[maxkinzie]

Any fans or non-fans of the LeapFrog System? Grandparents are starting to ask about Christmas already (what does our 10 mo old want?)...as if she wants for anything :-)

For the fans, what are the most basic elements to start with?

thanks!!!
max

[2Bulgarianbeauties]

My daughter was not into many of the leap frog games - but what really worked were the Leap Frog movies - Letter Factory and Word Factory. They are both a little old for your child, but for a 2 - 3 year old they rock. My dd watched the letter factory 4 times and knew all her letters and all their sounds. She can read basic words after watching the Word factory. She is 4.5 years old.

Kay

[jandn]

I haven't been a big fan of electronic toys but we do have some leapfrog items that reinforce things that we already practice.

We often read books and we got a leapfrog book that reads the story as we turn the page. This has been nice when mommy is tired of reading. We also have Alphabet Pal, a caterpillar that teaches letters. J has started mimicing the sounds as I say them and she pushes the letter.

Funny story..... all leapfrog products say Buh-bye when they turn off automatically after a period of non use. This is now officially J's first word LOL ......she says it in the exact tone the toy does.

[mroot]

My three year old LOVES his "My First LeapPad"!!! His Grammie bought it for him for Christmas last year and he will sit for 30-45 minutes at a time and play the various books we have for it!

[Nevada Jen]

We have had all the leap products (only grandchild). I like the one with the coloring pages but the one that helps read books is pretty advanced for fine motor skills for children under age 5. My advice, limit them to one gift. We get so many gifts for the kids at CHristmas it is embarrassing.

Jen

[LisaCA]

a small luddite rant:

I really hate electronic toys. I'm tired of all of dd's toys talking and sparkling and whatever. they seem to teach kids that toys that don't make noise are boring, and thus they limit kids' creativity. I want dd to be an active participant rather than passive, and many toys teach passivity. And I hate the voices of the leapfrog products-they will annoy you like nails on a chalkboard.

we're doing the low-tech stuff, flash cards, going to see items and animals, reading the book (a gazillion times. her latest "don't let the pigeon drive the bus" I've read 7 times this morning and it's only noonish .)

okay, no more rant .

[echaos]

Originally Posted by LisaCA

a small luddite rant:

I really hate electronic toys. I'm tired of all of dd's toys talking and sparkling and whatever. they seem to teach kids that toys that don't make noise are boring, and thus they limit kids' creativity. I want dd to be an active participant rather than passive, and many toys teach passivity.

Lisa, I'm usually with you on that!! but... My Grandma bought Liam "My First Leap Pad" last year for Christmas ( he was almost 2 and a half) and I really like it ... It's not passive...and ties in well with reading stories.... we also play with it a lot together, so I guess that makes it a bit more interactive. But he will go and play with it on his own too.

[cynthia900]

Hi,

Sorry to have to disagree with Lisa but my kids love the Leap Frog toys and adore "non talking toys" too. It does not seem to have diminished their interest books or dolls, houses, blocks, coloring etc at all. And they are always read for a trip to the park or the zoo etc. It has helped them with kindergarten preparedness etc. We love both the leap pad (books) and the leapster for older kids but my two adored Lily when they were smaller, still play with the letter bus and the zoofari thingy and I always thought the drum thing looked great. You can check them out at the toy store with your child to see if they spark their interest or not and one large toy and book retailer has opinions of the toys from users that I generally find helpful too. And the other toy my daughter loved at about that age was a table that had a lot of activities on it that included some noisy ones (cause and effect brings great joy!). It was called the intellitable or something like that so you might want to check it out too.

Good luck

[redhedded]

Hi Max, We do not do many electronic toys either but loved the My First Leap Pad. My dd got this for her first birthday (she is very advanced) and was able to use it independently and knew all of the scenes on every page and played the games very quickly. We will let my son have hers when he is ready, not near yet. It is certainly something that you could do with her, talk about the things she is seeing.

My son, who is also 10 months, has the Leap Frog music table. He loves it and cracks himself up by making all of the instruments spin, rattle and move.

I think that these tools used in conjunction with lots of talking and old fashioned instruction, rather than as independent play, can be more than valuable.

The other great line of toys is Melissa and Doug. They have the band in a box with wooden instruments. They also have lots of great puzzles for young kids, which has only the space for one piece as opposed to putting together many pieces. And of course, books are always the best gift of all. If you enjoy any mom and me activities, you might suggest they get babe a session of Gymboree music or play class or other local music class. (so valuable for babes.)

