Reviews (1)

best present for my kindergartener
My daughter was promised a suprise. The thought of getting another toy bothered me - then I saw this bank. It is fantastic. She loves it. She plays with it - it is excellent at teaching her the coins - it tells her what it is when she inserts the coin -, then gives her a little fact about it. It also shows how she is doing against her saving goal. She brought it in to share with her class - and it was a hit with all the kids and her teacher. My only warning is that you will have no change left in your house : ) ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Map accuracy
We liked the description of the map puzzle and thought it would be perfect for our puzzle-loving toddler, but we read an Amazon review (dated 11/03) noting that the upper peninsula of Michigan was colored the same as Wisconsin. Obviously, accuracy is important for an educational toy, so we planned on buying it and painting the piece to fix the Michigan problem. But when the puzzle arrived, both parts of Michigan were yellow, and Wisconsin was blue - the manufacture has fixed that oversight!

Note however that some of the small Northeastern & New England states are combined on single puzzle pieces, so in fact the puzzle only has 44 pieces, not 50. Toddlers won't mind because the puzzle is fun, but parents might think twice before buying for children trying to learn all the states.

Awesome educational toy
My 4 year old loves maps, so this was a great Christmas present for him. Now he knows where all of the states are and almost all of the capitals! He also knows the Pledge of Allegience now. The only thing I don't like is the speaker is on the back of the puzzle, so if you set it on the carpeted floor or couch it's muffled (and you have to lay it almost flat otherwise the pieces will fall out). But the volume is real loud if you hold it upright and there's no volume control. But overall, it's a great toy and one of my son's favorites. I bought another one for a family member and she loves it too.

GREAT STORAGE DRAWER FOR PUZZLE PIECES
My son is a USA puzzle nut, so he was thrilled to receive this gift. What I especially like about this puzzle is: #1:Each shape fits into its own compartment, so my 2 year old daughter can figure it out too if she keeps turning the piece around until it fits #2: There is a storage drawer on the side for easy clean up. I just wish there were a volume control on it (when the states are pushed, the name of the state is recited along with other facts, but I can live with that.

Inaccurate
The upper peninsula of Michigan is blue and looks like it's part of Wisconsin. My 5 year-old niece lives in Wisconsin and my parents are from the UP. I won't buy this product because I don't want my niece to think that the UP is part of Wisconsin!

Amazing educational tool!
My two granddaughters (aged 2 and 5) have this puzzle and both know most or all of the state capitals and state nicknames. The 2-year old especially puts together the puzzle, dumps it out and puts it together again over and over for hours on end. My daughter says that when neighbor kids visit, this puzzle is the toy of choice. Based on this, I bought one for my grandson, aged 3. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

BEST EVER!!!!!!!
We just purchased this one and for our daughter's 4th birthday...and in less than a month she knows ALL her letter sounds....it is amazing!!!!!!!!!! This is the best one yet!!!!!!!!!!

Every parent should get this item for their preschoolers
I am on a mission to let every parent of a 5 or youger child to get these 2 videos. My boys learned the letters in just under a month....GREAT PRODUCT!!!!

Totally love this letter factory and I am amazed at results
I bought this after reading the reviews a little curious if my 3 year old would love it or not care. Well she loves it more than I would have thought possible for a video/game. I was very impressed that within a week she had her letters learned extremely well. She loves to sing the whole song to me and show me how well she knows the sounds of the whole alphabet. The thing that works so well with this product is that instead of teaching a is for apple and so forth they teach the sounds the letters make, and in a way the kids LOVE. Like with a the a is scared and says AAAH, R is an R race car that say the r sound, and with f the f's are learning to fly but have to say fffff to get off the ground. They connect actions with the sounds. It's brilliant and it works. The songs are cute, and its never boring that they watch and learn/play for a long time. They also reinforce by games after every 4 letters. This helps them to check if they are really learning.
I worried about someone's review that sad it would go through batteries like crazy. Totally not true. My kids play the letter factory and other games constantly on the thing and it usually lasts a least 2 weeks. Just put good batteries in it and its amazing.

not entertaining
this should of been a great product but it bores my son and he is 3 almost. We bought this because he likes watching little video and this was perfect but it doesn't his his attention at all. Leapster is a wonderful product they just need better video's and games for it. waiting for the preschool stuff.

Yvonne of San Francisco

Leapster's Letter Factory
This is the most incredible learning toy ever manufactured. My "just turned" 5 year old cannot put it down. He received the cartridge about 6 weeks ago for his birthday. He can now tell you the sound of any letter!!! I have never seen any child learn letter sounds so quickly and completely. There is not a sound he cannot identify. He's even beginning to sound out words on his own. Thanks to the Letter Factory!! ... Read more

Amazon.com

This purple and silver electronic lap-book looks worth the sacrifice of foregoing afternoon cartoons--and it is. The two included storybooks ("Ernie's Neighborhood" and "School Skills") fit inside the book and, thanks to microchip technology, kids can read, count, talk, and sing along with characters using a handy stylus as a pointer. They can stop the story whenever they like to figure out words, phrases and puzzles along the way. Buttons for letters, words, music, and "surprises" are within finger-distance, and so is a full reference of capital and lower-case letters. There are also 60 or more learning activities stored in the book, designed for kids between 3 and 8 years (or up to the 2nd grade). Activities range from simple (spelling, telling time, music) to more complex (problem-solving, comprehension, vocabulary). Required: four AA batteries. Diane Beall ... Read more

Reviews (52)

Don't waste your money!
I got the PowerTouch Learning System for my 3 years old son. He loved that until the day that he got tired of Elm's book. I went to look for the Dora's book and other books to buy for him. The Dora's is not for sale at any store and there are just few different books avaliable in the market. I got really frustated. I wish I had gotten the Leap frog, they have a way more books which keeps the toy very interesting for the kids. Another problem is that while playing with it, my son eventually touch other parts of the book with another areas of his hand when he points a figure, which make the PowerTouch Learning System starting spelling or reading another word instead of the one that he intended, making him confused at first. Even without touching the book, a closer approach to it, is more than enough to activate. Now I like the idea of the pen in the leap frog. I would never buy this toy again!

An attention getter!
We bought this for my 2 1/2 year old son for Christmas. He loved it and still does. He really does not care about the story too much. He mostly likes the music, counting, and pointing to pictures and it tells what the picture is. Its very durable. The only problem is the cartriages are small, but we try to keep the books and cartriages in a back pack. We bought all the books but he loves Ernie's Neighborhood and Blue's Clues the most. It was definately worth it!

Fisher Price does it again
My daughters got this gift for their second birthday even though the age on it is 3-8. At 2 1/2 they are still too young for it, so I really would go with the age limit on this toy. My 2 complaints with this electronic book is the books that go in the toy come in and out ever easily with is very annoying to my toddlers. I can't imagine at 3 they would be any better with the books though. To me, it seems like the system would work better if the books clipped in a bit better. Also some of the books seem "cheap" in their text. Example: Ernie's Neighborhood plays a song, "who are the people in our neighborhood" based on what the child is pointing at. Ernie sings most of the song and then some other voice chimes in with "police man" or "mail carrier", then Ernie continues to sings. Seems to me they could of spent more $$$ on the books development as well.

What I do like about this system is the fact the girls can use their fingers and not a pen to use the books. Plus the girls really seem to like this toy. I hope FP gets some better books soon.

