A beautifully designed, space-saving play gym with smart sensory features and excellent real-world usability.
By: Tali Ditye, Ph.D., Co-founderMommyhood101 independently tests and curates baby gear to help you make informed decisions. If you buy products through links on our site, we may earn a commission.
We put the new Lalo Play Gym II through our hands-on testing to evaluate assembly, materials, sensory features, portability, storage, aesthetics, and overall value.
Let's see how it performed!
Full disclosure: Lalo provided us with a sample of the Play Gym II for testing; no compensation or sponsorship was provided, and all opinions are our own. As always, supervise your baby during play and follow all manufacturer age and safety guidance.
Lalo markets the Play Gym II as an all-in-one developmental play gym designed for newborns through sitting, with a foldable wood frame, organic cotton mat, removable toys, and a detachable sit-up activity panel.
After spending time with it in our own home, we think that positioning is pretty fair. This is a premium play gym, but it backs up the polished branding with excellent usability and several genuinely smart design choices.
Our Lalo Play Gym II Review
Here are our findings, right up front: what we loved, and a few things that could be improved.
✔️ Beautiful, modern aesthetic.
✔️ Soft, muted color palette.
✔️ Small for compact spaces.
✔️ Easy 2-minute assembly.
✔️ Folds for storage.
✔️ Organic cotton surface.
✔️ Cotton & bamboo panel.
✔️ Machine washable.
✔️ Tumble dry.
✔️ Several tactile features.
✔️ Great visual features.
✔️ Fun auditory features.
✔️ Adjustable height toys.
✔️ Rubber grips on bottom.
✔️ Detachable sit-up panel.
✔️ Removable teething toys.
✔️ Premium quality throughout.
❌ Art cards are sold separately.
❌ Premium price vs basic gyms.
Overall, the Lalo Play Gym II impressed us! It feels thoughtfully engineered, looks great in a real living space, and manages to be easier to assemble and easier to live with than many of its premium competitors.
If you're looking for a baby play gym that is compact, stylish, easy to store, and surprisingly versatile, this could be an excellent option.
Unboxing & First Impressions
The Play Gym II arrives in a sturdy, attractive box that feels premium without being excessive.
One of the first things we appreciated was the built-in carry handle, which makes it much easier to move the box around the house during unboxing.
Inside, everything was neatly packed and easy to identify. Nothing felt overcomplicated, which set the tone for the rest of the experience.
The included manual is simple, visual, and very easy to follow.
We were able to go from opening the box to fully assembled in about two minutes, which is excellent for a product in this category.
Quick Review Video
Here is a quick two-minute walk-through of the primary features of the Lalo Play Gym II:
Assembly & Folding Mechanism
Assembly is one of the Play Gym II's biggest strengths.
Unlike the Lovevery and other competitors that require connecting separate wooden arches, the three arches on the Lalo come pre-attached at the top hinge.
So you simply spread them outward into position.
That central pivot point makes a major difference in both setup speed and general frustration level.
It feels obvious once you see it, but it is exactly the kind of practical engineering detail that improves the ownership experience.
The hinge is smooth, secure, and intuitive, making it easy to collapse the gym for storage without wrestling with stiff joints or awkward pieces.
This is one of the clearest areas where the Lalo separates itself from the pack.
If you expect to move your play gym between rooms or tuck it away at the end of the day, the fast fold-up design is a huge advantage.
Design, Materials & Care
Once assembled, the Play Gym II looks fantastic in person.
The soft neutral palette gives it a calm, understated look that blends nicely into a living room rather than screaming “baby gear” from across the room.
That may sound superficial, but for parents who keep baby gear in shared family spaces, visual noise matters.
Lalo did a nice job creating something that feels warm and modern without being boring.
A close-up of the product label reveals some of the material details we like most.
The play mat is 100% organic cotton with 100% polyester fill for padding, and the sit-up play panel uses 100% cotton canvas and bamboo fiber.
In other words, the outer surfaces your baby touches are made of soft cotton and bamboo-based fabrics, which is something many parents will appreciate.
The care instructions are also parent-friendly: machine wash cold on a gentle cycle and tumble dry low.
That's exactly what we want to see on a product that is guaranteed to encounter spit-up, drool, and everyday messes.
We also appreciated the subtle branding and high-end fit and finish across the little details.
For example, the logo treatment on the wooden leg is understated and tasteful rather than flashy:
Another practical detail we loved is the rubberized grip at the bottom of the legs.
Unlike the Lovevery Play Gym, this helps the Lalo stay put on hardwood or tile floors, rather than sliding around during play or when you reposition it.
Here's a close-up of the bottom rubber grips:
Sensory Play Features
The mat itself includes a nice mix of sensory elements that encourage touching, squeezing, grabbing, and visual exploration.
We like that the features are varied without making the mat feel cluttered or overstimulating.
The fuzzy blue butterfly is a great example. It has a satin backing, squeaks when squeezed, and crinkles when gripped, offering a fun combination of tactile, visual, and auditory feedback.
