Child Development
Play has long been acknowledged as an essential aspect of a child’s development, the toys and accessories in this section have all been designed to stimulate the senses, promote active problem-solving, help children connect with others, develop creativity and acquire specific skills across a
diverse and complimentary range of areas including music, languages and mathematics. Read reviews of toys from sources such as The Early Learning Centre and Leappad, compare experiences and shop online for development and learning focused toys here at dooyoo.
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Reviews
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LeapFrog Tag Reading System
by houseofberries My youngest boy loves books, I'll easily read him 10+ per day. When I first saw this reading system I dismissed it seeing it as a book replacement. It was only when another child bought this reading system into his Preschool that the teachers reported back that he sat with it for over an hour, carefully placing the pen on each word ... that it sparked interest. I wouldn't ever want it to replace his traditional books, but felt it would compliment them. So the order was placed. **What's in the box?** It arrived well packed, with the pen included - the pen is the reading system itself. A short lead to connect it to your computer. A book of samples from the Tag Reading System range to try out. The box has a big hole in the front so if you want to keep all the bits together this doesn't work particularly well, but there is a branded case you can purchase. The pen requires 2 AAA batteries which aren't included. **Getting up and running** My one gripe was the amount of time it took to get it up and running. My little boy had seen his new toy arrive via Amazon and couldn't wait to use it. To get going you have to plug the pen into the computer and download software to use with the pen. I had ordered an extra couple of books with the pen, this was then time consuming loading the books onto the pen. This needs to be done each time you purchase a new book. It took around 25 minutes for this process to happen, the excitement had worn off by the time the pen was ready to use. Setting it up was actually very straight forward and very clear instructions stuck to the pen on where to go to download the software. **Using the reading system** My 4 year old was quite happy thumbing through the books and pressing the pen on the characters, hearing them say phrases and noises. There are symbols that can be pressed at the beginning of each book and on the pen that sets it either to a game or reading. You can them opt to read the words individually or the whole page. The pen has a built in speaker and not only speaks the words but also makes animated noises and even sings when different pictures in the books are pressed. When in 'reading mode' you press the pen against each word to read it, my only annoyance is that you can't run the pen along the words without the previous word being cut off, you have to dot on each one individually to stop it cutting off what it was previously saying. There's a sample in the book that comes with the pen on practicing writing which I thought was excellent. The pen guides you to draw the letter in the correct way. The manufacturers recommended age is 4 - 8 years. Although I've seen my eight year old happily sitting with it on occasion 'helping' his younger brother. It's certainly a great learning aid that can be used independently or with adult support. My little one tends to use his imagination more when using it on his own. He's a little young for some of the games and benefits from some help with those. **Range of books** There's a huge selection of books that you can buy with this system, some that focus on reading, numeracy and some that are just for fun with a huge ranges of characters like Scooby Doo, Sponge Bob Square Pants, Toy Story and classics like The Cat in the Hat. There's even an large interactive World Map Poster. The books come in different levels, so it will grow with your child. The Tag pen can store up to 10 books at a time. It's great that you can just go from one book to another without needing to click or press anything. **Pricing and availability** The system is widely available in good toy shops such as Toys R Us, ELC and general retailers such as Amazon. RRP is £39.99 I've seen it frequently reduced however. The standard 32mb version comes with a green and white pen, there is however a pink version available. Additional books vary in price from around £8.99 - £20.00 **Summary** I'd definitely recommend it as an educational toy. It doesn't replace a good story book, but it certainly sits alongside them quite well. It's lightweight and easily portable and great fun. Read the complete review |
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LeapFrog Learn & Groove Maracas