One of my children's favorites!
We'd considered the Leap Pad for my daughter when she was 2 1/2, but decided to go with this one. For one thing, there's no wand or pen with it; it's all done by touch, which is helpful for little ones who haven't perfected their fine motor skills yet. It's also nice, because a wand or pen can be used as a weapon against siblings or parents! I also checked the durability of the books that come with it, because in addition to my daughter we also have an 18 month old, and he would be pulling on the pages. We've never had a page rip yet; they're very strong. My favorite thing about this product, though, is the fact that it even works without a book inserted! The plastic casing itself has the alphabet on it, so you can push the letters and play even when the insert books have been temporarily misplaced.

My daughter is 3 now, and has played with this nonstop for the last 6 months, and her younger brother (18 months) adores it as well. My children aren't "gifted" or anything; I'd say they're prefectly average, and they're able to work the Power Touch very easily, yet not so easily that they get bored. I highly recommend this product!

Do not recommend
I do not recommend purchasing the Power Touch Learning System because there have been no new books developed that I can see. And, at the back of some of the books it shows a Dora Explorer Book, and an additional Clifford book that are not offered anywhere, my son and I look in every store, I have searched the web and search engines. Basically Fisher-Price is not supporting this system, so I wish I had purchased the Leap Frog system. Although the Leap Pad we had when my son was younger had some problems with the stylus not touching correctly and giving incorrect answers, at least it has plenty of books and support. My son is 4 years old, has done all the Power Touch books and doesn't use it anymore, he's become bored with all the same books, he rather play with his old Leap Pad. And in the stores, you quickly see how much more there is available for the Leap Frog, and I think the stylus is also a great learning tool for practicing holding pencils/pens. Hopefully Fisher-Price will introduce new books soon, and this problem won't be such an issue. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

We love it
My daughter has had her leap pad since she turned 2, almost a year now, and loves it. She has several titles, but this one is by far her favorite(even over Dora!!!!) She knows her letters by sight, she has for a few months now, and loves the music that goes along with the phonics. It's wonderful for car trips!!!

Fun and educational
When our daughter was almost 3 we bought her a leap pad for Christmas and we bought her this book. Out of 3 books she has this one is her favorite! She reads this book over and over!!! She is now a few months over 3 and knows her ABC's. You can point to any letter and she can tell you what it is and can sing the alphabet song. It is fun enough to keep a 3 year olds attention and the songs arent nerve racking. This was definatley a great buy!

Super
My daughter just turned three and loves it, she picks it up herself and sits and does the letters and their sounds and the numbers and colors. The best investment for her. I would continue to buy the leapfrog (leapad) toys for her.

The Best Toy of The Year...No dout
The leapPad has been wonderful for my 3 Year old he will play with that toy for hours and he learns alot from it. He will tell me the story and then so what he is talking about... So thankyou LeapPad for giving the children of today and tommarow the chance to grow. Sincerly, Terri. Cincinnati, Oh

Great Educational Toy
My daughter just received this book and the First Leappad as a Christmas gift. It is one of the best Christmas gifts she ever received. She is learning to read, play music, learn body parts, colors, shapes, numbers, etc. while also having fun. With this educational toy, it allows you to repeat the words on the page and read along with the book. My daughter is only 4 and is learning to read. She is in preschool and is already good at knowing her colors, shapes, numbers and letters, but this toy just reinforces what she already knows. Plus, this toy is at a great affordable price. My next Leappad item to buy is the backpack so she has a place to store the books and cartridges. ... Read more

Product Description

Learn Thru Music Early Learning System The Learn Through Music interactive early learning system helps teach preschoolers fundamental lessons through the magic of music. The rhythm, rhyme and repetition of musical sounds and lyrics are time-honored and time-tested tools that capture children's attention and imagination and help them to absorb and remember basic concepts. Because music engages a child's entire self - mind, body and soul - putting lessons to music makes it fun and easy for children to soak up new information. Each Learn Through Music software cartridge features: Specific, age-appropriate learning lessons, A wide range of lyrical & rhythmic devices, A variety of visual & audio content and Diverse curriculums based on beloved characters ... Read more

Reviews (81)

Great Interactive Toy for Toddlers!
I love the Learn Through Music! You can adjust the volume on the back (where the on/off switch is located). There are two volume levels. My son is 22 months old, and he received this gift last Christmas. He loves the Sesame Street characters, and he will "rediscover" it every couple of days and sit and play with it by himself. However, I have had a hard time finding the Elmo Counting Cartridge. If you invest the money in buying this product, you should buy additional cartridges so they don't get bored with the one that comes with it. Hope this helps!

