Leap Pad and Electronic Systems

Updated on September 25, 2008
J.S. asks from Saint Paul, MN
5 answers

Hi everyone,

My older son is 3, and my younger is 21 months and I'm expecting a baby in Nov. I am curious if you all would recommend any of the electronic learning systems out on the market. It seems like many of my preschoolers peers have these electronic systems, and I am curious of the benefits (if any) or if just continuing with books and craft projects is sufficient for learning at home. Is he missing out by not having access to such a system? Will he be behind his peers because of it (since so many of the kids in his preschool seem to have them)?

Is it worth investing in a system since I'll have 3 kids to use it? Specifically I think it could be nice to have for my 3 year old to use while I am nursing the new baby, or during the little ones nap-times (since he seems to be out growing his naps). I need some time during the day to get things done, and when he doesn't nap I struggle with keeping him quiet!

Which systems do you all have, and what do you like about them? Are they worth the money? I am thinking that it might make a good grandparent Christmas present...

Thanks in advance for you thoughts and advice.

J.

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M.G.

answers from Minneapolis on

Hi J.. I have 2 older boys that I started them out with the Leap Pads. And they are now being used by my 4 year old. I also have the fridge magnets for phonics. We started out with the single letter one for one Christmas and the next he was ready for the 3 letter one. He has really learned his sounds with it and his alphabet. We now have the Leap Frog videos and he is catching on with them as well. Another system we picked up was a computer thingy, you plug it into the USB and the kids can only go to the pre programmed character areas. This allows them to learn the pc and there are educational games for them too.

Good luck.

M.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.S.

answers from Minneapolis on

My son got the Leap Pad plus Writing as a gift when he was 1. He started really using it when he was 3, and still loves it (he'll be 5 Monday). In fact, until now we never purchased any extra books/cartridges because it came with an AWESOME "sampler" one that had tons of different activities. But now that he's used it so much we actually bought him a new book for his birthday at the Kindergarted/1st level. The books with cartridges cost about $13 each. I don't know that I would have chosen to buy this for him, but he absolutely loves it.

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L.A.

answers from Minneapolis on

I have a little touch leappad and a regular one. My 5 yr old daughter still like playing with both of them. And my 3 yr old son that is having a little speech dificulty is using them all the time and I think its helping him with his letter sounds and word pronunciations. Also have a V-Tech V-Smile system and the handheld ones. I love them and the kids love them. They are a lifesaver in the car on long trips. Pretty sure I've spend over $150 on it all but I think it was well worth it. They learn letters, numbers, colors, shapes, problem solving and much more

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.F.

answers from Minneapolis on

I found it totally depends on the kid whether they use them or not. My son likes the computer kind (v-tech). There are some kids who love those leap pads (my son did when he was little little, like 2-3), my daughter could care less now, and my son has graduated to the regular computer (he's almost 5) playing at pbs kids and nick jr. MY suggestion would be to take the kids to target and see what they like playing with.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

N.S.

answers from Minneapolis on

My daughter and son use the leap pad. It is the one that you put different books into. You can have it read you a story, play games with it and much more. My daughter(11) loved it when she was younger and my son(4) has been using it since he was 2. You can buy many books online at the leap frog website for pretty cheap, all of the books I bought were 70% off!! I love it when he plays with it!!

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