LeapFrog Peek-A-Shoe Octopus

by LeapFrog

• Appropriate for children ages 9 to 36 months
• Drop in a ball and look for it under the brightly-colored/coloured, numbered shoes
• Press his collar to add music to the mix
• Includes 5 balls that can be stored inside the octopus
• Parents can connect to the online LeapFrog Learning Path for customized learning insights and ideas to expand the learning

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 16.2 x 10.6 inches ; 4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 7.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• Origin: China
• ASIN: B004MWJLFC
• Item model number: 19179
• Manufacturer recommended age: 9 months - 5 years
• Batteries 19179 Lithium Metal batteries required. (included)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,991 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)

Product Description

Amazon.com

With the Peek-a-Shoe Talking Octopus from LeapFrog, your child can practice counting, listen to fun songs, and develop both hand-eye coordination and motor skills. This interactive toy is designed for toddlers and preschoolers ages 9 to 36 months, and includes five different color "shoes" and balls. It has three modes of play for lots of learning fun, and requires two AA batteries (not included).

Peek-a-Shoe
Talking Octopus

• Ages: 9 to 36 months
• Requires: Two AA batteries, Philips screwdriver

At a Glance:

• Three modes of play: color, counting, and music
• Dropping balls into the octopus builds hand-eye coordination and motor skills
• Numbered shoes speak their number out loud
• Shoes lift up for peek-a-boo with the balls
• Two sliding buttons control volume and mode

Drop in a ball and look for it under the numbered shoes. View larger.

Explore counting, colors and learn about different sea animals.

Learning Through Interactive Play

LeapFrog Learning Path toys help your child learn through play. With the Peek-a-Shoe Talking Octopus, you can see the skills your child is building as she or he figures out where the balls go, identifies numbers and practices basic counting to five, and plays music. Kids are sure to be charmed by the adorable purple octopus and his brightly colored snap-on shoes, which invite them to touch, lift, press, and play.

Ball-Drop Fun and Peek-a-Boo Surprises

A winner of the 2011 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Toy Award, the Peek-a-Shoe Talking Octopus helps toddlers and younger preschoolers learn and understand more about the world. Children build number recognition skills as they lift each shoe and hear its number spoken aloud. Fun learning songs help kids explore number order and counting, while the five brightly colored shoes expose them to color naming and recognition as they lift the shoes to play peek-a-boo.

Dropping the balls into the Octopus's hat or arm and lifting the shoes to find them helps children build hand-eye coordination and both gross and fine motor skills.

Quick and Easy Setup and Operation

The purple octopus comes partially pre-assembled. Parents will need to snap on the five hard plastic shoes and use a Philips screwdriver to put in the batteries.

Operation is equally straightforward. A sliding switch on the blue center band turns on the octopus, controls volume, and then turns him off when play is done. The switch on the far left lets players choose between counting and color modes. The big blue music button between the switches plays two lyrical songs ("Sea Creatures Song" and "I'm an Octopus, I Love to Count to Eight") and four instrumental tunes. The tentacle serves as a ball holder for two balls. When play is done, you can store the other balls under the shoes so they're ready to go next time.

Auto Shutoff

To help save battery power, the octopus will turn off automatically after a period of inactivity.

What's in the Box

Octopus, five shoes, five balls, and instructions.

Product Description

LeapFrog Peek-A-Shoe Octopus

See all Product Description

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 50 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Flimsy, touchy, gave wrong answers but getting better with use. October 4, 2011

By D. Fichtner

Durability: 1.0 out of 5 stars    Educational: 2.0 out of 5 stars    Fun: 3.0 out of 5 stars   

Length: 3:48 Mins

This toy really excited me when I first saw it, because it's a really great concept. Unfortunately, the LeapFrog Peek-A-Shoe may actually do our little girl more harm than good. I say that because unless you: 1. Have it on a perfectly flat surface. 2. Drop just one ball in very carefully. 3. Wait patiently for the right time to drop the next ball, it won't necessarily give the correct information. For example, when it congratulates your child for pulling a ball out from under the red shoe when they actually lifted the yellow one. This happens A LOT! And forget about this getting even 1/4 of the answers right if you set it on carpet, as about any little movement on any individual shoe will set it off.

Also, as mentioned by others, it's a very flimsy toy. Very light, very thin, and I have my doubts that it will last long with our 18-month old. I might also note that the photos on the box are a huge misrepresentation. They make the toy look huge next to the child, and it's not

*Please note my updated comment below*

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good concept, poor design August 16, 2011

By K. York

Durability: 1.0 out of 5 stars    Educational: 3.0 out of 5 stars    Fun: 3.0 out of 5 stars   

This is a great concept, but fails in design. The shoes pop on and my son just pulls them off all the time with ease. It says you can store the balls inside but they just fall into the shoes, so when you lift the octopus to store it, or if you knock it the balls just spill all over. If you even slightly tip the whole toy while playing with it; it can tell you that you've looked under the wrong shoe while you did look under the correct one. I think this is the first toy I've ever been disappointed with from Leapfrog.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Leap Frog dropped the ball on this one September 4, 2011

By SommMom

Durability: 1.0 out of 5 stars    Educational: 2.0 out of 5 stars    Fun: 2.0 out of 5 stars   

My 1 year old likes to drop the balls into the two holes and listen to the songs, but the design and stability are poor. The shoes come off with a gentle tug. The toy also falls back easily because the balance is all on the front. I think Leap Frog is losing it's previously good reputation by producing junk like this and using the same recorded voices.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Purple Octo-fun September 21, 2011

By Rare's Reviews VINE™ VOICE

Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Durability: 2.0 out of 5 stars    Educational: 5.0 out of 5 stars    Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

This may be the first educational toy I've seen that is a 7 legged octopus. Something a little off about that. Thankfully the age group it's targeted to will never realize it. This plastic toy isn't as sturdy as I'd like but is still fun for your little one. Pop a ball in and guess to see where it'll come out. Simple concept. Good for teaching matching colors and numbers. Nice that it has an on/off switch for the music too, sometimes mom and dad need a break from the loud toys!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars so glad I didnt listen to the negative reviews December 29, 2012

By italiangrl

Durability: 5.0 out of 5 stars    Educational: 5.0 out of 5 stars    Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

purchased this toy for my soon to be 6 month old son for christmas. He likes to look at the toy and touch it. He's probably still too young to understand what to do, but my 4 year old son actually has fun playing with this toy as well. The shoes do NOT come off. Ours doesnt anyway. My son lifts them up pretty fast and they always stay on. I do have to say though that for a older kid they will notice where the ball lands cause when the ball hits the bottom it shakes the shoe a little. So, when my son wants me to play this with him when one of us drops the ball down the person who has to look for the ball turns there head so you cant see the ball hit the shoe. Of course my 6 months old will not pick up on this until he gets older.
But I think its a cute toy and sturdy. I guess you have to make sure you are putting the shoes on the right way, cause we have no problems with ours at all. It's a fun toy for little ones. With my 4 year old son we just turn the toy off and play with the toy without listening to the octopus talk.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Basic, Average, Decent Toy for Younger Kids February 9, 2012

By Shane VINE™ VOICE

Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Durability: 5.0 out of 5 stars    Educational: 4.0 out of 5 stars    Fun: 4.0 out of 5 stars   

NOTE: This is a product review for Amazon VINE.

There are already quite a few reviews on this, and I agree with most of them: This is a decent toy from which kids will get some use. Its moving feet do tend to come off easily, and it is smaller than the picture leads on, but it isn't a bad toy.

Our little 9 month old girl love the balls and is just learning where to put them. The music is adjustable (volume/tone), but even if you don't put the music on the toy is still useable. I'm glad it has auto shut-off to save the batteries.

All in all, I wouldn't spend a lot of money on this. At the same time, our child uses it and likes it, so that's worth something!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Really not that bad. January 19, 2012

By Marshall Carter VINE™ VOICE

Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Durability: 3.0 out of 5 stars    Educational: 3.0 out of 5 stars    Fun: 4.0 out of 5 stars   

I'm not sure why the Leapfrog Peek-A-Show is getting such bad press. My daughter enjoys dropping the balls in and then finding them beneath the shoes, as well as pressing the music button. While that's about the extent of her play with it at this point (she's only 16 months old), I'm quite satisfied with it. While the responses of the Octopus aren't always accurate (as far as which color shoe you just found a ball underneath), they're right more often than not.

Build quality may be a concern. Noting some other reviews, I see lots of references to it being poorly-made, lightweight and flimsy. While it's not the most heavy duty toy out there, I wouldn't call it any of those things. It's been dropped on a few occasions from a height of a couple of feet, and while a couple of the shoes have popped-off (which they're designed to do...they easily pop back on), it's held up fairly well, much better than some of my daughter's other toys.

Ultimately, my daughter enjoys the Leapfrog Peek-A-Shoe Octopus, and that's really all that matters.