Update 8/29/2011...nearly a year later, and my kids both still play with this almost every day. I admit, the songs with the girl singing are obnoxious to me (the kids don't mind), so I try to direct them to using the songs-with-music-only button. They love to sing and talk into the microphone a lot too. It has been dropped, thrown, stepped on, thrown down stairs and jumped on, and it still works great, with only a few battery changes needed so far too.
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My 21-month old daughter received this for Christmas from her grandmother but because she had so many other presents, we saved it to give her this weekend when her grandparents visited. She immediately figured out the two buttons that play pre-recorded music (instrumental songs and "witty kitty" songs) and the drum beat buttons (different rhythms). She is delighted really, that's not an exaggeration by the songs and the drum rhythms; she grins, laughs, and dances to them. The "witty kitty" songs annoy me a little but she likes them, and that's the point. I'm a little worried she'll learn the "wrong" words to the "witty kitty" songs (they are kitty-oriented lyrics set to familiar tunes, like "Meow, Meow, said the cat" to "Row, Row, Row your boat") but I'm not going to lose sleep over it; I can teach her the "right" words later. She plays the keyboard a little but seems mostly interested in the recorded songs. We have a real piano that she's played around with since she was a baby, so I'm not concerned about how much she uses this toy keyboard.The toy seems extremely durable; she's already slid it down the basement stairs and it's fine. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because I wish it recorded voice input into the microphone; it only records/plays back keyboard input. My daughter doesn't watch TV yet, and this keyboard is the closest thing she has yet to an "electronic babysitter" she loves it so much that she plays independently with it, and it occupies her attention more than any of her other toys, leaving me more free to accomplish tasks. This is a good thing.
Speaking of the keyboard I'm a classically trained pianist, and I am actually impressed by this keyboard. All the keys, including the black keys, work. I've seen many toy keyboards that have non-working black keys. The notes are labeled with the letter note names (A, B, C, etc) and the pitches are correct. Only two notes will sound at once, so you can't play chords, but as others have pointed out, this is a TOY KEYBOARD. Many toy keyboards only play one note at a time! This is an aside but an important one as a musician, I seriously recommend to all parents that if you really want to get your young child used to a piano, GET A REAL PIANO. If you can't afford an actual piano or don't have room for it, get a good digital piano with correctly weighted keys that respond to touch/expression; there are many good ones out there. Let your kid crawl onto the bench and play around with it. Sit the child on your lap while you play piano. Bear in mind that your baby or toddler might bang an object against the keys (my daughter chipped the end of one of my piano keys this way, but it's an old Baldwin Acrosonic upright that plays well but doesn't have much value), so you may not want to give him/her free access to your Steinway grand. If you get a used piano, have a tuner check it out first, and beware of the out-of-tune piano that your church is selling out of its church hall/basement; it may cost you more to get into shape than it's worth. If you get a "real" (non-digital) piano, please keep it tuned so your child develops an ear for correct pitches. And start your child on lessons by age 6 (preferably age 5) when children are still in the "language window"; music is a language.
As a final note, I am impressed that this keyboard comes with a booklet with the words to all the songs it plays. These are not just children's songs some are wonderful songs like Stephen Foster's "Beautiful Dreamer". One is an Italian song, with Italian words printed in the booklet. So there is an opportunity for your child to learn some good music don't lose the booklet!
Oh, and our Meowsic keyboard was purchased at Target. I don't remember the purchase price, but I know it wasn't as high as $50.00!
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My 2-year-old daughter LOVES her "cat piano" and plays it every day. It has a lot of features she hasn't even used yet, so I think she will continue to play with it as she gets older. The only downsides are that the pre-recorded cat songs are extremely annoying, and it only lets you play two notes at a time when you use the keyboard. But for a first keyboard, I think it's very good.I can't figure out if there is any real difference between this and the "Parents" Kitty Keyboard, other than color and price. This one is significantly cheaper and in colors more like an actual cat. I recommend this one.
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My daughter received this piano as a gift when she was 8 months old. Immediately, she loved the music and all the fun features on it. She would sit and entertain herself for what seemed like hours with this thing. Yes, the music gets annoying, but isn't it worth it when your kid loves it?!On another note, the company that makes this piano has excellent customer service. Our cat piano just stopped working one day for no reason, so I emailed customer service and had a response the next day. They sent me a replacement piano at no additional cost. I'm sorry, but you just can't beat that!
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