Win a Leapfrog Prize Bundle (Blogoversary Giveaway #1)

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I'm very fortunate to be a Leapfrog Blogger Panel member this year, which means not only do we get sent new products to review every so often, but that they were more than happy to help celebrate three years of TheBoyandMe by donating some prizes for a giveaway.

This bundle worth nearly £60.00 consists of:

  • a Read With Me Scout or Violet (winner chooses either one) RRP £29.99
  • a Creativity Camera (for use with iPhone or iPod Touch) RRP £14.99
  • a Learn To Write With Mr. Pencil (for use with iPads, iPhones or iPods) RRP £14.99

Leapfrog competition

To be in with a chance of winning this prize bundle, fill in the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

LeapFrog LeapReader (Review)

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During the Summer, The Boy was fortunate enough to be sent the new LeapFrog LeapReader (for 4-8 year olds) to review. I was intrigued to see how this was any different to a few of the LeapFrog products that we have, namely the Tag Junior and the Scribble & Write, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it actually incorporates the best bits of many of the pre-existing LeapFrog learning toys.

Essentially the LeapReader does two things:

  • develop reading skills
  • develop writing skills

It also is marketed as developing listening skills because children can listen to audiobooks and trivia quizzes (there is a headphone jack port to prevent disturbing those around them), but for me this isn't the biggest selling point.

LeapFrog LeapReader

The LeapReader looks like the Tag reading pen (it also works with most Tag books), but with added extras; there is a 'nib' (in addition to the scanner for reading) which means that it can be used for 'writing' on the special paper provided with certain packs or books. It also has play/pause and next/previous track buttons, along with a 'home' button for audiobooks, and volume controls.

Developing Reading Skills – LeapReader

There are several different ways to interact with the LeapReader when reading a book, options to 'read the page' along with 'sound it, say it' and 'games' mean that each page in a book can be explored extensively. The purple book icon allows a child to hear the story read, and the green star starts up a game or quiz. This is great for first stage readers, those who want to read independently but don't have the decoding* skills or phonological awareness to 'segment and blend'* a word.

As a primary school teacher I am interested in the way that these type of learning tools use phonics to help a child 'read' independently. I'm a harsh critic of those that use the incorrect pronounciation of phonemes, it is counter-productive to their reading skills and makes a teacher's job harder. Therefore I was interested to see how the LeapReader did; was it going to be guilty of using the schwa, the 'uh' sound that so many of us learnt when reading, which is actually wrong?

I was very pleasantly surprised to hear it doing a fairly decent job actually. Common letters which can feature the 'uh' sound if mispronounced are: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w. Out of those it correctly pronounced f, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, with it unfortunately using the 'uh' sound on b, c, d, g and w. I can forgive it c, d and g (they are quite tricky) but not w. Maybe that's just me being fussy, but I don't think it's helpful for such a potentially excellent learning tool to be getting some right and some wrong. However, I was very pleased to see the LeapReader explain to the user that certain letters blend together to make a different sound (e.g. e+e = e, e+a = e, i+e = i) although I'm confused as to why it uses the letter names and not the sounds to explain this (see the above video for more information).

Essentially I like that this gives the child more control over their reading, allowing them to 'read' independently once they have learnt the basics from a parent or teacher.

* Decoding is the process that readers go through when they are working out what the sounds in a word join together to make. Segmenting is splitting it into phonemes (letter sounds) and blending is joining these back up together to make a complete word.

Developing Writing Skills – LeapReader

In the review pack that we received was a 'Learn to Write Letters with Mr. Pencil' book, which also has separate practise writing paper.

LeapReader - writing

I really like the story of the Doodlebugs which guides the child through the book, and the way that they can practise on both the book and the practice paper which has been included in each section. The Boy very quickly realised though that once the paper has been 'written' on, then it's been used and there is no replacement for it. He can go over it again once or twice, but then the reader can't pick up his 'writing' correctly and it doesn't work as well. That is frustrating. The other point that he found frustrating is that the LeapReader is determined to finish the instruction he's saying and will not be interrupted. The Boy worked out very quickly what he needed to do, but wasn't able to start until the Reader had finished the instruction; it has caused a few 'grrrs' from both him and me when using it.

