Hape Pixel Piano Toy

Fun toy high sensory toy

This toy is somewhat of an oddity between wood and natural materials and lights and sounds. It's executed quite nicely and is pretty fun to play with for younger kids.There are a few modes available, all of which play sounds and show lights on the "screen". There's an animal mode where pushing keys shows a pixelated picture of an animal accompanied by the noise it makes, a standard mode which is just a piano keyboard, and a play along with a song type mode. All modes sound good and look good, too.Batteries are easy to replace and you can actually control the volume level on this thing! The unit has also held up to constant play.

I've never seen anything quite like this before, with its illuminating wooden 'screen.' Even as an adult, I found it rather fascinating, in fact. It's pricey for a toy, in my opinion, but could be an engaging gift for a special occasion like Christmas or a birthday. Here's what I found.The pixel piano comes with three settings for different activities. Some of this is difficult to describe well, but I will do my best. First, it functions as a little toy piano. Each key has its own color, and when you press one, the note plays, and a bar of that color appears on the screen above the key. If you tap the key and release instantly, the note is short and the bar of color is brief. If you hold the key down, the note will sustain (though not indefinitely), and the bar of color will sort of flutter at the top, as the note hangs trembling in the air. If you tap the key once, and then again immediately, the first note remains visible, while the new note overlaps it but further down, since it's starting from the same place, but a second later. In this way, a child is getting visual feedback which reinforces the audio. They can 'see' the music in terms of how low or high the note is (left to right), and how long it lasts (bottom to top). The music sounds the way I would expect an electronic keyboard to sound. In other words, the notes seem true, they sound accurate, but the quality of the tone does not match exactly how a genuine instrument would sound.Second, there is a sort of 'play along with the piano' game, where bars of color travel down the screen from the top to the bottom, a bit like the shapes in Tetris. In this case, the bar illuminates over a specific key and in that key's color, and travels down toward that point. Your task is to press the key. If you do, the note will sound, but if you press any other key, nothing happens. You only get music if you press the correct one. These visual cues will continue, and as you press the keys in order, you're technically playing a song. When you get to the end of the piece, the screen comes alight with colors, and the piano plays a selection of music for you.Lastly, the third function is sort of like a digital, animated Lite Brite. In this mode, each key is tied to a specific animal, and when you press a key, that animal will appear on the screen, created by large squares in various colors. Up until now, we've only seen them traveling in columns of a single color, but now the colors are wherever they need to be to create light-up illustrations of a cat, dog, duck, frog, and so on. But the images are not static. All of them move, to a greater or lesser extent, and make their particular cry. For example, the elephant moves its trunk, and trumpets. The lion opens its mouth, exposing large fangs, and roars. The bluebird travels across the screen from right to left, chirping. A young child might not be able to decode what they're seeing, because the images, though impressively detailed on the whole, are yet constructed from enormous pixels, essentially, of almost an inch square. This is somewhat limiting, of course. They're also moving, which means that the picture is changing before one's eyes. A toddler might not look at the provided image and think, 'That's obviously supposed to be a cow.' It may just be a wash of light and colors to them, but they will hear the lowing, which should clue them in. 'Oh, it's mooing. It must be a cow.'The unit itself seems solid and sturdy, with a plastic back (or bottom?) and wooden face. The colors of the keys are all distinct to a person of average vision, and a sliding button on the side powers the piano off and on. There are two options for On, according to your chosen volume. I was using the piano at On-Low, and thought it was perfect, but if necessary or desired, there is an On-High setting with louder audio. After a couple minutes of inactivity, the unit seems to go to sleep, or else turn off completely. Just in case, it's probably best to turn it off properly when not in use, to preserve the battery life. Speaking of which, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the piano came with batteries included and, in fact, already installed.Overall, I don't really have any downsides to this. It will be too simplistic for most older children to invest much time in it, and the price is not insignificant, as I mentioned above. But within those parameters, this could be a good investment. If your child is a suitable age for something like this, and you have the means, I definitely think it's worth your consideration. It is totally unique in my experience. It is fun and engaging, with music, colors, and light; you can play music on it, either guided or freeform, and it can play music to you; and you get the animated animals with their sound effects. It's pretty nifty, and seems solidly constructed, and with the batteries already inside it is ready for play right out of the box. Recommended to your consideration. For me, it's an easy five stars.

This piano is creative and fun! With its interactive lights and captivating sounds, it becomes an exciting discovery adventure for toddlers and young children. (As an adult, I had some fun with it too.) It encourages experimentation and makes learning fun. The toy itself is well-constructed and durable. It can handle both creative exploration and the occasional tumble, making it a reliable choice for children.

A very cute and fun "piano." It can play like a piano, but more fun as a toy. Animal noises is the current obsession. The piano lights up like the animal. So very entertaining to a kid.As a piano, it matches pretty close to middle C configuration. Works fine as a stepping stone for learning how to recognize the sounds of each note. Four year old is not quite old enough to make the connection with a note, letter, and sound. Can do it with the colors. Lots of options to teach kid how a piano works.For now, it's a great toy and fun for kid to bang on. Delighted with the light up fun.

This toy has three modes--animal mode will trigger a different animation and sound for each key, piano mode allows you to play it like a piano with the notes played appearing on the screen, and learning mode which teaches you songs as you match the lights on the screen. The learning mode features several classical songs and nursery rhymes which you can select by pressing the blue button a few times. The interface is easy for babies and young children since you only need to play the colored keys to make sounds or things happen. The learning mode took some experimenting to figure out and learn which songs are there. I like that it plays the song for you once you complete the lesson, so you can hear it in rhythm. The light animations seem a bit delayed for this part--it took me a while to realize it was showing the notes of the song with the animation because it was lagging behind the notes. Nowhere on the product description or box are instructions for how to use it or a list of the songs or what the modes are. The video sort of shows it, but doesn't do it justice for what is offered in this toy.

This Pixel piano toy was a hit with our two year old. He loves making music this is better than him banging a pot like a drum. I like how it has the high D key so you can play a few more songs. The three different modes are cool, though the animal one is a tiny bit slow. The overall sound is good but it is a little bit scratchy. The volume isn't too loud or annoying.

This is such a fun and unique toy! My great nephew's parents both have crazy musical talents so we're introducing little Theo to the arts early. This piano is so different than others I've seen in the past and offers several different interactive modes. Lights and sounds keep little learners engaged and appeal to the senses. The overall sound is crisp and clear and the volume is adjustable. Overall, this is a fantastic toy that young children will love. Five stars!