Munchkin Undersea Explorer review

A few weeks ago we were sent the Munchkin caterpillar spillers (see here for review) and loved them, so jumped at the chance to "road test" another Munchkin bath toy. This time we were given the Undersea Explorer – a mini submarine for the bath.

What we liked:

1. The size

The toy is about 15cm long and nicely “chunky” so perfectly sized for toddler hands. 

Instantly fascinated by the water trails...

2. The portability

Linked to point 1, this is a great size for a "travel toy" - indeed ours came with us to the States as a familiar bath toy to try and keep the bedtime routine similar despite different hotels each night.

One of the hotels had the perfect sized cubbyhole for it in the bath!

 

3. The plastic-ness

Sounds a bit weird initially? But I'm fed up of all the squishy plastic bath toys (like our ducks and squirters) that all go mouldy inside after a few weeks because you can never completely empty them of water.

4. The bubbliness

When you submerge the submarine underwater it generates loads of bubbles :) for someone as bubble-mad as Doof this was a definite plus point :)

Difficult to see in a pic but he is watching the bubbling!

5. The scope for imaginative play

 

It's nice to have toys which represent real-life things (rather than just cups etc). With this submarine Doof has started to act out “real life” scenes and situations, which I imagine will only develop further with time. He also enjoys spinning the cabin round and seeing the man inside flip round and round.

Spin spin spin

Overall impression:

To be honest it's a pretty inoffensive toy - there's not much to actively dislike. However it hasn't become a firm "favourite" yet either. This may be because we've been travelling for 3 weeks and so living out of our suitcases. Or because D has a plethora of bath toys and so is spoilt for choice now we are home. But it will be interesting to see what happens now we're back. There is a LOT of competition in Doofy's bath toy basket so you've got to be pretty special to get to the top!

Would I buy it if we hadn't been given one? 

Yes - if I saw it in a shop (it retails between £6-£8 depending on where you look) then I would. The bold colours, size and design and all the different features it contains makes it appeal to me (and so hopefully my children!).