Now in any toy store, shelves are literally littered with dolls, animals of all stripes, cars, and rattles. Among them, choosing one child is not easy. But there is a toy in the world that every caring parent dreams of acquiring. This is a rubber teether for teeth "Giraffe Sophie." The reviews of those who have already gifted it to their crumbs are mostly positive.
But there are dads and mothers who did not notice anything special in the coveted toy. The meticulous parents of American kids, wanting to figure out what caused this popularity of a regular rubber tweeter, even decided to explore it from the inside out. Let us and we try to understand what is so special and useful in the "Giraffe Sophie."
A few words about the history of creation
It is generally accepted that abroad, children have always had an abundance of everything, especially toys. However, this is not quite true. French grandparents recall that in the 60s their kids, just like ours, were content with ordinary wooden animals, rag dolls and iron cars. This is the only thing that even the best children's toy store could offer in those days.
In 1961, twins were born to one of the employees of Vulli, a baby goods company. The happy father, whose name was Monsieur Rampo, got the idea to create something for his crumbs that no one else had. Since Rampo was a specialist in rubber products, he came up with a toy from this material. So the light appeared "Giraffe Sophie". Reviews about him were so great that this rubber beast quickly became incredibly popular.
He was sold out not only in France, and even not only in Europe, but also in America. The first giraffe was made for the holiday of St. Sophia, so the name he was given to Sophie. Monsieur Rampo invented not a cow or a pig, but an exotic beast, because he wanted his toy to be unusual in everything, including appearance. She has been walking the planet for 55 years, winning the hearts of children and their parents.
Toy "Giraffe Sophie": description
This toy is a hollow rubber figure of a cute giraffe, whose legs are made as if he is in motion. The product is available in two versions - the size of 18 and 21 cm and weighing 63 and 75 grams. It is designed for ages from 0 to 2 years, so the dimensions of all its parts are created taking into account the characteristics of the fingers of the smallest consumers.
It’s convenient for the baby to take any leg of Sophie’s miles with a pen or stick it in his mouth. As befits giraffes, their toy cub has a long neck, which is also convenient for the crumbs to grab. Sophie's smiling face is unusually pretty. Her ears and horns stick out on her head, her eyes are bright, prominent, and her mouth is slightly ajar. The body of the giraffe is covered with brown spots, the hooves and ears are also brown. Sophie squeals because a squeaker is inserted in her side. According to parents, she makes no sharp sounds, so they do not scare young children.
Useful qualities
The Vulli company assures that it is the developing toy "Giraffe Sophie". Parent reviews contain information about these benefits:
- It is unusually soft to the touch, so the kids are pleased to pick it up.
- In addition to tactile sensations, the toy develops color perception, thanks to brown spots on a white background.
- A tweeter in Sophie’s side makes a sound whose intensity depends on the compression force. According to experts, this develops an understanding of cause and effect in children.
- The squeak of giraffe helps the crumbs to improve their response to sound.
- Sophie's legs and neck are made comfortable to grip with a baby grip. This contributes to the development of motor skills.
Advantages of natural rubber
Most parents pay special attention to the quality of children's toys. "Giraffe Sophie" captivates by the fact that it is made from the milky juice of the hevea tree, the best rubber malaysia. Hevea juice is called latex and is a homogeneous white hydrocarbon compound. Raw latex is not quite usable. At enterprises it is processed in aromatic hydrocarbons, as a result of which it acquires high elasticity, ductility and elasticity.
These qualities are fully possessed by the Vulli brand toy "Giraffe Sophie". Kids can bend their pet, nibble, stretch his legs in all directions. Such treatment does not cause any deformation in the rubber body of the beast. According to parents, it’s very easy to squeeze even small ears and toy horns.
Other advantages of natural rubber are that it has almost no odor, does not absorb water and is not an allergen.
Advantages of Natural Dyes
The name of this wonderful toy often indicates the name of the company of its creator, for example, like this: "Vulli teether Giraffe Sophie." The manufacturer protects the name of its brand, so it releases all children's products using only natural raw materials.
This also applies to the exterior design of toys. According to the assurances of company representatives, the children of Zhirafika Sophie are painted with food colors, which you can safely take in your mouth. The essence of teething toys is to massage the gums of babies during the period when their teeth begin to grow. “Giraffe Sophie” children gnaw and suck with pleasure, and dads and mothers appreciate the fact that the toy for their dear children is completely harmless.
The disadvantages of natural materials
Since the developmental toy - the teether "Zhirafik Sophie" - is made from natural raw materials, it has a number of operational disadvantages. Most parents report that paint is gradually disappearing from her and her eyes are smeared. Also, many do not like the somewhat faded coloring of spots and hooves. Unfortunately, this is the cost of natural dyes produced from plant sap. To keep the color well, they need to add far from natural fixatives, and this is not done by Vulli. So Sophie's fading can be regarded more as a virtue.