by Chippytarka Last year in November, I decided to purchase this particular toy for my daughter to put away as a Christmas stocking filler. It cost around the £7.00 mark from my local Home Bargains store. I had seen it stocked there for afew months and thought it may be something quite nice for her to open on Christmas Day. Why ... did I buy it? For afew reasons really. One being its made by the company Leapfrog, who make some very qood, fun and educational toys for children. Taking this on board I thought it would be good value for money. My son had some very basic maracas which were non branded, and I thought having something similar but with more features, it could entertain both of them. Thirdly, I thought the price was great--not costing the earth and I love the idea of introducing music to children at a young age. How does it look? This toy is basically a set of maracas. They are made of some form of plastic , not too heavy and both very brightly coloured ( blue, green, red, yellow, orange and white ). Completely unisex. Even though there are two, they are not completely the same. One makes a sound when shaken like a traditional maraca. It sounds like it contains some form of small beads. The other is battery operated and requires 3 AAA's. On the front it has a simple on/off button ( you can also adjust volume here ), and a button to switch the language from English to French. Just above that is section where you can chose to put it into the number mode, colours or music. All of these buttons you need to slide across to change function rather than to press. What age is this toy aimed at? Children from 6 months old to 3 years. What does it do? The ' ordinary ' maraca you simply shake. The other one does slightly different things depending on what mode you put it on: Numbers-the maraca will actually count out numbers in either English or French ( again depending on what setting you have put it on ). Colours-it will say colours such as blue, red, green-either in English or French, and the top of the maraca will light up in the relevant colour. Music-it plays some very catchy but basic music. Whatever mode you have put it on, the top of the maraca ( only this one ) will light up. What do I think? Firstly, when I first gave this to my daughter she thought it was ok and had fun with it, but like most children of her age ( less than 18 months ), she enjoyed it the fact it lit up and made a noise but it didn't keep her entertained for along period of time. Roll forward afew more months, and she seemed to be alittle more intrigued and interested in it, but on many occasions mistook it for a microphone when she heard it play the music! Regardless, the fact it doesn't do just one thing it kept her on her toes and gave her more to do. On a slight negative slant, she assumed if she grabbed either of these that they both would have the electronic element to it. So when she picked up the normal one, she wasnt very impressed and wasn't too keen on playing with it. Mummys opinion: I think it's a good toy which stimulates so many senses-sight, hearing, touch etc. Its brightly coloured so eye catching. When the maraca lights up that's a good fun element to it but also helps them learn about the different colours visually. Combining the different coloured lighting and the actually name of the colour is connecting them together and giving them an early start identifying colours. The music is a great sense of fun which allows them to be expressive and active ( if they dance to it ). The fact you can have the language in either English or French is a bonus, great introduction to a second language. Its durable and light weight, so easy for little hands to hold. The buttons are quite easy to slide, but the ones for the on/off/volume and the language one are very small so take abit of getting used to for little fingers. Can be awkward. Easy to clean. Would I buy this again? Yes I would. Its quite a simple and basic toy when you think about it but its fun and educational and can easily last ( in regards to children being interested in it ) for at least a year or two. What I have found when buying some toys for my children is to start off with, they may find them ok but not completely in love with them, especially when they are very young ( like 6 months ), but sometimes it might be the fact they are not ready for it. So if it appears to you to be a good product and your child doesn't agree, put it away and bring it out in afew weeks or so and see how they go with it. If they still don't like it then they probably think its abit rubbish and not for them! Check around in regards to price. They are readily available but price varies. Home Bargains still sell these for roughly the same price I bought them for last year, but Amazon sell it for £16.00. Read the complete review |
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Inspiration Works Peppa Pig Little TV
by emmad5689 Purchase I struggled for ideas at first on what to buy my youngest daughter was Christmas as she had loads of her older sister toys handed down and then I came across this on Amazon which I thought she would love as she was really into Peppa Pig at the time. The TV cost me £19.99 and came with free delivery so was about an ... average price for a child's character toy as far as I have seen however it is currently reduced to just under £13 which is brilliant value. Packaging The TV came packaged in an open fronted box so you could press a few buttons before purchase if you were buying it in a high street shop however you cannot have a proper go with the toy as to do so you need to be able to change the cards that come with it. The box was brightly coloured and covered with the usual Peppa Pig style scene with the top of the box being pale blue or the sky and then grass and characters on it too. It stated on the box that this toy is for ages 2 and up and my daughter was 2 years 3 months when she got it so her age was ideal. The TV was easy to get out of the box and was just held in place with a couple of cable ties which just needed simply untwisting. In the Box Inside the box you get a pale blue pretend TV set and a bright yellow remote control with a number of buttons on it, you also get 4 cards to slot into the TV for your child to interact with. The TV is pale blue in colour and has a pretend screen which has Peppa and George Pig, Danny Dog, Zoe Zebra, Pedro Pony and Emily Elephant pictures, they all have different objects they are playing with or holding which is what the