Little Tikes Sports Center Review

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links.

It is completely safe to say that we are a sports family. I grew up a gymnast, my husband a baseball player and we share a common love of college basketball. While I generally avoid football it is still a family favorite so I pretend to like it form time to time. Little man was born just in time for the Big Ten tournament last year and helped me enjoy the entire month of March Madness in our weeks of not sleeping while I was on maternity leave. So like I said, it’s safe to say we are a sports family.

Little man’s aunt and uncle surprised him with the Little Tikes Discover Sounds Sports Center this past November. At first about the only thing he could do was spin the football on the Little Tikes Sports Center. To be fair he was around 8 months old at the time and still trying to discover what to do with his hands. In early December we often started putting the basketball in the hoop and cheering for ourselves (did I mention we’re weird?). Overtime little man saw is doing it and so he would put the basketball in the hoop and look up at us like “okay, I did it… where are my cheers?!”. We are now at the point where he will literally sit there for 5-10 minutes (hours in baby terms) and put the ball in the hoop over, and over, and over again. He even has a victory dance to go with it, which some would compare to twerking… mama calls it the butt drop dance.

Downside

There isn’t a lot we don’t like about Little Tikes Sports Center. To be honest the only thing that is halfway frustrating is that the having the bat and ball separate from the overall main toy. The bat generally is off in little man’s mouth, smacking us (or the dog) or hiding under the couch (trust me, I have no idea how it gets shoved under there). The ball generally speaking is under a changing table, in the dog’s toy pile or hidden under a couch cushion.

That doesn’t mean we haven’t found alternatives. A toy Bob the Tomato from Veggie Tales fits great into the basket. Little man has also figured out that his blocks fit right in. Never the less he finds a way to make the music go off.

Upside

Overall we LOVE this toy. It is used every single day in our house and we have even had to change the batteries already. Little man LOVES to just hold down the little sound thing and dance. Half of the time it is used PURELY for the music. It fits nicely into our corner (of a very small living room) and is lightweight so even if it does tip over, no one is hurt in the process.

Age Range

In terms of age, I would give this 8+ months for usability. Little Tikes recommends 9 Months – 3 Years. I would say that as soon as they have the ability to push their hands on something they can at least use the football portion of it. Little man has yet to understand the baseball portion of it. Honestly we get MOST of our amusement out of the basketball right now. His 2.5 year old cousin LOVED both the basketball and baseball side of the toy. At the end of the day, my 30 year old husband is a pretty big fan of the baseball side.

If you are considering it for a friend or family member, don’t hesitate, go buy it!

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge