LeapFrog Word Whammer Fridge Phonics

...to encourage his learning.
Leapfrog Word Whammer-
The Leapfrog Word Whammer is a magnetic play set consisting of the main unit and 32 letter pieces, designed to teach children the look, sound and name of letters as well as encouraging spelling and rhyming. The Word Whammer has 3 play modes chosen by moving the yellow slide to the matching mode symbol, the 3 play modes are "Letter Hunt" where you learn letter names and sounds ...
...is very reasonable for a leapfrog toy and can be found in most toys stores as well as Argos, it can also be found online at Leapfrogshop.co.uk and Amazon. You can also get letter expansion packs (a full alphabet of upper or lower case letters) from £6.99

Our Opinion-
At first the kids interest in the toy went as far as pressing the music button over and over again in order to hear the ABC song, admittedly this drove me crackers ... more

I chose the Word Whammer for Christopher after he started nursery last September, he's the youngest in his year and in our area the older children start nursery in the April and gradually stagger the intake until the last child starts in September, he's a smart kid but I couldn't help worry that he might be a bit behind the older kids who had so many more months of nursery behind them and thought the Whammer would be the perfect toy to encourage his learning.
Leapfrog Word Whammer-
The Leapfrog Word Whammer is a magnetic play set consisting of the main unit and 32 letter pieces, designed to teach children the look, sound and name of letters as well as encouraging spelling and rhyming. The Word Whammer has 3 play modes chosen by moving the yellow slide to the matching mode symbol, the 3 play modes are "Letter Hunt" where you learn letter names and sounds through fun songs, "Word Builder" where you explore combinations of different letters with the aim of spelling out a word and "Word hunt" where you spell out a 3 letter word, encouraged by the toy and then are asked to find a new word or the appropriate letter to make a word that rhymes.

The main unit has 3 magnetic sections in which you place your chosen letters, the toy recognises the letters and will call their names and sounds out before encouraging you to place a letter in the next space, you can create as many as 325 three letter words with the toy by following the voice instructions and flashing lights, when you make up one of Tads 10 special words (like Mum or Dad) you are greeted with a special congratulations message. As well as the spelling function and game modes you can also press the red button to play the Alphabet song and it has 2 volume options as well as an off mode and a 15 second battery saver feature which shuts the machine off if the toy has not been used for more than 15 seconds.
It is suitable for 36 months onwards and requires 3AA batteries which come included it can be used on any metal surface as well as on its own.

Price & Availability-
Christopher was given the Word Whammer as a gift from his nanny although it was my suggestion, it retails from around £19.99 which is very reasonable for a leapfrog toy and can be found in most toys stores as well as Argos, it can also be found online at Leapfrogshop.co.uk and Amazon. You can also get letter expansion packs (a full alphabet of upper or lower case letters) from £6.99

Our Opinion-
At first the kids interest in the toy went as far as pressing the music button over and over again in order to hear the ABC song, admittedly this drove me crackers until I realised they were both singing along, Christopher was now able to recite the alphabet in the correct order and Elsa, despite only being 20 months old, was starting to repeat the letters, ok not always in the right order but it wasn't a bad start for one so young and I've never been able to resist her dancing along to music with her bright eyes and gleaming smile flashing excitedly.

It took a while for Christopher to grasp the game modes but Word Hunt quickly became a favourite as the letters he put in the slots were called out to him along with the word he had created, the reactions of the toy when a word is pelt correctly is the perfect encouragement for him to keep playing and spelling more words. Occasionally when he struggles to identify the letter he needs the machine prompts him by telling him what colour the letter piece is and reminding him of the sound the letter makes, the flashing lights that follow as you spell out the words is also great for helping the child stay focussed and concentrate on getting the letters in the right order.

One of the great features of this toy is more of a reassurance to parents then something the kids will enjoy, I'm sure you can all work out a few inappropriate words or sounds that could be made up of 3 letters but the toy is designed to recognise anything rude or unsuitable for such young ears and will not say the word, rather it will simply repeat the letters without the final word. This is particularly handy when you have a slightly childish husband, like I do, who likes to spell out such word sin magnets on the fridge etc…there's no risk that his silly games, or even an accidental use of letters by the child, will result in the little one learning a rude word.

Being a parent is often a traumatising experience when it comes to kids toys so it's great that this has volume control, Leapfrog have a good quality of sound with their toys but even the finest of music and voice will get annoying after 100 continuous repetitions of 1 song or word. The battery saving mode is also great as we all know how expensive it can work out constantly replacing dead batteries. Perhaps the thing I love the most, excluding the educational value of course, is that it's magnetic, I can stick the main unit and all the letters to my fridge and never have to worry that all the bits will end up lost (it doesn't come with a storage box for the pieces so keeping them together would be tricky) I can also let Christopher play with the Whammer while I'm busy in the kitchen and not worry that he's up to no good in another room, then when I am free to keep an eye on him we can take the whole set into the living room and play together there.

I'm so glad I chose this as a toy for Christopher, he's come on wonderfully with his grasp of the alphabet and recognition of the letters, he has fun while playing with the Word Whammer and while he still struggles occasionally to find the word he's being asked for he's certainly improving greatly, he's still only young and I think, with the toy being suitable up until about 8 years of age, he's got many years of fun and learning from it, of course when he's too grown up for it I'll be able to pass it on to Elsa, then onto baby3 and any subsequent children we have (not that anymore are planned!) Leapfrog toys are of such a good quality and are very reliable so I have no worries that this toy will pass its best before my little ones have grown out of it.

Overall this has been a great success, it's helping both Christopher and Elsa learn while still remaining fun. It is great value for money especially when you consider the quality and reliability of the toy combined with the educational factors, I would highly recommend it. 

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