Great toy but TOO loud
This is a favorite toy among my children ages 2-6. I thought it would be a great toy to bring in the car so they could play with it while waiting. BAD idea, it is so loud, I can barely hear anything else. Otherwise, it's very durable (we have 7 children), it's lasted through being dropped, stepped on, fought over, etc. I put a pc of tape over the speaker, which has helped a little, but now the younger one can't play with it (she eats the tape).

a little loud and good for two and up
My daughter rec'd this toy when she was just over one years old. she has issues with using the mic, you must hold the button down to make the mic work. i also wished that the volume was able to be adjusted.

Pages don't correspond w/the Songs
I'm just glad we didn't have to spend our money on this toy. The Sesame Street version was given to my 2yr old as a gift. The pages don't advance like they are suppose to. She is trying to learn the alphabet starting w/A and it's on Y. Elmo pops up to sing at all the wrong places. The music is great though and she follows along w/the singing of the alaphabet and sings right into the microphone but as far as the page being in the right place when talking about the letter its not. Main problem is the songs don't correspond w/what the page is showing. I've replaced the batteries twice thinking that was the problem but it turns out it's not.

lots of fun
My son doesnt spend more than 2 minutes on each toy, except on
this one. He loves this toy. We bought him all the cartridges,
and we rotate them. He doesnt use the microphone.. but everything works great and has endured lots of hits.
I would recommend this to everyone (from 18 months- 3 years) ... Read more

Reviews (7)

This is a book review for Thomas & The School Trip for MFLP
This is a great MFLP book for Thomas friends old and new. My 3yr.old loves to hear the engines talk while playing the educational games. Thomas and his friends teach shapes, colors, opposittes, matching and problem solving while taking the children on a school trip. After each page is read aloud to your child,(ideally, your child will read along silently) he can explore Thomas's surroundings or choose to play a game. My son loves the games and seems to be appropriately challenged; not frustrated with the content. This is the first book we purchased outside of the MFLP w/ it's initial book. Even so, I think this will prove to be one of the better books.

Great educational toy for youngsters!
I initally bought the regular Leap Pad for my then 5 year old daughter last Christmas. She loves it! But then my 2 year old son started getting into hers, so we decided to get him the My First Leap Pad this past Christmas. He can't get enough of it. He plays with it at least 2-3 times a day, and he has actually learned from the toy. They think they are playing, but they are learning at the same time. I have owned quite a few Leap Frog Products, and every one has been great! I would not hesitate to buy any of Leap's products, they are all good investments in our children's future.

success
I really think the leap frog of thomas the tank engine is really educational. My son loves it and really is learning from it. He has come with new vocabulary everday. Thanks.

Not as authentic as the disney /nick jr theme books
My 2 1/2 year old loves the Pooh bear book for My First Leap Pad, and the Bear in the Big Blue house/Bob the Builder/Dora the Explorer for the regular leappad. Thats because, those include the several theme songs from the actual videos which he really enjoys. And the actual voices of the TV characters. This does not include the catchy Thomas the Tank engine music which is what he, as a toddler, really loves and associates with Thomas! He is usually singing one of the songs as he plays at his train table. The voices too are not Alec Baldwin or Carlin. So, despite featuring familiar characters, since the musical part of this book is on the whole, not very good, he prefers even the Rhyme book. .... the rhyme book for My First Leappad, is much better than the one for the regular Leappad.

