Six year old POD desperately wanted a Hatchimal for her Christmas Day birthday last year. We ended up purchasing a camera for her, which she also wanted, as Hatchimals were sold out everywhere. POD’s desire to nurture a Hatchimal has remained ever since. Luckily the newest members of the Hatchimal family have just arrived and they’re all glittery! The Hatchimals Glittering Garden range is same size as the original Hatchimal except there’s a Shimmering Draggles or a Sparkly Penguala inside.
POD adores the Hatchimals CollEGGtibles so she was REALLY excited about meeting her Glittering Garden Hatchimal. Each has five stages of development, including baby, toddler and kid, so this toy is not just about nurturing the egg. POD’s Hatchimal came to life as soon as we removed the twist locks that separate the egg from the packaging. The hatching process takes around 20-25 minutes in total which you can do in one sitting or over a period of time if the Hatchimal is turned off.
We had an entertaining few minutes working out what the coloured shapes on the outside of the egg and the sounds meant. The instructions are really straightforward though so it was easy to understand what was happening. POD could tilt her egg if she wanted to play with the Hatchimal and if she tapped on the shell while the Hatchimal was quiet it would tap back! Holding the egg resulted in her being able to hear the Hatchimals heartbeat and she could rub its bottom if the Hatchimal got cold.
The coloured shapes on the egg and the sounds indicated what the Hatchimal wanted or needed POD to do. For example, yellow meant the Hatchimal was exploring and wanted POD to play, red meant it was upset so POD had to rub the bottom of the egg and green indicated it was sick so she either had to rub its bottom or tilt the egg to make the Hatchimal sneeze! POD could also hear her Hatchimal’s heartbeat, burp it, scare away hiccups, warm it up, comfort it or wake it up if it started going to sleep. Rainbow lights appeared when the Hatchimal was ready to hatch.
What’s great about Hatchimals is that they need to be nurtured and cannot hatch without POD. Not that she was going anywhere, she was completely captivated. Rubbing the bottom of the egg encouraged the Hatchimal to start pecking. POD then gave it a super quick cuddle and moved it away from her face before it broke the shell. It was a wonderful thing watching her face as more and more cracks began to appear around the egg.
We didn’t have to wait too long before we spotted the Hatchimals green beak and a few minutes later its pink fur. POD had wanted a pink Hatchimal last year so this made her very happy. Once the Hatchimal had pecked the egg all the way round, we removed the top and removed the extra pieces of shell. Once that was done we pulled the Hatchimal out of the egg and pressed its belly. At which point it sung “Hatchy birthday” and indicated it was ready to play with POD.
POD’s Hatchimal is a Sparkly Penguala which is currently priced £47.14 on Amazon (RRP £64.99). POD was smitten from the off and quickly named her Hatchimal “Sprinkle”. The Hatchimal has a head sensor, LED lights, a chest button, tilt switch, microphone, an on/off switch and a reset button. This time the colour of the Hatchimal’s eyes and sound indicates what the Hatchimal wants or needs. Pink for example means the Hatchimal needs a cuddle so POD would pat its head. If the Hatchimal’s eyes flashed orange, that meant hiccups and a loud noise was needed to scare them away, or red meant it was scared and POD should pat its head.
She found the learning to talk option hilarious as she was able to get the Hatchimal to copy phrases when its eyes were teal. Chosen phrases included “Hello Mummy”, I love my Mummy” and “Mummy has smelly feet”. She’s referring to herself I hope! As before when rainbow lights appeared and the Hatchimal sang “Hatchy birthday” when it moved to the baby stage.
This meant POD had even more options. Purple eyes means the Hatchimal is hungry and needs feeding which POD could do just by tilting it. The noises the Hatchimal makes are great and she particularly enjoys the feeding one and if the Hatchimal does a “boom boom”. If it gets scared, she comforts it by petting its head or scares it more by clapping. If the eyes are yellow and POD squeezes the Hatchimals belly, it laughs!
There are many other functions so the Hatchimal has kept POD very busy. The toddler phase has been about teaching the Hatchimal to walk, talk and dance. If the eyes flash white, one clap makes the Hatchimal move forward and two makes it spin! In dance mode when the eyes flash purple, a pat on the head brings out a drum beat. Even as the Hatchimal enters the kid and games phases, the functionality from the baby and toddler phases remains meaning POD with more than enough to keep her occupied.
Part of me wondered what the longevity of a Hatchimal might be after the hatching phase. But we’ve been so surprised with how much it does – and that’s without exploring all the games. POD absolutely loves her Hatchimal Glittering Garden and it’s become her favourite toy by some distance. We’re not sure whether it’s a boy or a girl but either way she adores her Hatchimal.
Disclaimer: We received a Hatchimals Glittering Garden from Spinmaster for the purpose of this review. Opinions are as always our own.
