Manners Made Easy has created an adorable set of “toys” to help kids remember to clean up after themselves. There are two characters, “Max” and “Emmie,” and they are featured on the “Hangup Helper,” “Bathroom Buddy,” and “Cleanup Crew.” In order to keep everything streamlined, I’ll talk about each of these separately.

The Hangup Helper comes in two options: either Max or Emmie. Once the batteries are installed, you can hang it on the wall in your child’s bedroom (or other place they need to hang things up regularly). Max features a firehose spraying water as the hook, while Emmie has a broom. When the item (a jacket or bag, for instance) is hung on the “hook,” the Polite Pig Pal offers words of encouragement. Hangup Helpers sell for $14.99 each.

Bathroom Buddy features Max only. The batteries go in the bottom, and there’s a suction cup there as well. Set it on the back of your toilet (the suction cup keeps it in place), and when the toilet is flushed, it triggers the sensor in the toy causing Max to thank your child for flushing and reminds him to wash his hands. Bathroom Buddy sells for $19.99.

Cleanup Crew has Max and Emmie together, and there’s a giant clip on the back. The idea is that you attach it to the trash can and the Pigs praise your child when they’ve thrown something away. Cleanup Crew costs $19.99. Batteries are sold separately for all three Polite Pig Pals; three AAA batteries are required for each.

My 4-year-old son loved using all of these. He really enjoyed the phrases each offered (each has nine different things it says), and I found him cleaning, hanging, and flushing just to hear the pigs talk.

As a parent, my main issues were that some of the pigs had a volume only control (Bathroom Buddy), some had on/off only (Cleanup Crew), and some had neither (Hangup Helper). Having options for both volume control and on/off on all the products would take them up a notch. This is especially true in the Bathroom Buddy. I would really like to see an on/off switch on that one because it’s not so good to have the pig speaking up loudly when you use the bathroom in the middle of the night—especially if you have a baby in the house, as we do.

Outside of the volume issue, I think Polite Pig Pals are a very cute idea, and in our home, with a young child, they definitely did their job of reminding him to stay clean and praising him when he did.

-Product review by Wendy Robertson, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, August, 2016