a very worthy investment
My two-and-half years old boy loves this! Since we speak Mandarin Chinese at home, he does not learn much English from us. But I was pleasantly surprised that he learned a lot of English words a month after he started playing with this book. I now have all the other books for My First Pad since I am so impressed with its educational value. This is the best return I have gotten from money invested in toys. Now I am concentrating my toy money on Leapfrog stuffs. Thank you LeapFrog! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Educational and fun toy
I just purchased this toy for my 22 month old son who is not talking very much yet in hopes that this will help encourage him to talk. My son loves it. In two days, he started saying some of the sounds that the letters make that he previously hasn't said. He hasn't started saying any of the words yet but he is paying alot of attention to them. He also likes the songs that this toy plays. One of the songs says touch your nose, touch your toes and my son follows along touching his nose and toes. He already knew how to do this but it's really cute to watch him play along. It assures me that he is paying attention and may encourage him to start saying the words since he is already starting to say the sounds. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

leap frog library
I was just browsing through this site and found out about leap frog reviews. I was trying to figure out what to buy my two year old godson and now that he is turning two years old. So I went on with leap frog library I was going to get him a guitar but I decided to get him educational things. That would help his talking alot. Thanks for the reviews about leap frog that is what made me purchase it.

Great Tool for Toddlers
We bought this about 6 months ago for our nearly-two-year-old son, and he loves it. We keep it in the car, and it is a great way to keep him amused on both long and short trips, and he's learning things to boot! Never to early to start, and he can already pick out many letters of the alphabet. We also purchased the Fridge Fun Magnets from LeapFrog, and those have also been a great educational tool for him.

Taking the Next Step
My five year old daughter loves Leapfrog products, so I wasn't amazed when she got caught up in this toy. She knew all of her letters prior to this, but now she's actually spelling words and thinking about how other words are spelled. She likes the function above the music one, where you can create your own words the best. I would recommend this to every parent I know! Leap Frog has done it again!

On other parent-interesting notes, like most Leap Frog products, this is sturdy, durable, great sound quality that's adjustable. The carry handle fits her hand perfectly.

Leap Phonics Library is a favorite.
We just bought this for our son's 2nd birthday and he loves it! It's a great way for him to begin identifying small letters. The sound is adjustable, which is nice. The only disappointing part is the final activity has the same set of songs that his phonics radio contains. This is a toy he'll be sure to play with for the next year and beyond.

great for learning
My daughter recieved the libray for a gift it is amazing before I knew it she knew her ABC's form playing with this and the alphabet pal thank you leap frog ... Read more

Reviews (4)

My son loves it!
My son really loves this toy - he can't push the buttons himself yet but he loves to chew on it and we push the buttons for him. My one complaint is that if you have to take the battery pack out to change the battery, you can never get it to stay back inside the toy. Mine keeps falling out. Otherwise, it is a nice educational toy that isn't too expensive.

not overly impressed
I bought this toy for my 3 month old grandson, Levi. It is really cute and colorful and he likes looking at it. Its a larger plush toy. The body is made of different bold colored blocks and it does everything that the ad says, however, You have to push the colored blocks very hard in order to activate it. Its way to diffcult for a small child to do. My 9 month old grandaughter Jamie isn't able to do it yet. I think its important for parents to play with their children but its equally important for a small child to be able to entertain themselves. So, while it does entertain Levi because he loves to stare at it and he loves the music when his mommy pushes the blocks on it,I don't see where it would do much for an older infant. I have to say though that I would purchase it again for a very young infant because the colors to seem to captivate them.

Not a Good Learning Toy
I just bought this for my daughter who is 15 months old. She just likes to press the buttons to hear it play music and see it light up. The buttons are easy for her to push. She loses interest very quick though. There are a few things I do not like about the toy. One of the pictures on the front is a frog, but when you press the coordinating top button, it says dragon (which kids don't really know). Then when you push the yellow star on the pink part of the caterpillar, it says orange. So some of these things can be confusing. Our daughter loves the Baby Einstein videos, so I thought the toys would be great too, but I don't think this one is worth the money. There are better learning toys out there.

