Review | Hatchimals HatchiBabies

Hatchimals have been on the must-have Christmas wish lists for a few years now – and this year, something new is set to top the gift list chart. Welcome HatchiBabies!

The Hatchimals family is growing with the brand new Hatchibabies, which have launched today. Hatchifans will be able to welcome a new bundle of joy – and they won’t know whether they will hatch a boy or a girl!

We were sent a surprise egg, ready to hatch a new addition to our toy family. The HatchiBabies come in two new species – Ponette and Cheetree – both from the Hatchery Nursery in Hatchtopia. But the gender of your HatchiBabies will stay a surprise for you right up until it has hatched to make it even more exiting!

All the eggs come in packaging which reveals nothing about the surprise inside. You need to remove the egg from the box, and to start the hatching process, remove the two twist locks from the base. To pause at any time, you can hold the egg upside down for 30 seconds – so you can rest assured that your Hatchibaby won’t hatch without you there. 

As soon as the hatching process starts, you can hear noises from inside, and the egg will rock from side to side when on a flat surface. 

Once you see the rainbow eyes glowing from inside the egg, you know your baby is ready to hatch. You can encourage this to happen by rubbing and tapping the egg. When the Hatchibaby hears you, it will respond with more sounds, and you will start to see ‘cracks’ glowing on the surface of the egg. 

The shell will start to crack, and the baby inside will start to be revealed. You can gently peel off the shell to help the Hatchibaby escape. Once the baby is hatched, it will sing ‘Hatchy Birthday’, and you can search for the secret scroll in the egg base to reveal if you have a boy or a girl.

We hatched a Ponette – and much to Eliza’s delight, it was a……

GIRL!

The fun doesn’t stop once the Hatchibaby is hatched though. There are heaps of play opportunities to be had! Each Hatchibaby comes with a highchair, and accessories, including a bottle, hairbrush, rattle and cuddle buddy. 

HatchiBabies eyes change colour to show you how they are feeling. 

Eye colour, what it means, and what to do:

• Red: Upset. Pet your Hatchibaby or pop it back in the safety of the egg base.
• Orange: Gassy. Pat the back of their head.
• Yellow: Happy. Keep playing, or tickle their feet!
• Green: Sick. Touch and hold the forehead to check the temperature. Pet them for comfort. 
• Blue: Sad/scared. Pet them, or give them their cuddle buddy. 
• Purple: Hungry. Feed them, by pushing the bottle down onto the lower part of the beak.
• Pink: Cuddly. Pet the head, or nuzzle the nose.
• White: Sleepy. Put the Hatchibaby to bed in the egg base, or give it the cuddle buddy.

There are also additional games and tricks to try. 

• Touch and hold both feet to record your voice. Let go of the feet and the Hatchibaby will repeat what you say!
• Cover the eyes with your hand, then remove it to hear ‘Peek-a-boo’.
• Give your Hatchibaby the rattle to see them sing and dance.
• Touch and hold the right foot to hear music play. Bounce backwards and forwards. When the music stops, stop bouncing. It’s like a game of musical statues!
• Touch and hold left foot. Tap the nose when you see the colour that matches the animal noise you hear – for example, yellow for a chick. 

Each Hatchibaby also has a secret special trick. To discover your baby’s trick, hold the back of their head and touch their forehead sensor twice at the same time. Our Baby Ponette sang us a galloping song, which the kids loved dancing along to.

The play possibilities are endless, as the HatchiBaby needs something different all the time. Eliza is 3, and Max is 5, and I think they are the perfect age for this sort of toy. The hatching process is a lot of fun, and make this a little bit different from all the other interactive toys currently on the market. I can see this being an absolute must have for many children this year, and would advise getting hold of one now, while you can – they sell out fast!

Hatchimals HatchiBabies are available to buy NOW at Smyths, The Entertainer, Argos, Amazon and other good toy retailers. You can also check out the Hatchimals website for more information, hatching and play advice.