Leapster 1st Grade - E

As fun to play as it is educational.

Publisher: LeapFrog Category/Genre: Leapster - Educational Platform: Leapster Price: $25 Graphics: Excellent Playability: Very easy to play because it automatically adjusts to your abilities Reading Level: 1st grade Release Date: 04/14/2004 ESRB Rating: E

Common Sense Note

Kids are really drawn to handheld gaming systems. Leapster 1st Grade delivers the video gaming experience while also providing a way to help first graders learn to read and do math. Children can explore it alone because it has an excellent built-in tutorial mode that kicks in whenever a child is struggling.

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Jinny Gudmundsen

A gaming system is only as good as the software that runs on it. Since the Leapster is a brand new gaming system, evaluation of its software is crucial in determining whether this new gaming format is worth buying. Leapster's Dora the Explorer Wildlife Rescue previously earned our top rating.

Leapster 1st Grade is a title with no famous branded character to encourage children to play, and subject matter that is obviously educational. But testers loved this program. The software cleverly incorporates an earn-tokens-so-you-can-race theme into a carnival setting. Kids earn tokens by constructing sentences on the side of log flume boats and solving math equations while riding in bumper cars.

More tokens are earned by popping bubbles to create compound words, spelling words in a side-scrolling game, and catching special "fraction" fish. The tokens earn racing time on a track (a motivation that may appeal more to boys than girls).

First grade is a challenging academic year during which most children learn to read and do math. Leapster 1st Grade is a first-rate choice to supplement this rigorous curriculum, because it cocoons children while helping them to learn. Edison, an adorable little firefly, pops up to explain educational concepts whenever children make repeated mistakes. The software offers three levels of play to span the material covered in first grade. But Leapster 1st Grade won't seem like school to your children, because they will be having too much fun earning tokens to notice that they are learning as they play.

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