A newborn will be content lying on her back, gazing into Mommy or Daddy’s face. And that doesn’t really get old for a long time. But baby’s brain and muscles and skills are developing, and after a while she would like a wee bit more entertainment, if you don’t mind. The award-winning Gymini Super Deluxe by Tiny Love is a classic, sure to provide, well, minutes, but they add up to hours, of amusement! And parents know that even 10 minutes of uninterrupted time to make dinner or throw a load in the wash can be a blessing, even aside from the myriad benefits the Gymini play mat gives their little one. And what are those benefits, you ask? The list goes on and on, but here’s a start.

First, a Brief Description
The Gymini folds out into a 32- by 32-inch soft mat, virtually swarming with colorful illustrations of jungle flora and fauna, most notably a giraffe, zebra, lion, and elephant. Overhead two padded arches cross, from which dangle more critters, as well as a large mirror and a plastic bead rattle. Hidden below, baby will eventually discover, is a music box that plays Mozart and several nursery tunes. Textures, colors, sounds, and lights abound, and baby has the power to make all these objects squeak and jingle and jitter and flash, as soon as she can figure out how to make those hands and feet and mouth of hers connect with her heart’s desire. Herein lies the developmental potential.

Shake, Rattle, and Roll
Whether she’s waving her limbs around; aiming specifically for the goggle-eyed, smiling monkey overhead; or rolling over to find the source of that I.Q.-enhancing classical music, baby will be hard-pressed not to advance her infant skill set on the Gymini Super Deluxe. From the monkey with springy leg to pull to the vibrating, jitterbugging elephant to the mirror she can see if she just lifts that heavy head a bit higher…everything on the play mat has a mission: to make baby learn. Cause and effect is a biggie: when she bats at the giraffe, it rattles. When she pokes one corner of the mat, music and lights seem to emerge from the fabric flowers. When she rubs the elephant ear on the mat, it makes a fun crinkly sound. Those large muscles are getting a real workout, too, resulting in improved large motor skills: reaching, kicking, rolling over, pushing up. Many babies don’t particularly enjoy their necessary daily "tummy time," but the Gymini encourages baby to lift and turn her head to see the mirror and find the flashing lights. Tummy time is fun again! And don’t forget the fine motor skills! Those little fingers have to meet if baby wants to grasp the zebra’s mane or the parrot’s crackling wings.

Details, Details
Plastic rings hang from the many holes in each arch; dangling from each is a plush animal or toy, providing still more stimulation. Additionally, parents can easily switch out the toys for variety, simply detaching the included toys from the rings and looping other baby-safe toys on. A hidden music box in one corner of the mat includes an on/off switch with two musical selections: 10 minutes of Mozart or three short fragments of popular nursery tunes. The music is a bit plinky, as is the norm with most baby toy music, but not at all offensive. When the music stops, all baby needs to do is press anywhere on that corner of the mat to start it up again—she is further encouraged to do so by the flowers that light up when the music plays. A hidden squeaker in one of the birds, peek-a-boo with the elephant ear, flap-flap-flap with the butterfly wing, tug-of-war with the giraffe’s tail…the play potential is limitless, whether she’s sitting up or lying down, one week old or 8 months old.

For Mom and Dad
The mat and arches fold up flat, and the entire Gymini snaps together and travels easily, which is a good thing because you won’t want to be without it on your next trip to Grandma’s. The padded mat is machine washable (read instructions first—the music box and mirror don’t take kindly to machine washing…). Three AA batteries required for the music box (batteries included are for trial only and should be replaced). --Emilie Coulter

Stimulates baby with music and lights

Immediate feedback based on baby's actions for cause and effect learning

Large mirror for tummy time play

Classical music will engage the baby

Mat is machine washable and folds up flat for travel

Average Customer Review: ( 720 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.

At first he was mostly interested in the mirror (which is a tiny bit warped, by the way, but not too bad at all), although the toys are close enough that he could see them and would spend some time looking at them too. Now he is almost three months old and he still loves the mirror, but also spends lots of time smiling and batting at the toys. He can happily spend about half an hour in there. If he does get bored, I move him to another spot to change the view and he's usually happy again.

We also detatch the toys and take them with us in the car, stroller, etc. He particularly likes the monkey (which has a big smile) and smiles back at it when he sees it. The elephant has a sparkly tummy that he also stares at for a long time.

Some things we didn't know when we bought it:
1. Each of the toys has something different that is interesting about it. The monkey and the giraffe are both rattles, while the elephant is one of those pull toys that shake. The parrot has crinkly wings.
2. The mat washes well but has faded a bit after only a few washings (we put it in the dryer on low). This is my major disappointment with the toy - for the price it should hold up a bit better. The toys have to be washed with a damp cloth.
3. The whole thing colapses down quite flat. We took it with us on a plane trip and it fit nicely in the bottom of a suitcase.
4. The music is quite tinny, but not bad for a toy. It does get old after a while (there are only two settings), so we usually put on our own cd when we want music.
5. The mat is nice and soft (good if you have have hard floors) and has some interesting textures: the giraffe's tail, the zebra's mane, etc.

