Silly Circus Jack-in-the-Box: Toy's Problems Surprised Me

This year, my mom really wanted to buy my nephew a Jack-in-the-Box. He loves things that pop out, things that pop up or things that make noise, so we figured it was time for him to try one of these. We found the Silly Circus Jack-in-the-Box for $20 at Toys R Us. I was surprised at the price, thinking a toy that has been around since forever would have cheaper versions. However it was the only one there so we purchased it.

Visually

This Jack-in-the-Box is very pleasing to the eyes and does draw my nephew's attention. There are colorful drawings all around the box. The clown itself is a plush toy with a cute outfit and cute face.

Making it Pop Up

It's relatively easy to make this toy Pop Up. The kid just has to turn the handle while the song "Pop Goes the Weasel" plays. Once the song reaches the end, it pops open to display a cute little stuffed clown. The toy says it is for 18-24 months. At 16 months, we haven't been able to teach my nephew to turn the handle, and I'm not sure he ever would want to based on the next point.

Cheating!

Even though my nephew won't turn the handle yet, he will sit and let you turn it. However we quickly found out the very first time we showed him this toy that it is easy to cheat! We found out because he cheated! My nephew was able to easily press the little latch on the top to make the clown pop out. Sure he enjoyed seeing the clown pop, but now he doesn't even listen to the song. He just wants the clown stuffed in again so he can cheat again. I'd rather they make it so that it cannot be opened without playing the song, that way he would learn to deal with the anticipation and have to finish the song in order to see the clown.

Putting it Back

In the store, I told my mom that I thought it was kind of hard to stuff the clown back in the box after it popped. You have to push it down with one hand tightly, then close the lid with the other. Of course my nephew just grabs the lid and gets frustrated because the clown doesn't go in the box but instead gets squished. This makes it so that we have to be there when he plays with it so that we can stuff the clown back into the box. He gets frustrated quickly trying to close the lid if no one is there to help.

Overall

My nephew does enjoy the popping out of the clown, but he is not yet into the song because he cheats. Maybe if he was a little older he would appreciate the song and turning the handle more. However, even if he does still have this toy by the time he's 24 months, I still don't think he'll understand how to put the clown back into the box without help. I imagine there are better Jack-in-the-Box toys out there that don't allow cheating and are easier to close. I don't remember having this trouble playing with my Jack-in-the-Box as a kid.