Customer Reviews

LeapFrog Original LeapPad Learning System from 2004

5 star:		(284)
4 star:		(73)
3 star:		(33)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

Nevermind what age the manufacturer suggests for this product, a child as young as 12 months old can enjoy the pictures, music and stories.

I bought this for my two year old twins who ADORE it!

One problem with twins is the "share factor". Both, however, may enjoy the Leap Pad Learning Center at the same time. Although they must take turns with the stylus, they enjoy the stories and games together.

My only complaints with this product are that it is a paper paged book. As often as my children play with it, the book won't be able to withstand the wear and tear. Also, despite touching the attached stylus (pen) onto the green "go" button, sometimes the reader does not correctly respond to which page you are on. Having to touch the stylus to the green "go" button at every page is a bit annoying, however, with as much use as we've had, it becomes habit. Too, if you do not, the Pad verbally reminds you to do so.

The book sits on the Pad, which must lay flat on a flat surface to work properly. There is much to do on every page. You can turn the unit on or off with a touch from the stylus and raise and lower volume. You can command the Pad to read the page to you or to read to you words that you touch, or alternatively, to sound out the words. Each page also can be commanded to play songs or to play games. You may even touch objects for sound effects.

Another benefit the Pad offers, is that it may "grow" with your child. There is much to do on every page and at different skill or age levels. For example, after the toddler has mastered the states, he/she may progress to distances and populations within those states. This is important to me, as I have purchased educational products which my children tire of after they've learned what it is the item offers and educational toys are not inexpensive, particularly if you are providing for more than one child.

My twins, a boy and a girl, now newly turned three, enjoy the Pad equally, despite their very different interests, which is rare in my household. My son has learned all of the states on the United States map, which is depicted in the included book. Because of the Pad, he can identify them by name and by sight. We are now working on state capitals. Again, my son has only recently turned three.

My daughter prefers "reading" and can sight read a handful of words and is working on sounding them out with phonics. I'm a believer in both sight reading and phonics, so this is ideal. Again, I'm impressed that this Pad provides activites that interest both boys and girls, with varied and different interests and at different skill levels.

The enclosed, included book contains stories with characters familiar to young children, such as Pooh. It includes anatomy, learning skeletal system; Geography, with the U.S. map; Music, with a page with a piano keyboard as well as band/orchestra instruments; And the stories, which promote reading.

The games encourage critical and analytical thinking, noticing details and recognizing letter/sound relationships. The book itself promotes fine motor skills, helps develop auditory and visual discrimination, visual perception and noticing details, in addition to the topics described above.

As a former teacher and a parent, I highly recommend this product. It epitomizes "making learning fun". I haven't seen an adult who has played with ours who is able to put it down either!

We have Leap Pad for our kindergartener. I was very concerned that Texas kindergarteners are not pushed to read so I purchased the Leap Pad, the Reader Rabbit complete reading system and the Scholastic phonics book system. However, the Leap Pad is my daughter's favorite. She loves to take Leap Pad with her in the car, to babysitters, etc. She can't do this with her computer programs. Leap Pad keeps her attention. And, she can do it all by herself, not like the computer programs where I need to help her. Leap Pad comes with one book. There are other books that can be purchased. There is a series by Richard Scarry and another series by Whoopi Goldberg. There is also a Pooh book. You and your child will not be disappointed with the Leap Pad. It is an exceptional educational toy. I highly recommend this toy for children in Pre-K to about 3rd grade.

This LeapPad is really cool! I got one as a group gift for my boss' newly adopted child. I almost didn't get to wrap it, though, because all my co-workers wanted to see it & play with it! The only problem that I have with it is the requirement that you tap the "green go" icon every time you switch pages. It's pretty hard for an adult to remember to do that, much less a small child.

The price here at Amazon seems a little steep. I've seen it for less.

The demo book that comes with it will not be enough. It contains materials aimed at all different levels (I guess to show you everything it can do), so most of the stuff will probably not be appropriate for your child right away. Get an add-on book to go with it.

They are a wonderful tool to teach reading, reinforcing the relationship between the word on the page and the sound of the word. They will be used by both my grandsons (one of which is slightly behind in his speech development). I do advise getting some of the other books though.

We bought several of the books, the best ones for language development seem (so far) to be the Richard Scarry, Leap Frog & Pooh books. The Learning Life series doesn't have the phonetic or spelling options (on the 1 book in that series we bought).

Design considerations are good too, as it seems I can replace the "pen" with no more than a phillips screwdriver if it gets damaged by an overzealous child. Overall seems nice & well designed. Wasn't too fond of the "Press the green button" bit, but at least it reminded you every time you change the page if you didn't do it right off. Love the headphone jack - I'd advise getting the Radio Shack earphones that are designed to not go too loud & hurt the kids hearing. Great in the car while driving, or on a long plane ride.

