Pulling tissues out of a tissue box was most definitely a favourite activity for both of my children. Problem was, I always ended up carefully folding all the tissues again to put them back in the box (and had to deal with a mess of tissues each time I reached in to get one out). So no wonder Franky the Hanky Whale from Lamaze is an award winning toy for babies!
This whale comes with four colourful satin-feel tissues, which are simply fed through Franky’s mouth before bursting out his spout, to the delight of your baby or toddler. However, there are also plenty of other textures, colours, sounds and shapes to explore with Franky.
The fun doesn’t stop with Franky’s hanky panky tissues… there is also his squishy body, his crunchy fins and tail, the six colourful ribbons that circumnavigate his spout, his spotty ‘rainbow fish’ style fabric on one side, and his velvety fabric on the other, as well as his chequerboard black and white underbelly
This makes Franky an amazing tactile, visual and auditory playmate for babies with bright,bold colours and high contrast patterns as well as textures to inspire tactile adventures.
Of course, you could add more of your own ’tissues’ to Franky – simply cut up any old fabrics you have (stitching the edges if you want to ensure there are no loose strands) and add them to the mix for more ‘hide and seek’ playtime. The more, the merrier your baby will be!
Good For… grasping and gross motor skills, learning about cause and effect – the tissue goes in and then comes out, stimulating visual focus, learning colours, shapes and textures
Keep in Mind… There are only four tissues, so you will need to be pretty active at feeding Franky his Hankies when your baby is in play mode – mind you, it never hurts to let your baby have a few moments of quiet contemplation as they try to reason out a solution to where all those tissues have vanished.
What Kids Love Those magical hanky moments when they appear once more – and all those colourful and crunchy sounding bits to play with.
What Parents Love Not having to fold all those tissues away again – simply stuff them back in the whale at the end of play!
Designer Details The Lamaze Infant Development System is a line of baby toys that have been developed in collaboration with Jerome and Dorothy Singer, psychologists at Yale University. Lamaze toys are based on a three-step model of infant development which consists of “awakening the senses”, “exploring and experimenting”, “moving and doing”. The Lamaze Infant Development System belongs to the TOMY toy group.