The LeapReader does pick up very quickly if an error has been made, and it has really helped him to find another way of practising letter formation without it feeling like I'm schooling him. As a left-hander he does find that sometimes the plastic rim around the nib gets in the way and marks the paper before the nib does, which confuses the LeapReader. It mean that he needs to check his pencil grip more frequently, so it isn't really a bad thing. The book covers upper case angular letters first (L T F E I H) rather than 's a t p i n' (initial letter sounds which children are taught to read) or 'curly caterpillars' (a c d e g o q s f – the first letter formations taught). However, it can be good for children to experience different fonts and formats, and therefore it's 'all swings and roundabouts'. If it engages children in writing and allows them to feel accomplishment then the order is pretty harmless.

The story used to teach children the letter formation is fun and engaging. The technology identifying the writing is very clever and it encourages correct pen grip.

Overall Impression

When I posted a picture of the LeapReader on Instagram, someone commented that they'd be interested to see this review as they felt it was a parent's place to teach their child to read and write, not to leave it to a piece of technology. I do see their point of view and of course the primary learning resource for any child is a parent or carer, however I know from professional experience that there comes a time when a child wants to do things independently and not be reliant on adults all the time. They want to feel that they are in control of their learning, and that they can manage without help; using an inanimate object like this (just like using a dictionary to learn a word's meaning) can be a boost for their confidence and help further consolidate what a child has learnt with an adult's help.

The LeapReader is a learning tool that can be used in a variety of ways, the appeal of this toy is that it gives a child control and independence to further their reading and writing skills. Overall I think it is a very good resource, particularly for promoting letter formation and sight recognition skills.

The LeapFrog LeapReader is available from a variety of toy retailers and online here with a RRP of £39.99 and includes a LeapReader, activity sampler book, and Learning Paper writing sheets. Supplementary books typically cost from £12.99-£16.99 (The Learn To Write Book is £16.99).

LeapFrog LeapReader

I was sent this product to review as a member of the LeapFrog Blogger Panel. My opinion is honest and unbiased, and based on my experience as a primary school teacher of twelve years, and a mother of a four year old son.

LeapFrog: Count & Draw

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When tidying up the toys recently, I've realised that I'm a bit of a fan of LeapFrog products. We have the LeapTop, the Tag Junior reading system, Lettersaurus, Musical Movers, Cook and Play Potsy, and the Fridge Farm Magnet Set. See what I mean? Therefore when LeapFrog asked me if I'd like to review the Count & Draw learning console, I thought about it for about one second before replying with an emphatic affirmation!The LeapFrog Count & Draw is a handheld console designed to encourage mathematical skills. Through tracing over the blinking red light with the 'pen' (attached and stores in a hole on the back), children can develop their ability to correctly draw shapes and form numbers. Scout is one of the guides, as always, along with a friendly, male British voice. Both Scout and the narrator are encouraging in their interaction with the child, praising when the child has finished the shape or number and has pressed the paw button to signal they've finished.

There are three modes to the Count & Draw:

  • numbers – press a number button and follow the blinking light to draw the number. The Boy can manage 1, 4 and 7 at the moment, and has attempted 2.
  • shapes – varied shapes: circle, triangle, zig-zag line and square are within The Boy's reach, hexagon etc. is a little too advanced at the moment,
  • games – the games consist of following the red dot, and it's quite fast-moving so is above The Boy at the moment.

I'm very impressed with this new game from LeapFrog; I think it's fun, educational and helps to develop pre-writing skills. The 'pen' fits well inside the hand of a pre-schooler and the console is light-weight enough to be easily carried in one hand. It is aimed at children 3years+ and I would agree with this. While The Boy enjoys doodling on it, he isn't managing the tasks set (he's 2years 4 months) because his fine-motor skills aren't as developed as an older child. I am confident that he is learning (number recognition apart from anything else) and he's definitely enjoying it.

My only 'wish' for the Count & Draw (and it's a small one) is the fact that the console praises regardless of whether the shape drawn is correct or not. However, for the incredibly reasonable price of £14.99, I'm ok with that.

The LeapFrog Count & Draw is available from a number of outlets with an RRP of £14.99.

We were provided with this for the purpose of this review. My opinion is honest and unbiased.

LeapFrog Tag Junior Reading System

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I'll admit to being sceptical about this when I heard that I was going to have it to review. I had misunderstood its purpose, thinking it was more complicated than it is, and I will retract all of my scepticism now.

