Hello, from one of my favorite places on earth! I was so happy when I saw that I had been chosen by Tryazon to host a party with these products from Spinmaster, and that the dates were going to line up perfectly with when I would be visiting family at the lake!
Unfortunately, due to some shipping/distributor issues or something, the products didn't show up until later than expected, so I was unable to have the same sort of get-together I was originally planning, but we made do thanks to technology! Those of us who were still there got to actually participate and use the products with the kiddos, and then I had a FaceTime call to include some others with young kids who couldn't be there due to work/changing COVID restrictions, etc. It was a little trickier, but still good nonetheless.
I hadn't realized before that SwimWays was part of the Spinmaster brand - I thought they only made toys so that was a cool connection for me! I already have lots of various Spinmaster products so I felt like this was a brand I was comfortable using for my family. And after starting to discuss the Swim products and show them off, one of the guests realized that a swim floaty she had recently purchased was also actually part of the brand. She told us all she liked using it and it worked well for her children, so that was a solid outsider endorsement!
While I wouldn't say that the 3-Step "program" so little swimmers is exactly revolutionary, it does lay out a simple, clear progression for kids to develop skills and confidence in the water. One of the first things I noticed when opening the Swim Trainer & Soft Swimmies was how soft the fabric actually was. Even with newer manmade materials and technologies making better options for kids these days, there are still a lot of features that are not super comfortable. But the material on these items really was soft - my son even asked why it was so soft! So that was a definitely plus, and makes the kids way more likely to wear them without complaining, even when they've got it on all day. No more trying to peel the hot, sticky armbands off! 😝 I also really liked the shape of the Swim Trainer - the other similar products we own aren't designed quite as well to fit around little bodies with short arms, so it's harder for them to play as well. But on this, the piece that goes across the chest and around the back is more curved, so they have greater mobility in their arms and it doesn't get in the way as much I felt. After trying this one out that day, my son was obsessed and refused to go back to the other lifejacket he'd been using! The only thing I wish is that the strap for the buckle on the back was a bit longer. He's still within the weight/age range, but much bigger and we wouldn't have been able to do it up! The Soft Swimmies felt really comfy and durable as well, and they were super fast and easy to blow up. They were also a lot easier to get on kids' arms than what we had growing up!
My feelings on the Baby Spring Float with Sun Canopy were a bit more mixed. It's a really cute design, and I love that it comes with a little case so you can fold it up and transport it easily. It was a bit tricky to get small enough to get back in there, but we did it! I also like that the canopy is designed to either be straight up or angled for different times of the day as the sun moves. But for us the canopy wasn't working too great. I don't know if we just got a defective one or what, because it was great when we had it snapped onto the back for an angled shade (and it's super easy to just loop it through and snap it up!). However when we tried to use it straight overhead it kept flopping over. We could never get it to stay fully upright. I also wish the floaty part at the baby's chest was a little bigger/higher. My baby (especially if we were in the shallows where he could put his feet down and push himself forward more) was constantly leaning forward and getting a mouthful of water. So if it was just set up a tiny bit more to have them leaning back that would have been better. The airholes to blow up the floaty sections were also tricky - the valve wasn't as big or long as the Soft Swimmies and couldn't be pulled out/pushed in, so it was harder to blow them up. Overall not terrible, but the Swimmies were notably easier. But aside from those things, my little babe loved it! He was in heaven being able to kick and splash around, and it was nice that I could let him move freely in that without trying to hold onto a wet, squirmy body! We ended up using it many times while at the lake.
Overall we had a good time testing out all the products and talking about getting kids used to swimming in the water. Because of how the timing worked out, and not being able to get WiFi down where we were, I was only able to call people with my phone so it was a little harder to show/see everyone and everything, but I think it all still worked out pretty good. And having someone else there who also owned one of the products and had positive things to say was a show of confidence for the rest of us. All in all, a very fun time!!
#Tryazon #Spinmaster #SwimWays @tryazon @Spinmaster @swimways
