I recently purchased an activity table for Juliet. I never had one for Drake, and in the world of bouncers, jumperoos, swings, and around the go stations, an activity table was one of those things I decided we didn’t need. When we had Drake we lived in a small condo and just trying accommodate all of the aforementioned stuff was tricky, and an activity table just seemed like one more piece of baby entertainment.

But during Juliet’s most recent physical therapy session, the therapist asked if we had one of those activity tables. She was looking for a toy to help Juliet want to pull up and stand to play. I showed her my Zany Zoo and so we tried to encourage Juliet to stand up on that, but in her attempts she face planted right into it and of course got upset. I showed her the ottoman that Drake learned to pull up on, but it wasn’t placed centrally like it had been in our previous place so she quickly kept crawling away from it towards people. We tried the around the go station, but Juliet was used to walking around in the supported walker piece so she had no interest at all in pulling up on it. Before her therapist left, she said if I ever wanted to buy Juliet a toy she recommended the activity table.

I debated for a while if we really needed this toy after the session. I reasoned Juliet would learn to pull to stand on anything she could reach in time, wouldn’t she? Drake certainly did.  But after much talk with Mr. Chocolate I decided to buy one, since Juliet rarely got any new toys and the therapist felt like it would be beneficial. Drake would also be intrigued by a new toy and it might encourage more playtime between the two of them, as well as maybe entice Juliet to try to pull up to be more engaged with Drake.

I decided to look at all the different kinds on Amazon and compare before buying one.  These are the ones I considered:


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1) Baby Einstein Discovering Music Activity Table  |  2)  Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Fun With Friend Musical Table  |  3) Winfun Letter Train and Piano Activity Table  |  4) Bright Starts Have a Ball Get Rollin Activity Table  |  5) VTech 2 in 1 Activity Table

I didn’t think the 2) Fisher Price one looked engaging enough, so I crossed it off my list. The same went for the 1) Baby Einstein one with just instruments.  My biggest criteria was I wanted this to not only engage Juliet, who at 9 months is easily engaged with a sock if I’m honest, but Drake who at 3 1/2 would be harder to please. I really liked the 3) Winfun one as I thought the train piece was extra fun, but I wanted to see the toy in person so Drake could get his hands on it at the store, so I crossed that one off.

It came down between the 4) Bright Starts and the 5) V-Tech in the store. I liked that the V-Tech seemed a bit older and that it would last longer as it could flip into a drawing table, which Drake could even use once Juliet went to bed. My worry was that Juliet might get hurt trying to pull up on it — it might tip and the board could flip up and hit her. I liked that the Bright Starts seemed to have a multitude of different stations so they wouldn’t necessarily crowd around the same one. The ball shoot was a plus and  minus in my book. I thought it was different since none of the other tables had that component and I could see Juliet having to drop down to see where the balls went, as well as pull herself back up to drop them back in. I disliked that there would be multiple balls to lose all over our home.

In the end I got the Bright Starts one as 1) it was cheaper, 2) I saw that there was a Spanish switch so everything on the table can be said in both English and Spanish, 3) Drake already had a drawing table and didn’t always use it.

With a coupon and and a gift card I ended up spending nothing. The table has been a hit with both kids. Juliet still hasn’t started to pull up, but she is certainly interested in the table with all its sounds and lights. When she is in her Around We Go station now, she tries to reach over to play with it.  Drake plays with it for a little while everyday, at least a few times a day.  The balls which I couldn’t stand are an added motivator for Juliet to crawl and chase when Drake drops them all over.  All in all I don’t think this is a necessary toy, but it certainly can bring lots of amusement as well as provide a safe structure to pull up on for beginner walkers.