1.1.2016

The look on my 18month old, "In the Night Garden" fan's face when she opened this on Christmas Day was just priceless! When I showed her how you can pull it around the room, with lights flashing and sound effects true to that of the Ninky Nonk on the programme, her face lit up. She simply couldn't contain the excitement, grinning and giggling when I handed her the cord to pull the engine along herself. Since then, the musical engine and shape sorter have been the focus of attention, and all sorts of things have had a ride in the Upsy Daisy's carriage including Peppa pig and a grape!The carriages stayed together well whilst being pulled up and down the room (despite my expectations from reading other reviews).They only came apart when subjected to unreasonably sharp cornering! The cord attaches low down to the engine which helps to minimise overturning, but the Upsy daisy carriage extended with the stacking blocks is a bit top heavy and tips fairly easily, breaking up the train. The engine can just be pulled along on its own though and the lights and sound effects are great.Batteries are provided and installed, which is helpful, it is just the unpackaging (as with all toys these days) which takes long enough to count as a 'setup' time. The toy appears to be of good quality and is robust.The musical engine has a button for Iggle Piggle's song, one for Upsy Daisy's song and one for Makka Pakka's song. All the songs are reasonably good sound quality, just a bit short. The central dome glows when you push the star button for the theme music, but this is too short and a bit too loud for bedtime. There is no low volume setting. My daughter loves the songs and lights and is very pleased with it.The shape sorter carriage spins nicely and the sorting shapes activity is a favourite. This is good for developing fine motor skills, special awareness and problem solving, as is attaching all the carriages together! All sorts of other things also get sorted into this carriage as well. I find this is difficult to open, but easier if you push the button down and lift the lid with the same hand as the button springs back up into position. It isn't really possible for a toddler to open though and causes some frustration. Where are the Tombliboos though?The peek-a-book carriage has a door on each side which reveal the Pontipines and the Wattingers and the button on top makes a 'ding' sound similar to that on the programme when the doors are shutting on the Ninky Nonk before its sets off. The peek-a-boo doors are difficult for a toddler to open, but the can be left slightly ajar rather than clicked firmly shut. My daughter thought it was great too see them in the carriage behind the doors.Upsy Daisy's carriage has the stacking blocks which can be stacked on top or all put inside he carriage. Upsy Daisy is revealed by opening the door/steps and again this needs to be left ajar for toddlers to be able to open it. The stacking blocks are stiff plastic and have some fairly sharp corners and my eldest daughter hurt her foot treading on one, so don't leave these lying around on the floor. This carriage is popular as all sorts of toys can be given a ride!Iggle Piggle's pop-up carriage features Iggle Piggle popping out of the top. He seems to pop up reliably on our toy (contrary to some other reviews), in fact it can be a bit difficult to locate the lid properly when you push it down and I worry about frustrated toddlers little fingers. However, whether he pops up or pauses down or not he gets a fair bit of attention!A few minor niggly nonks from a parents perspective, but my daughter LOVES it and really that is all that matters. No regrets. Recommended.

24.8.2014

I love this set. The main box it comes in is completely enclosed, not like the usual open display boxes so you have somewhere to store the pieces. The 3 AAA batteries are provided so you only need to find a Philips screwdriver to get going. The packaging is just cardboard and plastic so none of those horrible plastic ties to wrestle with.The 3 main parts of the train are great. The front pull along unit has excellent lights that flash brightly along with the Upsy Daisy, Makka Pakka and and Iggle Piggle songs. The sound and music is authentic to the program and at just the right volume. The stacking blocks do stack tightly on top of their train even when the train is pulled and store inside the carriage.

1.9.2014

In The Night Garden was first aired on the BBC in 2007 and since then the franchise has already conquered 35 countries from Norway to China where book sales have reached 1.5 million. In The Night Garden's live show has already been shown in Liverpool and London where it has been a great success. So it is not surprising that there have been many varied and imaginative toys produced over the years based on the unusual characters that live 'In The Night Garden' and the Ninky Nonk Musical Activity Train is one such toy.This stunning musical activity train is an impressive 78cms (almost 31") long and actually consists of 5 separate toys in one, all of which have fast become our grandson's (14 months of age)

6.6.2016

My little girl loves this real life Ninky Nonk Train! She happily pulls it around from room to room.The first carriage is fab and has several buttons relating to each of the key characters and plays their respective signature tunes, as well as the main theme tune. It also glows along with the music.The second carriage is a fairly basic shape sorter which doubles as a spinning top. Good fun.The third carriage, the little Pontipines house, is pretty crap really and just consists of two fiddly doors which show a picture of the Pontipines behind it. My lo can't get them open herself so ignores this carriage!The fourth carriage is a Haa-ho-labelled stacker comprising the base unit and two integral pots,

30.8.2014

This is a super toy for young children, but especially for fans of In The Night Garden. Once all 5 parts have been hooked up together it is almost 30 inches long. The Ninky Nonk engine has flashing lights, and 3 buttons that play three different songs from the series. Pull the train along by the cord and it activates the Ninky Nonk sound. The engine also has a built in night light that when activated plays a bedtime lullaby. The Upsy Daisy carriage comes with stacking bricks, and of course has Upsy on board too. The Tombliboo carriage doubles as a spinning shape sorter and has a plunger on top that activates the spinning motion. The Peek A Boo carriage contains the Pontipine and Wottinger characters from the series.

