We are big fans of Thomas & Friends here at Make, Do & Push! HQ, and this is especially true of H-Bear, who will happily create (and re-create) stories with all of his Thomas trains! So you can imagine how excited he was when the Learn with Thomas Alphaphonics arrived for him to review.
The Learn with Thomas Alphaphonics is a fun, interactive toy that is suitable for children age 3 and over. The toy encourages children to explore the alphabet, phonics, early words and spellings with 7 different games. These games aid early letter and number recognition, listening and understanding, communication skills, memory and concentration skills.
The 7 different games are all educational and vary in difficulty levels. They can be selected by using the slider across the top of the toy.
Game One: ‘Press a letter button’
Children are encouraged to press one of the letter buttons to hear the sound and the word related to that letter. For example, pressing ‘Uu’ is accompanied by the sound of rain and then the sentence: “This is an umbrella”
Game Two: ‘Letter Names and Sounds’
Children are encouraged to press one of the letter buttons to hear the phonetical equivalent relayed to that letter. For example, pressing ‘Ss’ is accompanied by the sentence: “Letter S sounds like ‘ss’ as in ‘steam'”
Game Three: ‘Can you find?’
Children are encouraged to find the letter button associated with the sentence. For example: “Find the rails” and once the child has pressed the correct button, they are awarded with a ‘ding ding’ and cheer noise.
Game Four: ‘The First Letter’
Children are encouraged to find the letter button associated with the sentence. For example, “What is the first letter of the word ‘Victor’?”. Once the child has pressed the correct button, they are told the phonetic for that word and are awarded with a ‘ding ding’ and cheer noise.
Game Five: ‘Find the Phonic’
Children are encouraged to find the letter button associated with the sentence. For example, “Can you find the letter ‘k’ as in kite?” Once the child has pressed the correct button, they are told the phonetic for that word and are awarded with a ‘ding ding’ and cheer noise.
Game Six: ‘Copy me’
Children are encouraged to listen the sounds and ‘copy’ the game. This is quite tricky!
Game Seven: ‘Fun Sounds’
Children are encouraged to press any button and listen to the characters!
There are also three yellow buttons below the slider at the top of the toy:
- Pressing ‘ABC’ goes through the alphabet phonetically.
- The ‘music’ button plays a number of different songs from Thomas & Friends.
- The ‘repeat’ button repeats the question.
The toy is very loud when you first turn it on, so all parents will be happy to discover that the Alphaphonics has a volume control at the bottom of the toy.
To save batteries, the game switches itself off if it’s left idle for a couple of minutes, which is fantastic as H-Bear never turns toys off and I’m often driven mad by toys randomly making noises!
H-Bear (and Busby) adore the Learn with Thomas Alphaphonics toy and it has been a huge hit so far. I love how educational it is, and with a little boy who is desperate to learn his phonics so he can keep up with his sister, he has relished every moment playing. It’s also colourful and sturdy, and has survived a number of drops on the floor.
The Learn with Thomas Alphaphonics toy retails at £19.99 and is available to buy from a number of retailers. It would make a lovely present for any Thomas-loving preschooler.
Giveaway
I’m giving away a Learn with Thomas Alphaphonics toy to one lucky reader. Please use the Rafflecopter below to enter. T&Cs apply. UK Entrants only please. Good luck!
Rosie is my favourite . Terrance for my partner . James for my son and Toby for my daughter:-)
Thomas of course! 🙂 my sons favourite as well x
My grandsons little cousin would adore this prize for Christmas.He loves Thomas the tank engine
My little boy loves Thomas best. The one show that makes him go into square eyes mode even at 11 months
Has to be Thomas himself x
Emily is my fave charachter x
Percy because he’s cheeky!
Thomas is my favourite.
MY GRANDSON LIKES JAMES THE BEST !
edward
I love Clarabel because that’s what my dog is called!
Thomas – my nephew thinks he’s named after him
Thomas is my sons
I love Edward.
Mine and my boys favourite is Thomas
Thomas is my favourite
the fat controller x
The Fat Controller – Looks like me apparently !. 🙂
James is the best!
Has to be Diesel, he’s got a bit of previous.. hahaha
My little boy loves Thomas best 🙂
The no.1 Blue Engine rules in our house 😉
13TH SEPTEMBER 2018 / 9:39 PM
Thomas
James – he makes me laugh!
My 2 year old grandson loves Thomas! Thanks for the chance x
Thomas
James is the best character
I think James, he is a right character
Percy
diesel 10
We all love James in our house
We like Toby and Percy, as they’re both kind!
My daughter is obsessed with Henriettea and Victor.
We often have to tell her she is being a really useful engine!
Toby, he makes us smile!