We also liked the fuzzy bunny ears, which provide a soft, high-contrast texture that babies can pat, rub, and explore with their hands.
It's as soft as it looks:
Another standout is the hide-and-find teething ring tucked into its little pocket.
That feature adds tactile and oral play, and it also introduces a simple early object permanence concept as babies learn to discover and pull it out.
The fold-down mirror flap is another feature we think most babies will enjoy.
Mirrors are always a big hit during floor play, and this one gives babies immediate visual feedback while on their tummy or while reaching during play.
The hanging toys are also thoughtfully done.
We liked the fuzzy multi-texture squeeze ball, which jingles when shaken and is perfect for batting, reaching, and eventually sitting play.
The silicone jingle bells add a different sound profile and texture, which helps keep the toy selection interesting.
And the three hanging teethers are removable, which we always appreciate.
That means they can double as standalone toys for mouthing and exploration outside the gym:
One especially smart touch is that the hanging toys can be mounted at two different heights.
This lets you adapt the setup a bit as your baby's reaching and batting skills develop.
Sit-Up Panel & Longevity
The detachable sit-up play panel is one of the Play Gym II's most distinctive features, and it is a big part of why we think this gym stands out.
It gives the product a more realistic path beyond the very early lie-on-the-back stage.
The panel includes a peek-a-boo window with googly eyes, a slot for a mirror, photos, or art cards, and three cutouts for basic shape sorting with triangle, square, and circle forms.
We think this is more than just a marketing bullet point. In real use, it helps the gym transition into a more interactive tummy-time and early sitting station rather than becoming irrelevant the moment your baby gets more mobile.
Of course, no play gym lasts forever, and active crawlers will eventually want more open-ended play. But this panel does a better job than most at stretching the useful lifespan.
Other Impressions from Our Hands-On Testing
In day-to-day use, the Play Gym II delivered on the things that mattered most to us: setup speed, stability, visual appeal, and enough sensory variety to keep floor time interesting.
We especially liked how easy it was to move between rooms, set up in seconds, and then fold away again when we wanted the floor space back. For apartment living, smaller homes, or multi-use family rooms, that flexibility is a huge plus.
We also found that the gym looked calmer and less visually busy than many alternatives. That won't matter to every family, but if you care about your home not feeling overtaken by brightly colored plastic baby gear, Lalo clearly understands you.
The smaller footprint does come with a trade-off: there is less sprawling play space than on some larger competitors. But for us, the improved portability and cleaner fit in real-world living areas more than made up for it.
Lalo vs. Lovevery
The most obvious premium competitor here is the Lovevery Play Gym, and after comparing the two, we think the Lalo comes out ahead for many families, especially those in smaller homes or anyone who values easy setup and storage.
You can see our full Lovevery play gym review here.
| Feature | Lalo Play Gym II | Lovevery Play Gym |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Lower price | Higher price |
| Footprint | Smaller 38" x 38" footprint, better for apartments and smaller rooms | Larger 50" x 47" size, better if you have plenty of floor space |
| Assembly | Very easy, thanks to pre-attached arches and center hinge | More involved assembly |
| Storage | Easier to fold and store | Bulkier to move and put away, no folding |
| Aesthetic | More subtle colors and quieter design | Busier visual presentation |
| Floor grip | Rubber grip bottom helps reduce sliding on hard floors | No comparable rubber grip bottom |
| Included extras | Art cards sold separately | Includes art cards and developmental guide book |
| Early visual stimulation | Good mix of sensory features, but fewer included art-based extras | Strong early-stage appeal with included upward-facing art card system |
The case for the Lalo is straightforward: it is easier to assemble, easier to store, better for hard floors, easier on the eyes, and easier to fit into a smaller home.
The case for the Lovevery is also clear: it is larger and includes a few more developmental accessories in the box.
Our take? If you have plenty of space and really want the included art cards and guidebook, the Lovevery still makes sense.
But for most modern homes, we think the Lalo is the smarter and more livable design.
Our Conclusions
Who This Play Gym Is Best For
- Parents looking for a premium baby gym with a smaller footprint
- Families living in apartments or multi-use spaces
- Anyone who wants a play gym that folds up quickly for storage
- Parents who prefer subtle, modern design over bright toy-like aesthetics
- Families who want a gym that stays useful into tummy time and early sitting
- Parents who value natural-feeling fabrics and machine-washable soft goods
The Lalo Play Gym II is one of the best-designed play gyms we've tested in quite a while.
It combines excellent usability with thoughtful sensory features, premium materials, and a compact shape that makes a lot more sense in real homes than some larger competitors.
We especially love the pre-attached wooden arches, smooth folding mechanism, rubber grip feet, soft aesthetic, and detachable sit-up panel.
We do wish art cards were included rather than sold separately, and some families may prefer a larger play area.
Even so, those are relatively minor drawbacks compared with the overall quality of the design.
We give the Lalo Play Gym II a 4.8 out of 5.0!