Cute and entertaining
I bought this caterpillar for my daughter when she was 2 months old. I would hold her on my lap and press the buttons for her which would mildly entertain her. Now two months later she is very interested in the caterpillar and holds onto the antennas while I push the buttons.

There are 3 different modes: colors, shapes and animals. Then there are 4 types of each colors (red, orange, blue and green)shapes ( triangle, circle, square and star) and animals (bird, lion, goat and dragon). When you press the buttons a childlike voice says the choice you have pressed with flashing lights. And when you havent pressed a button after a minute or so it says "bye-bye".

This is a cute, inexpenisve learning tool that is somewhat disguised as a loveable little stuffed animal. My daughter seems to enjoy it more each time we play with it.

If you want something that will grow with your child and that wont break the bank this is it. I plan on getting the ladybug that goes along with it soon. ... Read more

Editorial Review

LeapFrog's arsenal of learning toys are all designed to boost children's skills at an early age and get them ahead of the curve. And what could offer a better head start than the LeapPad, which is essentially a lightweight child-sized laptop. Instead of a mouse, the LeapPad comes with a wide easy-to-grip pen that allows children to point to pictures to hear music or sound effects or point to words to hear them spoken. In addition, kids can use the pen to practice making letters and numbers. This set comes with two books focused on writing skills and children place them inside the LeapPad tablet and boot up to begin learning. This learning system pack come with a writing practice book geared to pre-kindergarteners to first graders to teach how to write letters, numbers, words, and equations. A second interactive book offers an assortment of stories and lessons in phonics, science, geography, music, and more. --Cristina Vaamonde ... Read more

Reviews (26)

Leap Pad Plus
The Leap Pad Plus has a lot of educational value but the one I purchased for my 4 year old daughter hasn't been very durable. I only let her play with it under my supervision and we have been very careful with it but after 6 months it doesn't work at all and we have had to ship it back to the company. I find it ironic that their warranty is only for 3 months. She has never had another toy that is this flimsy.

Great gift
My son loves this and he is learning things fast. I am so glad he has this and would consider this as a great gift for all children.

Poor Quality
We got this for our sons for a long road trip...and couldn't get it to work, it kept asking us to press the green go button...I tried new batteries and finally just returned it and exchanged it for a new one. I got the new one home and it would never recognize the page we were on. I've never had to write a bad review about a product, but this has been a major disappointment!!!! I had also bought the 'My first leappad' for our younger son and that worked okay, but would turn off in the middle of an activity...very frustrating. Nothing we press on the book is recognized by the leappad system. In the future I will consider buying other products and staying clear of the Leappad products.

Ah, but I like it too.
I enjoy testing myself on the States and capitals. But we got it for my son's 5th birthday and he likes it too. It should be great for the summer vacation drive. Unfortunately the whole thing stopped working within 2 days (no accidents, just gentle use); we had purchased it through Amazon so replacing was a breeze, but by the time the new one arrived some of the initial enthusiasm has worn off. I recommend it, but be sure to keep the receipt and purchase it from an easy return store. ***Update-- after writing this review, I went and purchased another book for his LeapPad to make up for the disappointment of waiting for the replacement. He excitedly inserted the cartridge and... the new LeapPad no longer works either (less than an hour of use on this one). The pad does not recognize
any activity on its right side. So I'm packing up the second one as I write this. Very disappointing; so much potential.

The stylus provided does not last
We got this 'toy' as a birthday gift for our 4 year old son. He enjoys playing with it. But the only problem we found is that the stylus stops working after some it. Nothing we press on the book is recognized by the leappad system. It continuously keeps telling us to press the Green Go button to get started regardless of what we press (even when we press the Go button). We have already exchanged it once. Even the second one seems to be having this same problem. I am just not very happy with the quality of this system. ... Read more