questions surround for this scene. The TV has two plastic pieces which fit into the back to allow it to stand up and even thought these have been slotted in and out many times they still fit perfectly and are not loosening at all which is great. On the bottom of the TV you have a holder for the remote control and than a red light and a little yellow button. The battery pack is at the bottom on the back and is secured with a screw which of course prevents accidents with children and batteries, when you need to change the batteries it takes 2 x AAs. The remote control is quite curved in it's shape making it comfortable for little hands to hold onto, it is bright yellow in colour and has 6 big buttons and 2 small buttons. The big buttons have little stickers on them showing Peppa Pig, George Pig, Danny Dog, Zoe Zebra, Emily Elephant and Pedro Pony on them, Emily has managed to damage the remote as she has peeled back some of the stickers which is a shame as if she manages to pull the stickers all the way off then you won't know which button is for which character and then the toy would be pretty useless so I think this is a poor part of the design considering the toy is for a 2 year old. There are 2 small buttons on the bottom of the remote one of which is the repeat the question and one of which is to play some music. The 4 cards have a different scene on the front and the back of them, they are all brightly coloured and all the cards use the same 6 characters on them, each card is for a different scene, you get, At Grandmas Hen House, Winter Scene with Santa and Reindeers, At the Beach with Mummy and Mrs Rabbit, Throwing a Birthday Party, Playing Music with Daddy Pig, Playing in the School Playground, A Picnic with a Dinosaur and In Peppa and George's Bedroom. Playtime To play with the TV you have a slot one of the cards into the top of the TV, the cards slide in easily and have a different combination of squares cut out of the bottom of it which must be how the TV knows which card is inside. I again find this a poor idea as the strips between the cut outs are very thin and Emily has managed to tear one which is no surprise for a young child. The yellow button on the front of the TV is to turn it on and as soon as you do it launches straight into a question for your little one to answer with the remote control, if you haven't answered within 30 seconds it will repeat the question. If you get the answer right it tells your child the answer they have pressed and congratulates them but if they have it wrong it again tells them the name of the character they have picked but then tells them to try again. When you put a card in the TV plays a little tick tock tune however if you haven't clicked it in properly then it will still ask questions from the scene behinds it. The TV asks a great range of questions all asked in Peppa's voice which can get annoying, you get questions such as who is standing next to? who is wearing? and who is this? when a sound will be played to your child of a character. The toy seems to ask about 10 questions for each scene which means 90 questions in total so there are plenty of questions without your child getting bored. Opinions The toy is pretty easy to play with but Emily had to be shown how to work the remote the first few times although she is now able to work the remote out herself and I would say she can probably manage to answer about 50% of the questions although obviously this will improve with age, Emily seems to struggle with the questions that ask her about a sound that someone makes. The TV and remote are durable however the cards are not so much and all of ours are damaged at the bottom so Emily needs one of us to put the cards in and out for her each time which she does get a little annoyed with as she generally likes to play by herself with toys like this. The TV has a little slot on the bag of it for the cards to be kept in when they are not being played with which is a great idea and helps protect the cards whilst in the drawer. The TV is really educational and teaches listening and answering and of course encourages observational skills which we have found Emily is brilliant at. The cards are all brightly coloured and the characters are easily recognisable, the toy holds Emily's interest for quite a while until she wishes to change the card and then she gets distracted a little. I would give this 4 stars from 5 as I think the stickers on the remote is a silly idea and also feel that the cards are not durable enough for a toy that is for a young child. Read the complete review |
Child Development |
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2 reviews Child Development / |
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2 reviews Child Development / Brand: Leapfrog |
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1 review Child Development / i Learn Yes or No: Disney Pixar Cars Question and Answer Game |
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1 review Child Development / Brand: Physics Teaching |
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1 review Child Development / Brand: Melissa & Doug |
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1 review Child Development / Brand: Melissa & Doug |
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1 review Child Development / Age: 9 Months+ |
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1 review Child Development / Brand: Tobar |
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1 review Child Development / Brand: British Fossils |
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1 review Child Development / Brand: Chad Valley |
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