Little Touch Leap Pad

[Marisa6826]

Is this worth the $35? My ILS bought Sophie one of the cartridges thinking that it was the entire kit and kaboodle ("Mr Brown Can Moo"). We already have the board book version of this, but hey - a gift is a gift.

I've been on the fence for a long time about buying this for her, and I guess this is our opportunity.

Jonathan's really worried that it will take Daddy's job of reading to Sophie every night away from him.

Opinions?

-m

[cchavez]

IMO probably not. D received one as a gift and we don't play with it that often. And I have never bought any other cartridges since I prefer to buy D real books although I probably would buy him some if I could ever find them on sale. Maybe you can buy a used one off of swap or ebay??? I would consider selling you ours but it was a gift from D's uncle so we have to keep it. :)

[hez]

We got one as a gift for Payton's birthday. He doesn't get into it yet, and could care less about it (the Lego Quatros and the shape sorters were the big hit!). Maybe since Sophie's older she'd do better with it? We've tried playing with it, and I haven't been super impressed because it doesn't respond the way I expect it to-- a little delayed, and fairly easy to jostle the page around so you're not tapping on the "right" area that it expects. Does that make sense?

[Karenn]

It won't replace Daddy's job, that's for certain! It's a little complicated to actually get it to read a story. Colin can't figure it out on his own, and it's easier for me just to read a book to him than to show him. But, he is still getting a lot of use out of his Leap Pad now that he's older. He especially enjoys the activities in the books and the activity cards that come with each story.

And here's the bonus: it's the only thing I can think of that's been responsible for teaching him his letters, because it sure hasn't been me! :) A couple of weeks ago he pointed out an "A" in a magazine the rest of the letters quickly followed. We haven't worked on this at all, but there is an activity card that has all of the letters and animals to match and I think he must have been paying a little closer attention to it than I realized!

Ours was a gift, so I never thought about whether it was worth the cost, but it does get a decent amount of play. It's not the most popular toy in the basket but every few of weeks he'll pull it out and it will entertain him for a good 30 minutes several times over the course of a day.

ETA: It does require a fair amount of parent help in learning how to use it. It doesn't just turn on and go like a lot of toys- you sort of have to navigate it- almost like a computer. So if you do buy it, I'd plan on spending a fair amount of time teaching Sophie how to work it before she can use it on her own.

[cuca_]

Marisa,

In case you are still thinking of buying this, just wanted to let you know that Kohls has it on sale right now for $31 and change, and they will give you an additional 15% off if you open a Kohls account or charge it to an existing one. We just purchased for DD this weekend, but we are saving it for x-mas.

HTH,


Carmen
DD May 2003

[August Mom]

We have one and, honestly, we don't use it very often. However, of all the cartridges we have, DS's favorite by far is Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? You have to choose settings at the beginning (whether you want narration, music, phrases, rhymes). Then, on each page, you must press the green "go" circle to activate that page. The on/off button is on the front, which has been a problem at times for us. DS likes to turn it off and then we have to reprogram the settings. I was surprised how quickly DS picked up on pushing the green "go" circle. He can't do the initial settings, though. DS likes it, but it's not a favorite. Ours was a gift too, but I don't think we've gotten our money's worth.