Natural rubber is not easy either. For all its positive qualities, it requires careful handling. It can not be kept in the cold for a long time, washed with very hot water (above 50 ° C), left close to a heat source, for example, near a fireplace. The manufacturer warns about all this in the accompanying sheet.
Can giraffes be washed?
Kids tend to drop toys on the floor. This is awarded and "Giraffe Sophie." Reviews of parents note that it is necessary to wash it quite often, because, firstly, it is light and quickly gets dirty, and secondly, everything that children play should be washed regularly.
Some mothers say that after water procedures, their giraffes stop squeaking until all water is shaken out of them. This would not be a problem if Vulli did not report that this toy should not be washed at all. Rather, one must not allow water to enter through the hole of her tweeter.
This leads to the formation of mold inside, which is very harmful for children. One American parent, whose child put the thin legs of the giraffe too deep in his mouth, decided to shorten them a little. Opening a toy, he found mold inside. Other parents followed his example. Many of them also found mold in giraffes and sued Vulli. In his defense, the manufacturer cited a point from the instruction manual for the toy, which states that it can only be wiped with a damp rag, and that moisture, including the saliva of children, is strictly forbidden.
Manufacturing process
According to Vulli, “Giraffe Sophie” is made manually, as it should be for eco-products. This statement should not be taken literally. Several tens of thousands of these toys are sold only in France every year, so you can’t do without mechanization of production.
The process of making giraffes looks like this: in special forms, the machine pours the prepared latex and sends it for hardening and firing. Giraffes in them turn out white, with a noticeable seam in the middle. In the future, each figure workers are really manually polished on the machine.
Finished animals enter the art workshop. There, workers alternately apply a stencil to each of them and apply spots with a spray gun. They also paint on the legs and horns. Eyes are drawn with a special apparatus, similar to those used for stamping. Cheeks and mouth are painted with a brush.
The original or a fake?
Many buyers doubt whether the original “Giraffe Sophie” they bought is the original. How to distinguish the fake of this toy?
Some advise checking the batch number on the foot of each figure. If it is depressed, then the toy is original, and if it is convex, it is a fake. Representatives of the Vulli company report that they now use laser and mechanical technologies for affixing this stamp, so its appearance cannot say for sure whether the product is genuine or not. The only exact thing is that there are no French giraffes without a party number.
Some buyers report that the giraffes offered to them in the store had different brightness and small differences in body shape. This, too, cannot indicate a script or a fake, because the company has several different molds. Slight differences in the shape of giraffes are possible.
Their color may vary, because it depends on how concentrated the workers made the dye. Perhaps the main thing you need to pay attention to when buying a toy is the presence or absence of a number on it, and, of course, your tactile sensations. Natural rubber should be soft and pleasant to the touch, easy to compress and straighten. In addition, the toy should not smell like chemicals.
Other products from Vulli
Now in stores a variety of toys-giraffes from Vulli are offered. A pyramid is very popular with the familiar cute face of Sophie's favorite, five bright rings that can also be nibbled, a plastic stand and a rod.
The company also produces Sophie figures in the form of children's swimming circles, key rings, bathing kits, rattles, all kinds of teething rings with and without handles. There are kits that immediately include two long-necked handsome - big and small, or a giraffe and another teether in shape. In addition, Vulli has mastered the production of children's things, dishes, underwear, creams and other products with a cute face of Sophie's favorite.
Price
Each toy store wants to have Sophie Giraffes in its assortment, because they are in great demand. The price for them, let's say, is not small. One toy now costs from 1400 rubles. A set of 2 figures can cost 1900 rubles. Sets of dishes, including two plastic plates, a spoon, a fork and a drinker, are offered at a price of 2200 rubles. According to Russian buyers, in France, “Giraffe Sophie” costs from 10 euros, and in America - 25-30 dollars.
Toy Vulli "Giraffe Sophie" - parent reviews
Little buyers can not talk about the advantages and disadvantages of their favorite toys. Whether they like it or not, dads and mothers are determined by the desire with which the children play with her. Many babies literally do not let the giraffe out of their hands, chewing him joyfully, sleeping with him. But there are kids who do not pay attention to the dear Sophie or do not distinguish her from their other toys.
Parents note the following advantages of giraffe:
- pleasant to the touch;
- it is convenient for the child to take it in the pen;
- Helps babies easier to tolerate teething;
- makes not too sharp sounds;
- odorless artificial colors and rubber.
Noted disadvantages:
- price is too high;
- it happens that the tweeter mechanism falls out;
- the paint is erased.
The conclusion about the "Giraffe Sophie" can be made as follows: this toy is useful for the development of kids, environmentally friendly and safe, so you should buy it. Will the baby like it? It all depends on the individual preferences of your child.