Alex Discover Learn to Dress Monkey Kids Art and Craft Activity

This is a cute modern twist on the old learning toy.The only problems I had with it is that the zipper came with a thread stuck in it, the button was VERY tight in the buttonhole and some of the other fasteners were not immediately apparent. These things caused a little impatience and frustration in an 18 month old while we fixed them. A child the age this toy is designed for might not see different fasteners, so I suggest an older child or grown-up go through the various places and make sure they work properly and that the little one knows what will or will not come undone.Also, the toy is fastened to the cardboard display backing VERY well, and required scissors to get it loose. I suggest you remove the backing before wrapping it or giving it to your child to avoid frustration for everyone. The colors are bright, the cat is very cute and of a good size.I don't know yet how it will stand up to washing, so I can't comment on that. With the bright colors, I worry that the dyes might bleed.I liked that the toy was stuffed firmly. While it makes the toy less "huggable", it makes a firmer support for the fasteners to be pushed, pulled, etc. Overall, I would recommend this toy for teaching a baby to dress his/herself.

I bought this for my 2 year old grandson and he immediately loved it! It's very well made: there are no raw fabric edges, everything is very well put together and it has a nice weight to it. The buttons, zipper, etc, are easy enough for a child to manipulate. I especially like that the zipper is easy to pull. Some of the other toys had zippers that were attached in a way that required the child to hold the fabric while pulling the zipper, which is a 2-handed task, something most 2 year olds could not do. This is an easy one. Also, ALL his clothing comes off: shoes, socks, jumper and shirt. Very nifty. I know that my grandson will enjoy this for a long time and then his younger brother, who is now just 6 months old, will enjoy it also. It's a wonderful, sturdy TOY as well as an educational tool.Someone mentioned the button holes being too small, but that was not the case on the one I received. They aren't especially loose, but they seem appropriately sized to require a bit of effort without frustrating the child. And the buttonholes are nicely finished also, so there are no hanging threads to trim off.Not sure if it's washable or not, I cannot remember, and nobody mentioned it in their reviews, I just checked. I think you could hand wash the clothing, however .Definitely buy this over the other options, I'm glad I did.

The whole "getting dressed" thing is a skill like any other, and this toy covers a lot of ground. It's not essential - most kids will figure out zippers and buttons before college - but it is a fun way to get a little guy to learn fine manipulation skills. I could see where one kid would get into this and one would just let it go, but I guess that's true of most toys. At least this has fall back monkey doll value.

Great quality. I got a different version I think, not the one that's pictured (red shoes and orange around the eyes instead of green). But functions appear the same, and kid's happy so I'm happy. Besides that, construction seems solid, very well made and feels like it'll last a long time.

I purchased this monkey for my 2 year old who fights us getting dressed and undressed each day. The product is great and he enjoyed taking off the clothing and it has helped the struggle a little. However, there are a few negatives about the product. Since the monkey is a very soft plush, my son had some difficulty putting the items back on, specifically the socks and shoes. It would be a better product if the extremities of the plush were harder or at least filled with a weighted substance. I also wish there would be an option for velcro shoes rather than lace up since my son is just too young for that still but that is not against the actual product.

My daughter is 21 months old and taken to undressing herself and us, so I thought it was time for dress 'n' learn toy. After looking at tons of products I chose Alex because he seemed to offer the most options. I chose him over the cat because of the shoes.Pros:zipper, button (hole and loop), ties, snap, velcro, buckleoveralls, shirt, shoes, socksshoe laces are sewn so as not to get undone from shoes or lostCons:snaps are very tight for very little handsfeet are soft (he's a stuffed animal, what else do you expect?) so slightly difficult to get back in his shoesMy daughter started undressing Alex immediately. As far as the banana it's only held on with 1 stitch and was easy to remove (but sturdy if you didn't want to). Overall she likes it, so I am happy with Alex.socks get lost quickly

I wanted a dressing doll for my son who has some motor skill delays. This toy looked like the best of the ones on the market. I had a Dapper Dan as a kid that I loved to work on, but this is nothing like what I remember. The clothes on the monkey come fully off, so what do my kids do, they take off the clothes and leave then all over the house. On top of the the only tasks I found to be anything like real life were the buttons. The zipper only slide from side to side, it isn't a full zipper like on a jacket. What is the point if you can't practice a full zipper??? The snap is plastic rather than the metal snaps found on real clothes. The socks and shoes are completely impractical. The feet are just stumps on the ends of the legs so you can't really practice putting on socks. And the shoes fall off so easily it is difficult to do anything with them, much less practice tying. And finally, there is the banana. That was a ridiculous idea to include a banana on the monkey's hand. I had to cut it off. I even had a difficult time dressing the monkey in his shirt with that banana in his hand much less a small child fitting the shirt sleeve over it. The only saving graces to this dressing doll were the buttons and learning to line up snaps. But I could have made a few cloth scraps with those functions for a much cheaper price.

Bought this for my daughters first birthday. she is really a bit young for it, cant use the buttons or zips yet, but like most 1 year olds she is fascinated by them. like other reviewers said, this toy is BIG, in fact its almost as tall as my daughter- other reviewers described the buttons and zips as fiddly, but I think its just perfect. the dress is removable with poppers and has two buttons and a zip too, the t shirt, socks and lace up shoes all come off too. there are lots of dress-up-buttons-and-zippers type dolls out there, and this one might seem a little pricey, but I think its worth it for the size, quality and charm.Edited to add: one year later, this is still my daughters number one toy, it literally goes everywhere with her. Due to its size this can be a bit of a problem, even though my daughter is now 2 she still struggles to carry it around without its feet dragging in puddles. The doll itself has been through the washing machine twice and still looks like new, the clothes however have definitely seen better days, the dress has been repaired twice and is actually so bad I'm thinking of replacing it altogether. Would still recommend this lovely doll but only to those prepared to take good care of it and repair or replace the clothes as time goes on.

I bought this beautiful,colourful Kitty Cat. I think it has 10 different fastening my Granddaughter will experience when learning to dress herself. It's for part of her Christmas by that time she will be just over 2yrs old. Thank you. Elizabeth.

She's gorgeous...she feels good and easy use of zip, button etc., now I have to send her off to my little granddaughter in Oz.. don't know if I can part with her... lol

Its OK

My daughter got this for Christmas and absolutely loves it. The problem is that it's now march and the thing is falling apart. For a £30 toy I would expect much more! One of the buttons has come off and some of the stitching has come loose.