sweetpea3 mp3 player

My boys love music ... no I mean, they LOVVVVVE music! But like most toddlers their age (3 and 1 1/2), give them an object as fragile as a CD player or your common mp3 player and it will take them seconds to either break it or hide it in the most unusual spot ... like the dryer drawer, for instance. Then along came SweetPea3 ... an mp3 player specifically designed for infants and toddlers ... and the boys and I are all doing the happy dance.

I spotted it at the one of my fave local toyshops but didn't buy it right away. I googled for reviews (CNET and ZDNet) first and then ran back to the toyshop and snatched the last blue one. We've only had it for about a week but it has already been kid-tested and mommy-approved. Love it. Love it. Love it.

Powered by only 1 AA battery, the SP3 has an integrated speaker that generates good sound for its size. The 3 control buttons (back, start/stop and forward) are easy to use and, in my opinion, all your kids will need. The volume control is hidden, meaning that parents control the sound at least until the kids get older and hack into the parental controls. It has 1GB of memory and supports up to 3 playlists ... more than enough for our music collection.

The best part for us (aside from its obvious portability) is that the SweetPea3 comes preloaded with songs and stories that the boys have already fallen in love with. Lil C can be caught dancing and singing along to Suzie Tallman's "The Itsy, Bitsy Spider" when his big bro gives him a turn at the controls. While Big C will play "I've been working on the Railroad" again and again until the cows come home. Both are mesmerized by Jim Weiss' stories ... their first introduction to audiobooks/stories.

It's a perfect gadget for my little-audiophiles-in-the-making and I'm not surprised that it was voted top Battery-operated Toy of 2009 by the Canadian Toy Testing Council. Read the KidsTechReview article, to find out more.