[Kelli]

Originally Posted by cynthia900

Hi, Sorry to have to disagree with Lisa but my kids love the Leap Frog toys and adore "non talking toys" too. It does not seem to have diminished their interest books or dolls, houses, blocks, coloring etc at all. And they are always read for a trip to the park or the zoo etc. It has helped them with kindergarten preparedness etc.

Ditto. It's hard to keep up with all of dd's interests these days and passive is not a word that even remotely describes this little firecracker. Her favorite things this week are her Dora coloring book, her "learning to read" books, her phonic flashcards, and her scarey "all head doll" with a massive amount of hair to play with Who knows what will be on the list next week.

I've been known to enjoy the Leap Frog toys more so than my dd. One of her earlier toys was the refrigerator letter magnet which we both loved. It would hold her interest, keep her occupied, and she loved singing the letter notes and the various sounds. I loved it because I could keep an eye on her while I was able to move about in the kitchen. She also liked her Alphabet Pal and the interactive table. "We" also loved My First Leap Pad and have since moved on to the next level pad. At four years old my dd now loves to pretend she's shopping using their shopping cart (complete with food products) and cash register. I like this because not only does it have interactive games with numeric lessons but I'm able to start teaching her early with tools she can understand and relate to, that "money doesn't grow on trees " and "you gotta pay for it if you want it in the basket."

Kelli

[hopefully4]

A says A and A says Ahh..every letter makes a sound and A says A ...and Ahhh!

My children also have many Leapfrog products, and they love the refrigerator letters and farm animals. The alphabet catapillar drives me nuts, but the kids love it. My husband, mature, responsible adult he is, tried to make the catapillar swear and it won't, it just giggles, which is nice for those of you with older children.
I think that Leapfrog products are educational and fun, but I knew I had become a mother when I started singing songs about pig-ducks.

Katie

[mommieof2cuties]

WE love ALL leap frog items Very educational and teaching at the same time. Easy to take in the car or diaper bag. So much fun..

God Bless,
Summer

[sugarbabysmommy]

After having a few of the toys, I said no more. With my babe I noticed a pattern forming, the toys actually seemed to be encouraging babe to have a shorter attention span. Some of the toys have a call back feature, an occasionaly chime as well as saying bye bye, I guess to entice the kid back, I hated this! And it effected how babe was playing. The little voice saying welcome to leap frog, do this and do that, press this and press that- bleh! I disliked that they were so directed, if that makes sense.

Babe played with the play table a lot, but after a while I noticed the same thing happening, shorter and shorter attention span, so off to the garage it went. We still do have the first leap pad, and bring it out occasionally. My MIL bought the little piano thing and this is no better than a slot machine in my mind- minus the money.

Mellisa and Doug make a great shape puzzle with large handles for little hands, seek out the one with the most shapes (9 shapes I think) since there are some with just three or four shapes. The music in a box is great. And babe still loves the Tupperware shape ball and nesting buckets, they are more money but well worth it. You can now order Tupperware online. Babe also enjoyed toys made by Tolo. I know you didn't ask for other toys recommendations, but I had to offer something positive since I feel so negative about Leap Frog in general. In the end, it is all about how your kid plays.

[Bassette]

Originally Posted by hopefully4

A says A and A says Ahh..every letter makes a sound and A says A ...and Ahhh!

Thanks for the big chuckle Katie.

Kiran is fascinated with his My First LeapPad and since he is only 26 months we use it together. It's an opportunity for us to interact while learning and he is beginning to grasp things. The MFLP is really for ages 36m and up but I didn't want to purchase one this year *and* have to upgrade next year. I'm sure he will catch on more in the next few months and again, we both love the interaction!

We also recommend the fridge alphabet thingy and the phonics radio.

[maxkinzie]

Hi, thanks for all the input! Have to tell you before I forget- Alphabet Pal can be made to say one naughty word (I heard it!!!)

LisaCA- I think it might have been you that started a thread a while ago about toys with all the lights/noises, and you really made me rethink what I thought I wanted for DD. We still have a few flashy ones, but many more "old fashioned" ones. I gave her a couple of metal bowls and wooden spoons and she had an absolute BLAST! (my proof!). That's also part of why I questioned the whole LP thing. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

max