Hatchimals Hatchibabies Review age 5+ (Sent by SpinMaster Toys)

My boys were very lucky this week because they were sent a brand new Hatchimals Hatchibaby to review. I have done a video showing everything, including how long it takes to hatch and how to hatch your Hatchibaby, a link is below. Hatchibabies are, just like real babies, either male or female, and they also come in 2 varieties - Ponette or CheeTree.

There is an instruction booklet inside the box, which you should really read before you begin, as well as a Tips And Tricks sheet and a HatchiBirth Certificate which you can write the Hatchibaby's name and date of birth on, and add the secret slip of paper announcing 'Girl' or 'Boy' which you'll find once your Hatchibaby has hatched.

Your Hatchibaby is lots of fun straight away because it is really interesting even at the egg stage. It will interact and react from inside the egg, as soon as you have removed the locking keys at  the bottom, so play with it and make the most of this time.

Tap the egg and your Hatchibaby will tap back. Talk to it and it will respond. Rub the bottom of the egg or pick it up to get a reaction, and if you stand it on a flat surface it will rock. You can also sometimes hear it's heartbeat and you can rock it to sleep. The eyes are visible through the egg and will light up with different colours to show how it is feeling.

After around 30 minutes to an hour of play your Hatchibaby will decide it's time to hatch. Ours 'fell asleep' a couple of times during quieter play moments, so you don't have to do all of this at once and your Hatchibaby will not hatch when you aren't there.

When the eyes cycle through a rainbow of colours, then you'll hear your baby start hatching (you can hear the motor movement inside the egg). Our hatching was really impressive and very quick! The Hatchibaby broke through the egg and we could see it's eye within a minute or so - you can see this in our video...

You may need to 'help' the Hatchibaby once the egg is breaking apart and you will hear it play the special Happy Hatchiday song when it is 'hatched'. You'll need to give it a little tug to remove it from the egg at this point.  Congratulations! Do you have Ponette or Cheetree? We have Ponette.

Beneath the Hatchimal is a slip of paper - this is very special and shows you whether you have a Hatchigirl or a Hatchiboy, as well as a clue to the special trick your Hatchibaby has. We have a HaitchiGirl, but no-one was disappointed. You need to put your hand behind it's head and touch it's forehead twice to encourage it to show you the special trick.

Also beneath the Hatchibaby are the High Chair and the Surprise Accessories - you won't know which colours or varieties you will get. You will have a bottle, a rattle, a cuddle buddy and a hair brush. They are very cute and all have a purpose. Using them will get a response from the Hatchimal and they will soothe your Hatchimal when it's upset.

The Hatchibaby is incredibly sweet. It has huge colour-change eyes and soft fur. They have little silver wings and a nappy and some distinguishing features. Ours has a fluffy tail and mane (or mohawk as my son says) and a pink ribbon.

The amount of things the Hatchibaby will do is astounding (see the video for demonstatration). Each eye colour means something different, for example purple means hungry, so feed the Hatchibaby with the bottle.

Your Hatchibaby will also play interactive games with you. We had a couple of issues with my boys not recognising eye colour (they are both colourblind), but it only bothered us a little and they can distinguish the colours when they aren't rushing.

Games include 'talking' by repeating what you say, playing Peek-A-Boo, bouncing and tapping the Hatchibaby's nose when you see a colour that matches an animal sound (eg. Ribbit = green). If you give your Hatchibaby their rattle then they'll dance and sing.

The High Chair works really well. The Hatchibaby will stand up by itself and even dance, but the high chair is brilliant for storage and keeping all of the accessories in one place and safe. Your Hatchibaby is powered by 2 x AA batteries - ours haven't run out yet!

We've already had masses of fun with our Hatchibaby. She is great and has lots to offer. Hatchimals Hatchibabies cost £59.99 and are available to buy now from loads of shops instore and online, including Smyths.

I genuinely think this is a very fair price for the huge range of entertainment it offers and if one of my children wants another for Christmas, I'd be happy to pay that. The Hatchibaby is an excellent gift which will keep them busy all Christmas Day and then they have a very well made and cleverly interactive toy to play with forever...

There's a shorter version of the video too. It's as short as I can make it without cutting out features...

Our Hatchibaby was sent to us for review by Spinmaster. My boys are not actors and what you see is genuine.