My son is in the first grade and has had a problem with his reading. Since getting the Leap Frog system, he has taken on a whole new outlook towards learning. His attention span has ioncreased tremendously and he looks forward to playing "Leap Frog" every day after school. He has even taken it to school for "show and tell" and his teacher was very impressed. She is going to ask the school board to purchase 5 programs for use in her classroom.

I crashed into the leappad system while surfing Amazon for an electronic tool to aid education. I knew nothing about it. Now that I've bought it it is an excellent magnetic touch + scholastic system- BUT I wish the product review had better information.

Had I known I would have invested in a LeapPad Plus `pad' instead - as the Leappad is the beginner system for toddlers. Leappad Plus is an improvement on Leappad which has a writing feature. Nevertheless - the task at hand - Leappad is a wonderful interactive product which conceals `schooling' or learning by way of exciting games - my 4 year old LOVES it - I only have to say lets play a game. I keep it in the car for him to play with commuting to & from school, supermarket and long trips as well as at home. It is miraculous - kids love songs and music and that is incorporated in the whole learning process. I love it. My 11 year old niece was even intrigued by the little games - so we're getting her the Quantum pad.

A pop up window summary would be good - that you need a Pad (which is the hardware) + Books - and that's for any of the Leap Frog systems. A list would be good of the various book levels, red is for beginners, mustard yellow is for the next stage etc -and that the system has activity books which are separate (and not for each book) and that Leappad books can be used on Leappad Plus and on the higher level pad - Quantum. But not the reverse. (makes you wonder if you ought to just buy the quantum from the start?) Did you know that Leapfrog has learning systems from infant all the way up to high school ? [LeapStart, LeapPad, LeapPad Plus, Quantum, and iQuest]. The dramatic change in hardware is at iQuest which is more sophisticated for the teen - (looks and functions more like a palm pilot).

A list of all the Leapfrog products & books would have been helpful. After buying Leappad - I had to spend too much research time to figure out the system -like a whole 9 hours of research of various books, subjects - math, reading, geography, science, spanish, music - as in notes and sounds, -SIMPLY ASTOUNDING Invention! Before I did the research - At the start of buying the system + a collection of books-I wound up erroneously buying a Leappad Plus book along with other LeapPad books and when it arrived that's when I realised that there was LeapPad Plus system and had to return it. You see LeapPad Plus does NOT work on the lower level pad. Aahah! I feel a little cheated that I bought LeapPad instead of the Leappad plus - as at some point in the future I'll have to buy it to benefit from the writing feature.[Couldn't return it we had long thrown out the box etc].

Nevertheless - I would recommend the Leapfrog system to anyone who is serious about investing in solid education for their children. But read wisely before you buy - Surf the leapfrog website for a listing of the products if you haven't already bought one of their pads.

natalie

I bought the LeapPad for my Grandson last year when he was 3. He knows the states from the map, the bones on the skeleton, and he is now 4 and learning to read. I recommend this book for all children. It is a fun way to learn and kids seem to love it.

My brother has had many, many toys. Most of them hold his interest for about 2 hours, then they become old, boring toys.

However, this toy was the complete opposite. It held his attention much, much longer. That was nice for me, because for once I didn't have him tying up MY computer.

He loves it. He does the same pages over and over, enjoying it so much. And when Christmas rolled around, the first thing he asked santa for was LeapPad cartridges.

But even better was the toy's educational value. About 6 months after receiving his LeapPad, he had started to read. My parents and I had helped, of course, but when my babysitter asked him where he learned to read, he said, "My LeapPad taught me!"

The fun and education isn't just for little ones though. Both my parents and I enjoy playing the states game, trying to beat one another's scores.

As for durability, this toy has been banged, shoved, and even sat on once or twice, and its still alive.

This game is definately worth the cost.

I bought the Leap Pad for my 5 year old daughter last Christmas and she still plays with and loves it! It goes everywhere with her, in the car, to grandmas, etc. It has been such a great way to help her learn. I would recommend this toy to everyone!

We gave our 5 year old son the LeapPad for Christmas last year. It has been a hit. Most of us have experienced buying toys that we thought would be GREAT only to be DUDS in terms of holding our children's interest. Well, LeapPad is definitely NOT in that category. Almost one year later, he still plays with it on a regular basis. The only downfall is its durability...the cord that holds the pencil point gets worn out, I have had to wrap electricians tape around it because it gets frayed from the opening and closing of the plastic book on its cord. The other Mom and Dad issue is the storage of the small cassettes that go with each book, without an "official storage" place on the LeapPad itself, they tend to get lost...which can cause tears and frustration when the child has the book but can't find the casssette. Even in the most organized homes these little cassettes can get taken out by the child and mislaid. Overall, though I can say without any reservations that this is a very good BUY for children 5-7.