All in all, we are quite pleased with this toy. My son seems to find it entertaining, and he hasn't even begun to use all of its features. I think we'll get a lot of use out of it in the months to come. Hope that helps!

222 of 224 found the following review helpful:

So Much Fun!Sep 01, 2003

This play gym is the best. We didn't register for it, and when I received it as a gift I thought it had too much going on. Little did I know how thankful I would be for it! My baby started playing on it around 6 weeks old. I've seen his brain develop right before my eyes thanks to this toy. He started to reach out for toys, he started rolling over, he started noticing himself in the mirror, bringing things to his mouth, and now he's starting to scoot himself around to get to all the fun stuff. Soon he'll be crawling! All of the toys that hang from the arches do something neat and different to stimulate your baby. The mat itself has little surprises...mozart, crinkling ears, a hidden squeaker, a giraffe tail. It's the perfect place to put your baby for his developmental "tummy time" as a newborn and then for his developmental play time as an older infant. I'll cry when we have to put it away! A definite must-have!

107 of 107 found the following review helpful:

The best baby purchase I've made to date!!!Mar 10, 2004

I first saw this gym while registering at Toys-r-Us before my baby was born. Because of the sticker price I didn't even consider adding it to my registry; however, once my son was born I realized how alert babies are at such a young age and how intriguing colors and patterns are to them. He didn't really have many toys and I felt he needed something fun to look at and learn about. While killing time in Toys-r-us I ran into this gym on display. After a couple of weeks of deliberating, my husband and I finally cracked down and purchased the gym. Let me tell you it was the best purchase we have made for our baby up to date! We also purchased the windchimes separately and I highly recommend them to anyone. At 2 months he loved staring at the colorful animals and was already kicking the windchimes with his feet. By 3 months he was grabbing the toys with his hands and batting them to make them swing. Around 4 months he started noticing his reflection in the mirror. The mirror is also slightly movable and he would push and pull the mirror while looking in it so he could see different things around the room. I could literally have left him on this mat for hours and he would have been completely content. We took it with us everywhere... to grandma's house, to visit friends, to playgroup, even to a Christmas party... and our baby was completely entertained. The animals unhook and we clipped them to our stroller for shopping trips. Our son has a cousin his exact age and they both loved this! It was so fun to watch them play on it, and for all you photo moms... pictures taken on this mat turn out really well because of the bright colors!

Tiny Love is also very easy to work with. One of the lights burned out on the play mat (all of their products have a lifetime warranty) and they replaced the entire musical pad free of charge. They even have a website you can go to to order replacement parts (www.tinylove.com; click on "contact us").

Our baby is now 10 months old so I (reluctantly) have cleaned and stored this away for our next baby. This has been the best purchase we've made. The only drawback I can think of is the price, but if your experience is anything like ours, the price is definitely worth it. Buy this one larger toy as opposed to several smaller toys. I did, and I would do it all over again. My baby got more play time and use out of this gym than he has out of all the rest of his toys combined.

The only other thing to note is that when my baby was really young (like 2 months old), he would sometimes get overstimulated when all the toys were hanging from the bars. I would put 2 toys on at a time and rotate them so he always had something fun and different to look at. That seemed to solve the problem (and it really only happened when he was really young). This probably isn't the case for most babies, but if your baby cries when you put him/her on the mat this may be why and hopefully this suggestion will help. In all, I highly recommend this gym! I've become a big fan of Tiny Love!

34 of 34 found the following review helpful:

Best playmat out there!May 08, 2003

My 3 month old really likes this. It's taken him awhile to enjoy it because of his age, but he's starting to really get into staring at the toys and grabing at them. It has a good amount of removable toys hanging from it and an attached mirror in one corner. Also 3 flowers on the mat that light up when the music is turned on. Things I like about it are that the toys are of good quality as well as cute and the mat is nicely padded. It also has a few different interesting features such as a crinkely elephant ear, furry zebra mane, squeaky bird, etc.. which are on the mat itself. I also like that you can detach the toys to wash or take with you. My son loves chewing on them. The colors and patterns of this mat are very nice. Visually stimulating for the baby yet not gaudy. Very cute and fun. And the music isn't annoying as on some toys. The tune can be changed and the sound quality is good. I found the price of this was a bit high, but when compared to some of the other ones, the little bit extra that you pay is worth it. I have another one someone gave me and I don't like it half as much simply because it's lacking a lot of the features this one has. The only thing I don't like is the mirror seems a bit warped when you look into it, so I'm guessing the baby doesn't see himself all that well in it. But other than that, I love this product and highly reccommend it.

45 of 47 found the following review helpful:

Love It! And so does our baby daughter!Oct 14, 2002
By A brand new Mom in Michigan
I bought this for our daughter when she was only about 6 weeks old and started laying her on her back underneath the hanging animals. She LOVES it! She is now almost 3 mos. old and is able to kick at the animals and bat at them with her hands. I have many pictures of her laying on her playmat with big smiles on her face! The music and the lights are nice. She particularly likes to look at herself in the mirror. What makes this mat very nice is that you can buy additional hanging toys for it and change things around so baby doesn't get bored. I highly recommend it!

See all 720 customer reviews on Amazon.com