 |
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 |
 |
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 |
 |
Leapfrog Lettersaurus Dinosaur Learning Toy
by Ninski1
The Leapfrog Lettersaurus is currently available on Amazon for £11.23 (May 2013). It comes packaged in cardboard and those annoying twisty bits of plastic that take forever to loosen. The Lettersaurus requires I lithium metal battery that was included. The Lettersaurus is approximately 450g and is 11cm X 26cm X 19cm, so is a good ... shape and size for small hands. It is designed to be suitable for children from aged 12-36 months; though I am sure it will last a bit longer in our house.
The dinosaur has a purple and green head and body, a little light up blue tuft on his head and along the length of his body are 26 red, yellow, green and blue buttons, which correspond to the lower case letters for the English alphabet. When you get the Lettersaurus you can register him online to allow you to access more learning and activities from Leapfrog, though we never actually got round to this. By pressing the tuft on the top of the dinosaur he sings the alphabet in the familiar English version of the 'abc' song and by pressing any of the letter buttons he sings a variety of different songs, for example the dinosaur says 'press a letter button' and when you do it sings. It also has a switch on the side shaped like a butterfly, which allows you to choose which mode you want to play, for example, letters, numbers or colours, plus there is also a volume level button.
The toy is designed to teach the alphabet, colours and motor skills and as my son is currently obsessed with dinosaurs he also uses it as a role play toy.
Overall this is a great learning toy and my son now happily sings along with the alphabet song, he enjoys pushing the buttons and it is very sturdy. The price tends to varying from shop to shop so it is worth looking around for a bargain. I would recommend this toy to others.
Read the complete review |
