Advantages: bright colorful pages, stories and games cover full range of curriculum, robust construction
Disadvantages: need to keep stock of batteries, need to buy yet more books and cartridges

...however, and the books are often on BOGOF, so worth keeping an eye out for. ~~~So just what is this toy?~~~ Leap Pad is an educational toy aimed at helping children to read, and to use their reading skills to "leap" into other areas of learning and discovery. The books are split into levels. The first level for the Leap Pad is aimed at children 4-8, and focuses on phonics and reading practice. It has books that teach the phonetic sounds using engaging characters and child friendly storylines. These books are supported by readers featuring favourite characters such as Nemo and the Lion King.. Level 2 books are more advanced, with characters such as Scooby Doo providing stories that have longer words. There are also books for doing musical activities and to learn geography, about dinosaurs and so on. How the toy works is that Mom or Dad... Read review

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Advantages: Keeps baby safe, happy & in one place, portable, wipe clean & washable
Disadvantages: It is a large item / toy

...We bought the Leap Frog Activity Station as an early Christmas present for our almost 4 month old son quite recently and I have to say it is our most valued item for him the house! The station itself looks a bit like a traditional sit-in baby walker but it's not. It is a stationery activity centre in which the baby sits/stands in the middle and is surrounded by an array of things to play with. It has five items/toys for your baby to play with: - Big colorful "Piano" keys - Sparkling disco ball - Record Player - Microphone - Song Book Baby can get at all of these because the seat in the middle rotates 360 degrees. The station has two modes of play so when you flip the song book over it changes from music to learning. So for example the piano keys either say the numbers and colours when you press them or play a specific... Read review

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Advantages: it encourages reading and writing
Disadvantages: none

...this Leap Frog Leap Frog Leap Pad Plus Writing is aimed at 4-6 year olds The LeapPad Plus Writing Learning System uses a larger platform and pencil designed to introduce children to the magic of writing as well as the magic of books and reading. And the library is organized by grade to teach writing, reading, phonics, vocabulary, math, science, music and much more There is the world of reading and the world of writing. And when the two worlds collide, what you get is pretty amazing - the LeapPad Plus Writing Learning System t starts with the Magic Pen. One minute little readers use it to touch the page and words and letters are sounded out aloud. Make a quick switch and it is in writing mode and kids write letters and words at their own pace. The writing pages are all erasable so they can be used over and over again. The games... Read review

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Advantages: Fun and easy way to learn the alphabet.
Disadvantages: .........................................................................

...Yes! Another great toy by Leap Frog, but this time one for the kitchen, or anywhere else you may want to take it for that matter. My daughter has a habbit of following me everywhere I go, and with her always comes some sort of toy to play with. Having a very small kitchen, its always quite hard to move around when shes on the floor with her toys, so I was so greatful when I fell across the Fridge Phonics by Leap Frog. Fridge Phonics is a magnetic letter set which helps children to learn there alphabet through letter names and sounds. Fridge Phonics cotains 1 base unit and 26 letters ( 1 of each letter of the alphabet). The unit is approx 3.5 inches high by 3 inches wide and is green and blue in colour, and has a picture of the well known Leap Frog frog. There is a space in the middle of the unit for the letters to be placed... Read review

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Advantages: brilliant
Disadvantages: nonthing

...Leap Frog Roll & Rhyme Learning Lion So many people buy you things when you have a baby it is not surprising that so many people are popping out kids left right and centre. My partner works as a restaurant manager for a very large hotel and he often gets guests coming back year after year. Because he has been there fore so many years he has really gotten to know quite a few couple that come away on a regular basis. One couple who are not one of the ones that he knows especially well were really nice and bought little baby Jack this roll & rhyme Learning Lion to play with. Not only does Jack love it but I do too! I am singing the song all the time now, as it is just too damn catchy! I looked up this particular toy again on Amazon and found it to be such a reasonable price I couldn't believe it! For just under ten pounds... Read review