Because this is fab!

The reading system comprises of the handheld device and the specially created story books. The little handheld gadget is very cute and fits nicely into the palm of a two year old (aimed at 2-4 year olds).There is a very simple on-off button and when the Tag Junior is pressed down against one of the books, the reader in it interprets the specially embedded dots in the surface of the books. Most of the books have over 150 sounds attached to them, not just the written word, but the pictures and even the background have sounds accompanying it.

Set-up is a little bit of a pain because it requires you to connect it to an Internet-accessible computer, download software for each book and then install it onto the Tag Junior. I'd say it took half an hour to do this for the five books that we were provided with, so set-up is definitely needed before letting your little one lose on it. However, I love that you can program your child's name into it, so when it is turned on it greets him, and turned off it says goodbye personally. The downside to the downloading (ooh, that was clever of me) is not only the time, but also that only five books can be stored at any point. While there is a library of over twenty books available, if you wanted to put a sixth one on, you'd have to remove one of those books to upload the other.

I've got to say how completely and utterly indestructable the Tag Junior appears to be! Ok we haven't dropped it into water or driven a car over it, but The Boy has given it a fair few drops on different surfaces and it just rolls along undamaged.

The Tag Junior comes with a book to get you started: , and we were sent four others to review.

  • If I Were: This starter book, which comes with the Tag Junior, is a really endearing story of a little boy imagining his toy animals in their natural habitats. Written in prose, there are amusing sound effects.
  • ABC Animal Orchestra: for each letter of the alphabet there is an illustration of an animal playing an instrument, e.g. Baboon's bassoon. The letter name is pronounced (I'd have preferred the letter sound), the musical instrument sound is played and the words are read out.
  • Toy Story 3 To Imagination and Beyond: The story to this is quite an entertaining one with plenty of sound effects. Unfortunately the voices are not the original ones which doesn't affect The Boy's enjoyment but I find irritating.
  • Cars 2 World Adventure: This is aimed at the older end of the spectrum for the Tag Junior system I suspect. There's not many sounds, the cars' voices are again not the original ones and quite difficult to understand. It's informative rather than fun, although it does introduce the 'reader' to different cultures around the world.
  • Thomas & Friends Best Friends: This is The Boy's favourite, and mine, and daddy's! The story is really lovely, there are plenty of sounds embedded throughout to keep him entertained, and it is the one book out of all five that he keeps going back to.

I would thoroughly recommend this as a way of developing your child's enjoyment of reading books.

For more reviews on this item, please click on the banner below.

We were provided with the Tag Junior reading system and software titles free of charge as a part of the Toys R Us review programme. My opinion is, as always, honest as both a parent and a teacher.

TRU Review: Lettersaurus

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LeapFrog have done it again! Another fun, easy to use and educational toy to help your toddler/pre-schooler learn and consolidate their development. This time in the shape of a friendly, purple dinosaur (but not an irritating one like that the one that shall remain nameless on this blog!).

There are three modes on the Lettersaurus:

  • Alphabet: press a letter button and it will say the letter name and then a word that begins with it, followed by an associated item.
  • Colours: press a letter button and it says the name of that colour.
  • Musical: each of the 26 letter buttons has a different tune attached to it. In addition pressing the buttons on his head makes him sing the Alphabet song.
  • Oh, and its head turns around.

Set-up was easy as there were no ties, but three simple plastic 'screws' through the base of the packagin; turn them 90° and the Lettersaurus is released. The toy can be personalised by following the really simple instructions to select the initial letter of your child's name; it took me ten seconds to do this. The dinosaur then says, e.g. "L! That’s the first letter of your name!" There are also two volume settings on the toy.

The Boy likes it; it was the first toy that he took out of the box when it was delivered. He likes listening to the different songs, particularly the Alphabet song, and we play with the colours section together by finding all the reds or yellows. He's not interested in the letters at the moment, the sounds that come after the letter are amusing and he likes the laughter but he's too young to really get anything from this.

I think the colours mode could have been developed by having the dinosaur say "Can you find another red? Well done", as it would have promoted more interactivity with the toy. I'm also not overwhelmed with the alphabet mode. As a primary school teacher, I do think it should say the letter sound and not just the name. This is where I find the toy confusing; it's aimed at 12 months+, so why have letters on there at all? I know it's called a Lettersaurus but to fully promote that side of it, it should work with the phonics which is what pre-schoolers use to help them learn to read.

