Under Lock & Key Garage and My MP3 Player

Recently a fun box arrived at our house courtesy of the company Parents. They make all those great toys you often see stocking the shelves of Target. Little did I know what was in store for us or how much of a life saver one of those items in particular would prove to be.


My MP3 by Parents is geared for ages 12 months and up my 22 month old daughter could barely keep her hands off of this kiddie simplified MP3 player. It looks like a giant Ipod and it is just as entertaining. There is a great little wrist strap and easy to push buttons to play the songs. The top button is a dial to turn that changes the color of the screen as you listen to the pre-programmed songs. While there aren’t many songs on this MP3 player they are classics like, Do You Know the Muffin Man and the ABC song. My daughter loves to carry this device with her wherever she goes. She dances and rocks out to the songs all day until the batteries run low. I knew she loved the toy just like she loves the key ring set and cell phone from Parents, but I had no idea it would be such a lifesaver. Once on the long ride to grandma’s house over this past holiday and again while I waited in line at the auto place for over two hours. This little toy kept her incredibly entertained. It is a god-send! She has even started jumping because of one of the songs called Jump! She has dropped this toy countless times and it’s survived without a scratch or dent. I am very impressed with this toy MP3 player and highly recommend it for your next trip. It's been the go-to toy in our house for over a month now!


We also got to play around with Parents Under Lock & Key Garage. This toy is good for ages 18 months on up. It is a good idea too. The three car port garage has three different colored cars that can park in the garage with corresponding colored garage doors. As the manufacturer says, “match key by color and shape of lock, push-and-release mechanism on top propels cars out the door, cars store away behind color-coded doors, tote-along handle folds flat.” My daughter? She just loves to jingle the keys, race the cars and slam them back into the garage. She’s none too gentle and this toy stands up to the abuse. One of the drawbacks that I find with this toy is that the top is clear. Kids and adults alike gravitate towards it all the time thinking they can remove the top or unlock the garage that way. You cannot. The keys can be stored up there and I think that is where confusion comes in. The doors on the garage tend to stick as well and most of the kids who have played with it become frustrated and end up playing with just the keys and cars and leave the garage after a few minutes. Some kids may love the keys and cars like my daughter does and the idea of the garage so it could still be a decent toy.

For buying information on each of these items visit Amazon. The MP3 player sells for $16.95 (incredibly worth it!) and the Under Lock & Key Garage for $19.99.