Review: Infantino 5-in-1 Epic Developmental Learning Gym

Disclaimer: Infantino sent me this product to evaluate. My thoughts and opinions about the product have not been influenced by Infantino or by its affiliates in any way.

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Aside from the 3 Stage Above & Beyond Tummy Time Mat, Infantino also sent me the 5-in1 Epic Developmental Learning Gym. I was very surprised that the company sent me this because I was only expecting one product. Excited, I unboxed it as soon as I found some free time (the wee one was napping).

Out of the box came a tropics-themed play mat, two bendy poles (one is rigid and has loops for toys; the other one is soft and can be used to attach anything with velcro on it), five high-contrast cards (one side has shapes, the other side has animal headshots), a teether, a sloth wrist rattle, an elephant doll, and four activity "stations". The four activity stations are an electronic piano with crinkly flaps, fabric for sticking velcro on, a pillow, and a bag with plastic links.

I was impressed. I couldn't wait for my son to play with it so I assembled it right away.

There are four tummy-time "experiences", a mode for babies lying face up, and three activities for babies who can sit. Since my son just recently started cruising, he skipped the overhead mode and the tummy time modes. We're now left with the activities for babies already sitting. For these infants, the configuration of the learning gym involves having the two bendy poles positioned on the ground to be used to prop the activity stations. The teether and the elephant doll are still attached to the rigid pole but they both sit on the mat. The high-contrast cards are either on the soft pole or on the station where velcro can stick.

When my son woke up, I placed him in the middle of the activity mat. He zeroed in on the high-contrast cards and the sloth wrist rattle; I think he likes hearing the characteristic ripping noise of velcro. He also noticed the mirror and ripped it off its station (velcro again!) only to chomp on it. A few moments later, he located the elephant doll and started playing with it too. He didn't notice the teether immediately, and I think that this is because it blends well into the activity mat's background. 

How about the activity stations?

My son was particularly interested in the electronic piano with its crinkly flaps. I'm not sure if he's into the music coming from it though because he's more interested in ripping the velcro-attached parts than pressing the piano keys.

And because my son's already crawling and cruising, I decided to detach the bendy poles and place the toys and the flashcards on the mat directly. These poles made crawling a bit more difficult for him because his feet kept getting pinned down.

Overall, this learning gym is beautiful and engaging for infants, even for the crawlers and the cruisers. Visually, I realised that it can get very busy very fast. And for people like me who are into Zen presentations (and clean backgrounds), this can become problematic because there are too many elements presented at the same time. My solution was to separate the activity stations from the mat and scatter them around. I placed the toys in a bin and let my son pick out which ones he wanted to play with.