Take A Leap Into Education.... (LeapFrog Leappad)

Member Name: andy0304

Product:	LeapFrog Leappad
Date:	19/10/04 (601 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Learning becomes fun!, Large Range of Books To Add To Collection, Spend Quality Time With Your Child

Disadvantages: Dont Think There is Any

It’s that time of year again where you are scratching your head as to what you are going to get your little one for Christmas, we was in this predicament last year. All you see on TV day in day out at the moment is ads ads and more ads of toys and all you get is “I want that” in the whiny little voice, you know the one I mean when they say “can I have this”.

We decided that we wanted to get something fun but educational, and it was only looking through our Littlewoods catalogue, we came across this and thought it would be a good idea. My only concern at the time, it was a bit pricey and that being Ben was only four at the time would this be a good choice??

We managed to find some more information on the leapfrog website (see below for address) as to what this toy was about. The purpose of the toy is to teach your child a variety of skills form Motor skills to logical thinking and this is all done without realising as the activities are fun. It also encourages your child to learn at their own pace. I believe when they are that age it learning should be fun and it encourages good interaction and quality time, especially if you work and don’t get to see them that often. We also thought this would be a good as Ben was starting in the reception class after the Christmas holidays.

On the Website itself, it tells you that there are eight core skills that they believe a child should learn:

1) Logic
2) Maths
3) Music and Creativity
4) Reading and Language
5) Science
6) Social development
7) Motor Skills
8) Social Studies

Now I know that sounds a bit harsh for a child so young but it’s all done in the games to make it fun, and this played a big part in our decision. As most of the time when your child is at nursery or school, because there are so many kids in a class they don’t get the one to one they need at that age.

We decided to go for it and we felt that not only was it a good idea but in turn was a good investment because as your child grows and learns you can buy the relevant books to suite your child’s learning needs.

We purchased ours through littlewoods and at the time it was £39.99, but you can buy it a lot cheaper now for around £25-£30. I believe you can get this from places like Argos and toys R Us.

Now being the big kid that I am, when it arrived I just had to test it to see what the fuss was about, and to make sure it was working!!! And I was pleasantly surprised. It takes four AA batteries (it doesn’t come with them) which you just pop in underneath. Its easy to use all you do is just pop in the cartridge (into the side) put in the book and turn it on. The cartridge hold all the information that is in the book, it’s like a little memory card.

The book is a flip book so there are stories on one side of the page and if you flip the book over there are other activities on the other side.

Firstly you touch the word “Go” which is in a green circle and it will register what is on that particular page. If you’re on the side which has the stories on it then all you have to is click on the little speech bubble and it will read the story to your little one or you can skim over the individual words and it will read them so the child can learn to read that word. The picture has many hidden sounds and phrases so for example: if you skim the pen over a picture of Leap, he will say something to you or if you put the pen on a star that will make a noise.

As I said before, this is a flip book so on the other side there are lots of games, counting, a paper piano and a game where your child can learn the names of all the body parts. There is also a music section, so that your child will learn the names of different instruments, and this is all fun. At the bottom of the page, there are a few symbols for volume control and to play additional games.

The great thing about this toy is it keeps them amused for hours and as I said before it gives you the chance to spend quality time with them, my self and my partner both work long hours, so this is the ideal toy for us.

I believe with the help of this toy, Ben has really come on a bundle in his reading and his attention span has grown instead of being that of a fly!! He wants to sit and play with this with you and also read his books from school which to me is great.

You can get a wide range of the books for the Leappad system and I picked most of them up from Woolworths and they had quite a good selection.

Just to give you an idea of the books you can get for this here is a little list for you to browse.

Thomas the Tank Engine (You’re a really useful engine)
Leaps friend A-Z
Finding Nemo
Monster’s Inc
Bear in the Big blue House
Shrek
Tad Goes Shopping
Scobbie Doo
Cat in The Hat

There are loads more to choose from and they are not a bad price either, which can range from £8.99 to £10
Leapfrog also offers a wide range of toys apart from this from an imagination desk to a learning ball.

Oh before I forget the website address is…..www.leapfrog.com

Now its back to picking out this years toys…..Help me!!!!!

Thanks for reading!!!

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