I find its purpose confusing and think it has a limited life with The Boy at the moment, when he has the LeapTop which does basically the same thing but so much better. Younger children (i.e. 12 months+) might enjoy it more, but for us it's not challenging enough in its learning or play purpose.

A simple, fun and engaging toy for 12months+ but there are better toys around for 2years+

(£14.99 – Toys R Us)

This toy was provided free for review as part of the TRU Toyology programme. My opinions are, as always, unbiased and honest.

LeapFrog LeapTop

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Last Christmas I bought The Boy a little 'laptop' from Early Learning Centre. At the time he wasn't really interested in it and it took him a few months to start playing with it. I think part of the problem was that it didn't look enough like mine (because he still kept trying to jab my keys mid blog-post!) and that really it had a handful of buttons that had limited functionality. I bought it on an impulse a few days before Christmas day and wish I'd thought it through.

Because for the same amount of money, I could have had this:

The LeapFrog LeapTop

It just looks better doesn't it? It appears to be more like a laptop with the keyboard and the little mouse on the side. The Boy is completely and utterly won over by it and for the first week after it arrived for review, he would come down for breakfast in the morning and demand to know where his laptop was before he would do anything else.

Prior to giving it to The Boy, it required some initial setup connected to my laptop and the Internet. There is an easily accessible USB port on the side of the screen (potentially this could have been located under the battery compartment cover as in the Tag Junior, as The Boy keeps trying to play with it). I easily downloaded the software from the LeapFrog website, picked The Boy's name from the list, and chose from the selection of 'e-mails' that are uploaded to the laptop to be read out by Scout. I was then also able to choose the classical music that I wanted played on the laptop, along with instrumental versions of nursery rhymes. This setup took approximately five-ten minutes and was easy to do. The LeapTop can be connected to the laptop to chart his 'progress' and this can be e-mailed to family members; ideal for grandparents, etc.

The Boy adores the personalised e-mails. The first time that he heard them, his eyes lit up with wonder and excitement and he started talking back to Scout. There are a few additional e-mails that are programmed in from the green dog himself (giving eight in total) and they help add to the variety. He's also very fond of the 'new blog entry' button. When I discovered that option I roared with laughter! I love that LeapFrog are ahead of the game here in recognising the importance and power of blogging. Whereas The Boy just likes to hear that Scout has been to the beach and made a sandcastle!

As the e-mails are read out, the text is displayed on the screen and The Boy chuckles at the pictures that come up alongside the blog entries. The screen is quite small in comparison to the surround which in the wrong light can make it difficult to see. However, The Boy pays a great deal of attention to the pictures that are displayed and absolutely adores the images of Scout dancing in the music section.

The 'mouse' on the side is a sliding button which switches between three modes for the keyboard: learning about animals and the sounds they make, the alphabet and phonics, and musical mode:

  • In animals mode (my favourite) when you press a letter it asks you a question about that animal which then is named. If you don't know, press the 'paw' button and it tells you the answer. We both like that game.
  • The musical game is a little basic or not suited to him at the moment (aged just 2); the first two rows are funny sounds, the bottom row is musical notes.
  • The 'abc' game involves pressing the letter, hearing the phoneme, then the letter name and an example word. As a teacher, I like that game a lot, although it's a tad too tricky for The Boy at the moment.

Why is the LeapFrog LeapTop so good?

  • The Boy thinks it's a proper laptop and leaves mine alone!
  • There are so many different games on it that it holds his attention for a good period of time
  • The games are a mix of educational and fun
  • Easily set up and personalised
  • The personalisation helps to make it more appealing to little ones
  • Good value for money
  • It uses British accents in 90% of the programming (I think that there must have been an error somewhere along the line as it states on the box that it uses British voices but on a few of the e-mails or blog entries, Scout's voice switched over to an American accent and then back to a British one).

Overall I think that this is the best little laptop around in this price bracket (£20) and will continue to aid The Boy's development for another year or two yet, supplementing and supporting his formal learning in the Foundation Phase.

This was provided as part of the Toys R Us Toyology review programme. However, our opinions are as always honest and fair.

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