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Advantages: Enables your child to learn to read in a fun way
Disadvantages: Books are expensive and without storage can be easily lost

...My eldest daughter received a Leap Pad learning system for her 4th birthday which comes complete with a basic introduction book called Leap into Learning. I was very impressed as I am big on reading and computers so anything which combined the two for the benefit of a pre-school child had to be a good idea. After setting up - you need 4 AA batteries which do last a reasonable length of time it was very easy to operate and even a non reading child could easily switch on and off and press the green go button. Made by British company Leap Frog (English English is used) the system retails at about RRP£30.00 which is quite expensive when you first look at it but when you realise what it can do, you realise what good value it is and can be bought in various shops including Argos, Index and Early Learning Centre. Now available in two... Read review

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Advantages: Keeps baby very entertained and safe
Disadvantages: Is a bit cumbersome and awkward to 'flatpack'

...With the rush of Christmas fast approaching we were looking around for ways to spoil our daughter on her first Christmas and found the LeapFrog Learn and Groove DJ Activity station - ideal as both her parents are DJs. It is a lovely activity station with 5 basic toy elements - record player, number piano, microphone, mirror ball and juke box which I will explain individually shortly. Alex hates lying down now and wants to be upright all the time - a bit of a pain when you are trying to do other things such as the chore that is housework - and this is where the Learn and Groove come into its own. She is a small baby for her age so finding things that will help her sit/stand securely are few and far between but this station does give her a good amount of support without letting her slump forwards or backwards or slide down... Read review

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Advantages: Keeps baby safe, happy & in one place, portable, wipe clean & washable
Disadvantages: It is a large item / toy

...We bought the Leap Frog Learn & Groove Activity Station as an early Christmas present for our almost 4 month old son quite recently and I have to say it is our most valued item for him the house! The station itself looks a bit like a traditional sit-in baby walker but it's not. It is a stationery activity centre in which the baby sits/stands in the middle and is surrounded by an array of things to play with. It has five items/toys for your baby to play with: - Big colorful "Piano" keys - Sparkling disco ball - Record Player - Microphone - Song Book Baby can get at all of these because the seat in the middle rotates 360 degrees. The station has two modes of play so when you flip the song book over it changes from music to learning. So for example the piano keys either say the numbers and colours when you press them or play... Read review

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Advantages: Packs lots of activities into one place
Disadvantages: Fairly expensive

...The aim of the LeapPad Learning System is to bring books to life. A spiral bound book is placed into a plastic folder, and a cassette is inserted into the side of the folder. Then, using the ‘magic’ pen provided, you can interact with the book by touching the pages to hear words and music. The LeapPad comes with an introductory book which includes a story about Tad the frog and his friends, an excerpt from Richard Scarry’s Best Word Book Ever, a Winnie the Pooh story and other sections including parts of the body, a section on the instruments of the orchestra, and an introduction to foreign languages. To tell the LeapPad what page you are looking at, you touch the green ‘go’ circle on the side of the page. If you are looking at a page from the story about Tad, it will read the words on that page. When you touch the characters... Read review

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Advantages: Portable, can play with it by themselves!
Disadvantages: Batteries don't last long enough!

...My little girl, now nearly 5 years old, wanted to learn to read from a very early age, and we bought her this for her 3rd birthday. It said it was for older children, but I thought she'd get a lot of out it, and also I could sit with her while we used it. So we bought it from Leap Frog's site (at the time, cheaper than anywhere else). We bought the pink version (Barbie pink girl I'm afraid!), along with the pink/lilac carry case and a couple of books to get her started. She LOVED it! With help, she soon managed to suss out how it worked. She now works it better than I do! To summarise, the Leap Pad itself (£30) is the outer plastic part, hinged in the middle, opens like a large book. It comes with a pointer/pen attacked to the Leap Pad by a wire (Younger children may try to chew the pen - had to stop her doing this a few times... Read review

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