Provided many hours of entertainment for my 18 month old on a road trip. She still occasionally plays with it now that she's past age 2, but it was a lifesaver on that one road trip. Unlike toys with many pieces that can get lost, this is one piece and not difficult for my toddler to use in many different ways, either by herself or with one of us showing her the different colors, numbers and shapes embroidered on the whale.

At first I thought the price was steep, but after having my child use it, it is easily worth every penny.

My child would buckle everything in sight (as all children her age go though). This toy allowed her to buckle to her hearts content without driving the rest of us crazy.

Enough buckles to keep them busy instead of having to unbuckle one thing 600 times and every minute. This allows them to buckle for a while, then hand to you to unbuckle and start over.

Easy to travel with, keeps them quiet and busy on airplanes or in church. Easily one of the best toy purchases ever.

I got this for my 18 month old for a long car trip. Although he enjoyed playing with it, some of the buckles were a bit difficult for him and the whale ended up getting thrown a few times in frustration. That being said, his two year old cousin loved this and didn't find it too difficult (though he would get the straps twisted or woven around each other thus making it impossible to buckle which greatly annoyed him). Even the four year old cousin got in on the fun trying to figure out what can fit in its mouth (a fidget cube was the ultimate favorite though a small ninja turtle came close). The quality is fantastic. It's very soft, the colors are bright, and the stitching is durable enough to stand up to a four year old and two year old having a tug-of-war. The numbers, colors, and shapes were lost on the older kids; but my son enjoyed them. He's just starting to learn shapes and colors so it was fun for him to interact with me and point to the red heart with I asked for the blue diamond (cut the kid some slack, he's learning). All in all a pretty solid toy. The buckles and zipper may be a bit of an over-reach for 18 months, but the colors, size and squeeze-ability, and shapes all put it in the "church / road trip" bag

Really cute toy. My only complaint is that it is hard for little ones to hold why trying to do the buckles and a little bit tricky to do the zipper on a curve. But, my daughter is only 19 months so maybe as she gets older she will master it and it will hold her attention more.

I have been really happy with the buckle whale. I got it for my twin toddlers to use during church and other quiet times. I love that it's a self contained activity with pieces that can't get lost. The buckles are all a little different, the whale is super soft and cuddly and the zipper is a fun added little extra. There is also a little pocket inside for smaller treasures. My twins are 21 months and still need a little help to manipulate the clips but I thought that would be the case. They are both very interested and will hang with it for a long while. I may need to get another!