Many people feel that giving a touch screen pad to a young child takes away from them learning and playing and this was what we were worried about while looking at the Leap pad for our 31 month old son, however having eventually got one we have learned that it is infact the opposite. The type of touchscreen technology that is used by leapfrog in the leappad2 is very similar to that which is used in everyday life for adults in things such as phones, computers and touchpads so is good for learning how these touchscreen applications work in a fun and educational way.
The Leap pad2 is not only fun and modern but has many learning applications suitable for the younger child, these are available to buy from their online app store at a slight extra cost, these include reading, writing and songs as well as a number of games which are just for fun. The age range for the Leappad2 is 3-9 years, however I feel that most of the applications at the moment are aimed at younger children, there are many which are learning to write letters and count etc so would maybe be a bit too young for the average 9 year old.
The Leap pad2 its self is very sturdy, comes in a range of colours and includes a number of applications that are free to download once connected to a computer. The initial download does take quite a while so is worth doing before giving it to the child so that they are not sitting waiting.
My son has found it extremely easy to use and enjoys having the freedom to use his own touchpad whenever he wants without having to use my husbands and I feel happy that most of the applications that are present on it are educational and that he cannot purchase any 'top-ups' by himself.
Overall I feel that the Leappad2 is a fun, modern and educational toy which would be most suitable for preschool age.