LeapFrog System?

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 :eek:.) okay, no more rant :p .

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 :eek: ... 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.

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

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.)

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]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 :eek: 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[/FONT]

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

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

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.

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 :p and the phonics radio.

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

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]Katie, I've had this tune stuck in my head more times than I can count. LOL :D

maxkinzie, you've received some various responses here, but I think what sugarbabysmommy said is ultimately true "In the end, it is all about how your kid plays." I don't think there is any one right way but IMO you'll never know what's right for YOUR kid unless you experiment a little. Almost all of my dd's Leap Frog things were gifts, so it didn't even cost us much to experiment with these particular toys. We have found that a good balance and a small variety of play things keeps her learning, happy, and interested. Some won't cost a cent, like the pots and pans. That was another thing I loved for her to do, as much as she loved doing it. It also allowed me the required kitchen time. Since I'm a working mom, (she goes to a great christian pre-k program) we read together every evening (more on the weekends) and she has a choice of a puzzle, flashcards or a short boardgame to wind down the day. The weekends are our running around days (Little Gym every Saturday morning, biking in the park, trips to the zoo, library, or children's museum, shopping, church, etc.). Or the three of us (dh included) sometimes enjoy just simply sitting back and snuggling together while watching one of her movies or videos. These moments are simply priceless. :)

Kelli[/FONT]

Kelli, Great point! I think exposure and balance is the key, and considering your child's interest is important. Max, Kind of off topic but thought I would share. We live in a large very very liberal University city, where the pendulum of parenting has swung the entire other extreme. There are several very exclusive, very expensive private schools here with waiting lists. Two in particular are very militant in their approach. No computers for children, no television, and no electronic toys. Videos of any kind are discouraged. It is advised that children are not exposed to any pre-recorded music; live music, such as local artists and symphony is okay. They want the child's musical experience to be an original, one of his own creation, rather than experiencing it through another's interpretation. As you might have guessed, their diets are also limited to all organic foods. They require that children not be exposed to or permitted to learn to read before 5, regardless of whether or not they indicate pre reading skills independently long before such age, which happens with many kids. They consider it too much pressure, molding the child to fit the competitive world we live in as opposed to permitting them to be a child. Parents are asked to sign an agreement to refrain from these things. I won't comment on what I think of this approach, but suffice to say that I know several of these kids; they are most definitely not socially, emotionally, behaviorally or academically more adjusted than the electronic toy, computer using, video watching kids that I know. I think a child's creative process, ability to participate, even as a young child, as part of a group, independent thinking is not affected by the toys they have but much more by the kind of interactions and verbal/physical feedback and encouragment that they have with their parents/caregivers everyday. I, like several other posters, found that a few electronic toys, a few good videos and well spent computer time everyday was extremely beneficial for my child. There is still nothing she prefers to reading for two hours every night. Hope you don't mind the unrelated subject; this topic just reminded me of a discussion with a friend about this very subject (and one of these schools.)

We have the "LittleTouch LeapPad", thinking it would be great reinforcement for reading (we love the books that come with it!). One word of warning (at least from my standpoint) - all the areas will make noises all at once if your child just brushes his/her hands over the surface. DS figured it out early on and, honestly, it drives me nuts! Too many sounds all at once. He LOVES books, so I might pull it out and try again, though. We also have the Fisher-Price one that is similar (yes, he is spoiled by our family :) ) and it's not much better. One cute bonus with the LeapFrog one- they also have simple puzzle sets that can be used with it (farm animals, vehicles, etc). Also, check out the Fridge Farm - DS adores it and it really is too cute :)

About a week ago I splurged and got Jacob the "Little Touch" Leap Pad system. I sit him on my lap and we play with it together. It holds his attention for a little bit. He laughs at the sounds it makes. I intend to use it as an interactive toy that he and I play with together.

Ryan is 14 months old, and she still doesn't like her little leap pad book thing. I love it!! We try it all the time, but well....she hates books. It's a weird problem. I love the refridgerator alphabet thing....but that song really gets on my nerves. I sing it all day!! Most of her toys that make noise are annoying. I usually keep them off. She got one scary care bear that reads books as a gift... It scares the crap out of her!!! We are flying to Texas next week, and i have been shopping for a few new toys that she can have on the plane. It is SO hard to find toys that don't make noise!! (I don't want to annoy the other passengers) Since she doesn't like books, we can't take those. It's like they stopped making normal quiet toys. sheesh Brenda