31.8.2016

I bought this Activity train for my grandson's second birthday. He absolutely loves it. He had obviously watched the Night Garden on the television and was fascinated by the lights and tunes it played and kept pressing the buttons to hear them over and over again. The front train section and Iggle Piggle even came on holiday with us the other week and was he was sometimes upset if the other grandchildren played with it.Yes, Iggle Piggle doesn't pop up like it ought to (poor design here) but having watched the other grandchildren spend time jiggling it to pop him up (he copies everything) he did not seem unduly concerned with having to spend the extra time to get the result he wanted.

28.11.2016

My two year old is obsessed with In The Night Garden and thought this would be the perfect present for his birthday. He loves pulling it along and pushing the buttons for the songs, there are a few issues though:The songs are rather loud and there is no volume control. Thus, the lullaby is a bit too loud to be soothing...Some of the doors are difficult for a toddler to open, I even struggled with the doors on the small house. Also the part where iggle piggly pops up is actually hard to push down enough to make him pop up, too difficult for my two year old.Although it is mostly quite durable, we found the parts would detach quite easily (for example, pulling it along the floor and then pulling along a rug,

5.11.2016

Not opened it yet because its a Christmas present but I've seen it in various places. Its great the fact that there are so many different activities, my son will love the musical part because he likes music and he will like the light up part too. He will love the spinning shape sorter too, shape sorters are his favourite toys and he already has a spinning shape sorter from in the night garden so he will probabarly mix and match shapes. I know he will like the stacking part but he might be a bit disappointed if he can't knock it down, he will like the click bits and pop up igglepiggle (his favourite). I know he will enjoy pulling it along to the ninky nonk tune too just like in the programme oh and he can join it together which he is beginning to do things like that now.

10.5.2018

I’ve bought my (just) one year old grandson plenty of toys which he has largely ignored but he went bonkers for this. It’s a faithful recreation of the weird and wonderful “vehicle” in the programme, bright and colourful but able to take a fair bit of punishment too. You only need one set of 3 x AA batteries (provided) which go into the big orange part and produce the beguiling music so beloved of the TV series. It has some design faults however, Igglepiggle is a bit tricky to put back in his box and getting the shapes back out of the Tombliboo (yes I did look that one up) is fiddly. Religious extremists the Pontipines and Wottingers are concealed behind tiny doors which are a bit difficult for little fingers to open also.

29.8.2014

What a cracking toy. You are guaranteed to have very happy little ones if they get to play with this train.Its large, bright and with the addition of batteries is musical. The train can be played with as a whole or as individual carriages. There are a wide variety of educational tasks to perform, button pressing and block sorting etc but it is really fun.Although the train is clearly designed for little fans of On the Night Garden, featuring the main characters etc but it is fun to play even if you are not a fan of in the night garden.The colours are bright and it feels durable, not flimsy at all. It really is charming and a joy to play with. Just wish the batteries had been included.

17.12.2015

The toy consists of a series of big, brightly coloured chunks of plastic offering a variety of learning experiences. I wasn't entirely keen on it when I received it - it is so very plasticey. There is a lot going on, though, with each of the five 'train' sections offering a different learning experience and the whole thing providing a great deal of fun play. This has been pulled 'round and 'round our living room until it has just about worn grooves in the carpet! It's hard to argue with how well-loved a toy this has been.The RRP does seem on the excessive side, although this is usually to be found on offer

31.8.2014

For an 18 month old toddler this toy (really it's five toys) is a thing if great wonder. Imagine having characters from the telly in your house! She absolutely loved it with her particular favourite being the musical carriage. It is suitably robust to take some rough bashing and the different components provide a variety if stimuli to get her young brain working. Sound quality is good and the added lights make it a very attractive toy for pre-schoolers. For me, I got a bit fed up of the repetitive noises but that's a personal irritation and the only reason for four stars instead of five.

30.10.2014

My grandson of 18 months is an avid fan of In The Night Garden so it's natural that my wife and I should give him one of his favourite characters as a Christmas present.There appears to be a fair amount of assembly required but since my son will be doing that ( ha, ha, revenge is sweet ) that isn't a problem. I did peep into the box though and the parts look to be well made.My wife and I know this toy will be played with and loved because we have watched my grandson's reaction to the Ninky Nonk train on TV and we are looking forward to Christmas when he gets the toy.

16.10.2019

My nearly two year old adores this. Certain aspects are a bit dodge though. For instance how do you easily get the sorting blocks out of the carousel? You have to shake it about upside down and hope they get out on a good angle. Bit weird.Also the actual packaging stunk really musty. Toy is fine though. Overall very good. Does come with AAA batteries installed and thank the lord has an off switch.Great fun though for the little In The Night Garden fans....

22.1.2016

Reviews I read before purchasing were correct about some of the parts being difficult to operate. Positive things are the musical parts which my Grandson loves and the fact that the train stays together no matter how much it is pulled to and fro. He enjoys playing with it but has given up on the difficult parts I mentioned . Perhaps designers should take more thought over operational skills of such small fingers and limited skills in future nursery age toys.

In The Night Garden Ninky Nonk Musical Activity Train - Reviews

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