Fijit Friends Are Our New Interactive BFFs! {Review}

It was around this time last year when we started seeing the Fijit Friends in stores. Most of the major toy retailers had display cases set up, and every time we visited a toy store, Bryce had to "beep the button". He would spend several minutes just sitting in the cart dancing along with the funny looking creatures and thought they were so fun! We thought about getting him one for Christmas, but since the recommended age on the box was 6 and up, we decided to wait.

When I was given the opportunity to review a couple of these interactive toys, I jumped at the chance. I knew that both of my kids would have a blast with them. We received one of the original Fijit Friends, Willa, and also one of the new Fijit Friends Yippits, Scooch.

My kids were beyond excited when they saw their new interactive friends! Bryce remembered all of the time he spent "beeping the buttons" in the stores, and couldn't wait to play with one outside of the plastic display case. These friends are super cute! Even without all of the interactive functions these toys contain, kids are immediately drawn to their friendly faces.

The purple one, Willa, is one of the original Fijit Friends. She will chat with you, tell you jokes, and even dance with you. When her belly is lit, she is ready for you to speak to her. She will ask you what you want to do, and then respond once you tell her.

You have to speak very clearly and loud in order for Willa to hear you. Unfortunately, this seemed to only work half of the time. When she did respond, though, the kids (and even Brian and I) got a kick out of interacting with her. When you say "Chat with me", Willa will ask you questions, and then give feedback based on your response. You can instruct her to "Tell me a joke" and she will recite jokes and wait for your response. Once she gives you the punch line, she laughs.

Rylie's favorite thing to do with Willa is have a dance party. When you tell Willa to "Dance with me", she first asks you if you want to use your tunes or hers. We started off by using our tunes, but Rylie decided that she liked hers better, so most dance parties now use Willa's tunes. Willa dances around to the beat, and Rylie loves dancing with her.

Willa recognized Rylie's commands just about as much as she recognized them when Brian and I gave them to her, but Bryce had a hard time making her respond to him. He just didn't speak clearly enough for her. Here is a short video showing off some of the fun you can have with Willa...

The little blue creature is Scooch, one of the Fijit Friends Yippits. These little puppies are full of energy and love to do tricks and play games. You can teach your Yippit tricks by clapping your hands. When you clap your hands between 1 and 5 times, Scooch will do different tricks. When she performs her tricks, you can reward her by pressing one of her buttons, and then she will get better each time.

Scooch also likes to play games with you. There is a "Follow the Lights" game where you repeat the pattern of lights she shows you, or you can play "Chase the Lights" and tag the lights fast when they light up. My kids weren't really into trying to figure out the games, but I know that older kids (and adults even, hee hee) would have fun with them.

Of course my kids both like Scooch's Dance Mode the best. You're supposed to clap your hand to the beat she blinks, but they like just dancing around with her and Willa.

We also made a short video of some of Scooch's interactions. Scooch is definitely Bryce's favorite since you don't have to talk to make her interact. He loves to beep those buttons!

The really cool thing about all of the Fijit Friends is that not only will they interact with you, they also interact with each other. You can put them in "Chirp Mode" and the Yippit will send a signal to the Fijit Friend letting her know that she wants to interact. The Fijit Friend will respond in amusing ways.

This is Rylie's favorite thing to do with the Fijit Friends. I was under the impression that once they were both in Chirp Mode they would continuously play, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Each time we want them to interact, we had to push Scooch's buttons simultaneously to start off another chirp. It was no big deal, really, and Rylie just kept them going.

Willa would tell Scooch how cute he was or say things like "Well hello little guy!" They also danced together, which Rylie loved. Here is a short video of the Fijit Friends interacting with each other...

My kids have had a great time with their new interactive BFFs! I do agree with the recommended age of 6 and over for kids to be able to play with them alone, but with some help from mom and dad, the little kids can have a lot of fun with them too!

You can purchase Fijit Friends at many toy retailers, in store and online. At the time of this post, I found Willa at Amazon for $45, and Scooch for $35. I think these prices are right in line with what you would expect to pay for electronic, interactive toys like these, and I think they would make a great gift for most kids between 3 and 12. With Christmas coming up, I'm sure these will be at the top of many wish lists, and Santa can't go wrong with these fun friends!

Disclosure: All opinions are my own. I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Mattel Fijit Friends. I received product samples to facilitate my review.