Favorite Toddler Car Toy – VTech Car Carrier

Christmas has already come and gone, and a new year has arrived. We spent a quiet Christmas at home this year, and our son got to “open” his presents all day long. Since he’s 13 months old, he still didn’t quite get the excitement of presents. By the last gift, he finally tore the paper on his own and actually seemed to enjoy it. There was definitely one standout toy for the day that is continuing to be his go-to during playtime. This is the VTech Pull and Learn Car Carrier Pull Toy. My brother and sister-in-law sent this favorite toddler car toy to him, and it turned out to be a big hit.

This Toddler Car Toy Quickly Became My Son’s Favorite

VTech recommends it for ages 1-3, so my son is the perfect age to begin playing with this toddler car toy. The pull toy actually has the pull string hidden in the battery compartment. This is a genius idea because it makes the pull string optional. My son is still crawling, so he doesn’t have much use for the string yet. Once he starts walking, we can unveil the string so he can pull it around the house, rather than push it. The manual actually recommends that the string be stored away in the battery compartment until your child is walking. That’s a really smart feature.

The toddler car toy rolls easily and is a nice size. It’s big enough for my son to push around, but it doesn’t take up a huge amount of space in the living room. All the extra cars and animals stow right in the carrier, so there’s no need for extra tubs and bins. I have noticed the toddler car toy creates a large amount of static, which attracts all the cat and dog hair in the house. This may go away with time, but we’ll have to wait and see.

It took a while to get the car toy and extra pieces out of the packaging. You’ll want to have scissors handy to make it past the zip ties! Once we did finally get it opened, he had a great time pushing the little cars around and exploring the buttons on the side. There are all kinds of options for interaction: number buttons, animal buttons, horn button, and more. The little radio interacts with the vehicle, as well. The toddler car toy knows which animal is placed in the driver seat and will say something specific to this animal. There are sensors in the back so the truck reacts to cars being put on or taken off. It also plays music when the toy is pushed or pulled. The variety is great enough that it can keep kids busy for a long time.

I am one of those people who reads the whole manual (within reason) before using a toy or putting something together. VTech did a great job with this one and even describes all nine activities included with the toy. I noticed some reviewers on Amazon saying there wasn’t a pull string on their toy. If you are one of those people, I’d love to refer you to product feature number two in the user’s manual. It is encouraging to know that a company cares enough to explain the benefit of each feature for my child’s development.

Other reviewers mentioned that the volume, even on the loudest setting, is too quiet. When we first turned it on, I did think the volume was lower than most of our toys. We typically keep everything set to the lowest setting. I would say the loudest volume setting on the toddler car toy is comparable to the quiet setting on most toys. If you have the TV on, it’s going to be difficult to hear the toy. I don’t mind the quieter sound because I often feel that toys are much too loud. I sometimes end up covering the speakers with packing tape because of this. If you live in a noisy house, you may find the car toy to be a little too quiet. I think it’s just right and haven’t had any problems with it.

Whether it’s for a birthday or holiday, the VTech toddler car toy makes a great gift for kids between the age of 1 and 3. I know it’s something that my son loves right now and will continue to enjoy as he gets older. Once our daughter is born, she will be able to use it as well. It’s a perfect gender-neutral toy that any boy or girl will enjoy.