A Leap Into Learning (LeapFrog Leappad)

Member Name: shroud

Product:	LeapFrog Leappad
Date:	14/05/07 (315 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: bright colorful pages, stories and games cover full range of curriculum, robust construction

Disadvantages: need to keep stock of batteries, need to buy yet more books and cartridges

~~~Why I am Doing this Review~~~

After my children owning two versions of this toy and playing with them for the past two and a half years, I decided it was time to sit down and write a review on this toy. With the time that has gone by, I can see how well they have held up and how long they held the interest of my two children. I have also had the opportunity to see how the young company that produced this toy matured, and the level of continued expansion in the range that they followed.

When they first came out, these were everywhere and heralded as one of the hottest toys in years. Fairly pricey at the original £49.95 apiece with only a sample book, and £12 apiece for the books, and yet more money for storage and carrying cases if you went that route, these toys had a lot of hype to live up to. These currently sell for about £25 however, and the books are often on BOGOF, so worth keeping an eye out for.

~~~So just what is this toy?~~~

Leap Pad is an educational toy aimed at helping children to read, and to use their reading skills to “leap” into other areas of learning and discovery. The books are split into levels. The first level for the Leap Pad is aimed at children 4-8, and focuses on phonics and reading practice. It has books that teach the phonetic sounds using engaging characters and child friendly storylines. These books are supported by readers featuring favourite characters such as Nemo and the Lion King.. Level 2 books are more advanced, with characters such as Scooby Doo providing stories that have longer words. There are also books for doing musical activities and to learn geography, about dinosaurs and so on.

How the toy works is that Mom or Dad place the AA batteries inside it (best get rechargeables!), and the child places a small but hardy cartridge into the slot at the side, and then places the spiral bound book into the Leap Pad reader which looks like a large lapdesk sort of affair with a recess for the open book. Turning it on, they use a “pen” that is attached to the reader, and press the green “Go” circle at the corner of the page. When the toy is turned on, it prompts t child to do this, so children quickly get the hang of this without old Mom and Dad interfering! Touching the” GO” circle gets the page narrated to the child,. There are also logos at the bottom of each page, which lead to a game the child can play on the page. The games are designed to not only enhance the enjoyment of the story, but to sharpen key skills such as letter and number recognition, following directions, logic, memory, and so on. These are so much fun that my children often play the games and ignore the story! If desired, the child can also read the story to themselves, and use the pen to point at a word they are unsure of to receive help from the narrator. There are also Easter eggs upon the pages; children can touch various things in the pictures, and surprise sounds will make themselves known as well as bits of dialogue directed towards the child.

The company also make a version of this called My First Leap Pad, which my younger child owns, and which is very similar, but much hardier and which is not as large, being designed for smaller hands. The books are also aimed at the younger set, focusing more on letter and number recognition, nursery rhymes, going to the shops, and other preschool type skills. The characters in the books are also aimed at the preschool market, with Thomas the Tank Engine and Dora the Explorer as well as Winnie the Pooh making an appearance.

For babies they make Little Leap, but I cannot comment as I have not had one, but admit to being tempted to get one next Christmas for our first grandchild, seeing how much fun our younger two are having with the ones they want. The youngest is ready to go up to the normal Leap Pad from the My First Leap Pad, and quite frankly, I can see we shall have to buy him one, as his sister likes to use hers at the same time, sitting in her chair with her earphones on. Having a look about, and seeing the latest generation of Leap Pads, we have hit upon the solution. We shall expand to the leap Pad Plus writing. This system is exactly like the leap pad save for one feature. It is more versatile, allowing the use of special “workbooks” that the child can use to “write” in. This means that the book can be used all the way up to age 12, and now includes practice books for maths and other subjects.

~~~So Just Who makes These?~~~

These are made by a company called Leap Frog. Leap Frog are an American company whose sole product range revolves around quality educational content delivered via technology that appeals to children. This means they use books integrated into electronic interactive readers (the Leap Pads), via gaming systems (The Fly, Leapster), interactive globes, and so on. They have won numerous awards from educators and parent’s groups for these toys. I should also like to note that while they are American, many of the books are in UK English if sold here. Exceptions being books such as the Lion King and Winnie the Pooh, which feature the voices of the characters as heard in the films.

~~~OK, we know you like these, but are the kids still playing?~~~

Yes, indeed! These come out of their packs at least once a week and we keep a set of rechargeable batteries ready to be inserted as they wear the batteries down. These have been a huge hit in the car especially the normal leap pad as you can use headphones with it. We made a 4 hour car trip once with just the leap pad and its books and headphones and a Viewmaster and a selection of reels and had peace all the way despite having a 4 year old and a two year old in the back seat. It was well worth the money, and every birthday and Christmas since we had requests for more books and cartridges. As I mentioned, my youngest is ready for the next level, and we plan to go to the fancier model. They have proved quite sturdy as well, having been dropped a few times onto a wooden floor.



~~~Where to Buy~~~
You can find the Leap Pad and its books at many toy and book stores. These include, but are not limited to, Woolworths, WH Smiths, Argos, Amazon.co.uk, and Littlewoods. The Leap Pad Plus Writing is currently selling for under £30 and the My First for about £25. Books with cartridges range from between £8-15 each, depending on title. I should note here that books for one type of leap pad, such as the My First, will not work with the other Leap Pad types.


~~~My verdict~~~

This is a sturdy electronic toy that delivers what it promises. My children have enjoyed the games and the stories, and learned quite a bit from them. It also got my younger son more interested in sitting at books and having a go with them himself, whereas before he was a vroom the cars round the floor and jiggle on the bed while being read to sort of child. So I have to say these have been a resounding success in this household and worth every penny the grandparents and ourselves have spent on them as the result in their expanded knowledge and love of books is absolutely priceless.

Summary: Educational toy that provides years of entertainment and quality learning.