Andy’s parents live about 4-5 hours away from us. This past weekend we went and celebrated an early Christmas with them and Andy’s sister’s family. The cousins exchange gifts and the grandparents spoil the kids. It’s a fun weekend for all.

Henry received THE hit toy of the season…the Hatchimal. He was even more excited about the Hatchimal once he received it and it immediately started making noises in the egg. Actually, ALL of us started getting more excited about it. The egg cooed and lit up. It was bigger than we expected. You could definitely see the color of its eyes changing within the shell of the egg. It made more noises and got the hiccups. We were all giddy with Christmas magic. And then just like a newborn baby,  everyone wanted a picture with the egg and we started passing it around. We read the directions and watched for signs from the Hatchimal as the eyes changed colors again and again. We took turns rocking and bouncing it…rubbing and patting as instructed.

After twenty minutes or so, it did start to peck at its shell, but it never really broke through right away. I took video after video anticipating the Hatchimal freeing itself. Finally the beak broke through just a tiny bit. Below is the video. I love Henry’s reaction around 0:30. Near 1:27 is when it seems to finally poke its nose through the egg.

But that was it. We waited and waited and loved on it for probably another hour. It never really did hatch like I’ve seen on other online videos and television clips. Finally Andy read the directions again and decided we would just have to help it a bit more than stated. The directions say you can help it by picking away pieces of the egg. So we did. Below you can see Henry giving it some assistance. We stopped and watched to see if that would trigger it to do some more. The Hatchimal definitely spun its head a bit and pecked, but did not reach the shell. It kept going for the same place it first broke through. And at that point, Henry just wanted the thing OUT. He was so excited to play with it and teach it to dance and talk. I felt like I had been through labor all over again.

It probably took another hour to have it “grow up” into the final stage of a kid. There are lots of ways to interact with the Hatchimal as it “grows”. And the best news for parents is that it does actually have an OFF switch!

If you think Santa is delivering one to your house, READ the directions. All of them. I wish I had read them before opening the package. Understand how to get it out of the box. Understand the directions to hatch it. Go ahead and start studying what the eye colors mean. Or assign an older sibling to take responsibility in learning all of it. The Hatchimal can do a lot of interactions within the different growth stages and it can become quite overwhelming (parents) and frustrating (kids) when you can’t keep up with the directions while trying to figure it out. The online Hatchimal FAQ will tell you everything you need to know. Just like with babies, you wish you were better prepared. Give me a second Hatchimal and I’ll be a pro!

Would I buy it again? Absolutely. It’s a cute toy. The hatching experience was still magical even though ours needed some extra assistance. And now Henry interacts with it while he plays. Dance parties! Repeat-what-I-say parties! (Careful, it will repeat anything…Andy tested it privately – ha!)  I’ve paid more for other interactive toys that do less. I think this will make many kids happy…at least for a little while longer than most toys.

Is the Hatchimal on your child’s holiday wish list?