t miss them.

Drawbacks:

1) The Playzone is small. I found it less expensive to buy two and combine them, rather than pay for shipping on several extension kits.

2) The battery-operated music is loud and there is no volume control. I taped cardboard over the speaker (located on the exterior wall) to muffle the sound.

3) The mirror is the same flexible mirror found on all toddler toys. I dislike these mirrors because they provide distorted images and are not durable for future generations of kids who will use this Playzone.

4) I wish the gate lock was easier to manipulate. You push a button and slide a latch to retract or release two prongs. Locking the gate can take a second because I have to slightly lift the gate so the prongs extend properly into the holes in the lock. I’ll get used to it. If not, wall segments are easy to pull apart and reattach (though that’s kind of loud).

6) The gate is not full length top-to-bottom. There is a trippable lip you step over when going into or out of the Playzone.

All-in-all this is the best play yard I’ve found on the market as of spring 2005. With a few tweaks it could be great.

Update four months later: The Playzone is still great. Our kid can push two segments of gate outward a little at the yellow joints, (this is noticeable because we configure the Playzone in a square shape), but it’s not a big deal. We don’t bother using the gate door, preferring to just walk/climb over the wall. Our kid enjoys the music buttons on the entertainment panel, but I wish this panel was included in a separately-purchased expansion kit so that the core product was sold at a lower price. Two Playzones combined leave ample room for Mom and Dad and baby to play together. Our cat can jump in and out via a couch placed next to the Playzone (a good thing for us).

I have not experienced a problem with the door hinge that another reviewer mentioned. My door locks when you close the door and move an outside lever that pushes two blue plastic “bolts” from the wall base out and into holes in the door. A locked door shouldn’t open when a toddler pushes or pulls on the door. If that happens in your case, yeah, contact the manufacturer.

I envision never needing to lock and unlock the door. While our kid is small, it’s easier for us to climb into the Playzone. When our kid grows bigger, we’ll just leave the door unlocked.

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Great toy — buy 2 and forget the extensions, April 23, 2005

= Durability:  = Fun:  = Educational: 

Our son loves this — he doesn’t think of it as being a “cage”, but rather as a fun play area. He hardly ever cries when we put him here, unlike his play pen.

Suggestion — buy 2 sets, which is equivalent area wise to buying 4 extensions, but costs less (especially with shipping), and provides 2 gates and 2 activity walls, unlike the extensions, which are just plain blue walls. A single set is no bigger than a playpen.

Another suggestion — remove the bear stickers (which are on the blue walls) or turn these walls inside-out so that the sticker is on the outside of the play area. Otherwise, your child may tear off (and eat?) the sticker.

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Sanity Saver, June 10, 2006

= Durability:  = Fun:  = Educational: 

Our 10 month old son is all over the place. He is into everything so we thought we would give this a try. We bought two (from EBAY as a pair – saved almost 50.00 including shipping). Over all this is a fantastic product, and great for keeping little ones out of danger when you can’t hold them or watch their every move.

The Good:

1. The Playzone is thick plastic which is sturdy and so easy to clean.

2. The colors are nice (red, blue, and yellow)

3. Has built in play wall which my son loves.

4. If you buy two you have tons of room. There is enough room for my son, his cousin, my husband and I all to fit in and have room to play and move around.

5. Has a gate that is childproof. We have not had any problems unlocking and locking it. Anyone with children knows that anything childproof is more of a hassle to use.

6. The walls are about two feet tall. They have enough height to keep him inside yet short enough for him to look over and feel less confined.

7. Easy Easy to put together and take apart.

The Bad:

1. If you decide to take down the pieces are very big and will not be easy to store. With two Playzone’s dont even bother with storing anywhere but in an attic unless you have a whole closet or bedroom out of use.

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