Mega Bloks Smart Build Piano

Children will love creating their own sounds and music. View larger.

Color-coded keys makes learning new songs easy. View larger.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Musical toy gives kids a fun, hands-on introduction to making music. The Bad: Could be a bit more durable. In a Nutshell: Innovative music toy gives kids tools to learn about music and freedom to experiment with sound. At a Glance Ages: 3 to 6 years Requires: 3 AA batteries (included)

Without the Smart Builder blocks, the keyboard plays with a piano sound. But if you connect the xylophone or electric guitar block, the keyboard will generate those instrument sounds. Stack on a song block -- "Mary Had a Little Lamb," "Old McDonald," or "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" -- and the keyboard will play that song. Press the "play" button to hear the song in its entirety, or your child can play the song herself on the keyboard. The piano will play the song regardless of which keys are pressed, which makes it exciting and easy for your child to experiment with the song's rhythm and tempo. With the "beat" block, a fun percussion beat is added to the arrangement.

Over 100 Different Configurations
We especially like how the toy lends itself to fun experimentation, with the ability to create over 100 musical arrangements by stacking the Smart Builder blocks in different configurations. Kids can experiment with stacking up a song and two musical instruments; two songs and all the instruments; or even put all of the Smart Builder blocks together to hear what happens.

We also like that kids have the option of creating their very own music. Our two-year-old tester naturally started playing the keyboard and was delighted with making her own sounds. The only problem was that some keys on our test keyboard were prone to sticking, which made it a bit difficult, though by no means impossible, for her to play with complete ease.

The Smart Builder Piano also gives older kids a fun introduction to "reading" music. The instructions include the sheet music for one song, which is written in color-coded notes to correspond with the keyboard keys. The keyboard is also compatible with MegaBlocks toys. Your child can incorporate the keyboard into her MegaBlocks building, or she can play with the keyboard on its own. We really like the sheet music and color-coded keys, but we wish that more sheet music was available. If it's available online, we couldn't find it.

The Smart Builder Piano requires no adult assembly. It comes with 4 AA batteries, but you'll get better functionality if you install fresh ones before play.