Fisher-Price Jammin Band Musical Microphone Review

I’ve had a hard time getting excited about toys for Baby Girl this holiday season. My theory is that we’ve been through the “baby toys” before with Toddler Boy so it’s been there-done that. But, I admit to getting pretty excited about the opportunity to review the Fisher-Price Jammin Band Musical Microphone. I mean, the commercials make it seem like this is practically a baby karaoke machine. Add the fact that my little girl loves music and dancing – I had high expectations for this toy.

Little Superstar Jammin Band Musical Microphone

Come on, baby—let’s get rockin’! It’s easy and fun with this musical activity center, full of instrument play, sing-along songs and busy activities. The real working microphone amplifies baby’s voice, lights up, and even responds with encouraging phrases. Features 6 sing-along songs and 4 karaoke tunes, plus a “build a song” mode. And this band grows right along with baby. Little stars can sit and play, then move on to a stand-up performance with rewarding music, sounds and phrases resounding from the interactive microphone.

Part of the Little Superstars series of toys, the Jammin Band is intended for kids between 6 and 36 months of age. Fisher-Price says the toy can help develop fine motor skills and coordination as well as stimulate the senses. It’s easy to see how little ones are stimulated with multiple flashing lights, removable instruments, lots of buttons to push and kid-friendly music. There’s even a rolling ball on the guitar, a drum and piano keys to push and a microphone that really works. (And, yes, I’ve sung into the microphone – it’s actually really fun.)

Our Experience

The Jammin Band Musical Microphone is easy to set up and ready for play pretty quickly. I love that it has two height settings and that you can switch them very easily. You simply push in two buttons on the sides and slide it to the up position so your little one can stand and jam or down to sit and rock out. We’ve had the Jammin Band on the taller height for standing the entire time as Baby Girl doesn’t sit still for long – even for this!

There are two play settings, but to be honest I can’t tell much of a difference between the two. From what I understand, the “Sing Along Fun” setting is meant to play songs and your little one adds to them while playing and the “Musical Discoveries” is intended more for building your own song. When the kids are playing with it and when I was fiddling with it, I really don’t recognize a difference. But, that’s okay. The only thing I miss is that the “Musical Discoveries” setting is supposed to react to you singing into the microphone and encourage you, but it doesn’t. Doesn’t stop us from singing!

To Buy or Not to Buy

To Buy… The Jammin Band is a fun, interactive toy for young toddlers. I like that it is fairly compact, but has wide legs so it doesn’t fall over if baby leans on it, and that it has two volume settings. At 13 months, I think Baby Girl is the perfect age for this toy, and younger babies who don’t yet stand will also love it on the lower setting.

Or Not to Buy… I have to say, I do not notice a difference between the two settings. I even switched batteries and looked for some sort of try-me setting to make sure I wasn’t missing something, but still no noticeable change.

Shop! The Fisher-Price Jammin Band suggested retail price is $50. But, check this out, if you buy it from Amazon in the Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging it’s only $24.99.

Disclosure: Thank you to Fisher-Price for providing a sample product for the purpose of this review. The opinions are my own and not influenced by receipt of product. Others may have a different experience.