Little Touch LeapPad Learning System - EC
Common Sense Note
This learning aid works well when parent and baby/toddler play it together. It's difficult for some young children to push down hard enough to activate the touch aspect of the learning aid, so we don't recommend that young children use it alone.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Jinny Gudmundsen
Most parents know and appreciate how important it is to read to and interact with their babies. LeapFrog, the company that created the award-winning LeapPad Learning System, has just created a new learning system--this time for babies and young toddlers. Its purpose is to help parents create positive interactions with their children.
Little Touch LeapPad is a learning aid that was developed to grow with a baby from 6 months to 36 months. This smart toy is a rectangular-shaped plastic platform that is approximately 15 x 9 inches. Specially- made books and a corresponding software cartridge snap into the platform. When turned on, the platform is touch-sensitive. By placing a book on top of the platform and then touching specific spots on the pages, the book becomes interactive. The software responds with music, sounds, and talking to the spot touched.
For babies, Little Touch LeapPad is meant to be used by parents and caregivers while the baby is sitting on their laps. Each book and accompanying software can be explored on three different levels. On Setting 1, the level for babies ages 6-12 months, the books create musical rhythms and sounds as the adult interacts with the baby. Setting 2, which is for babies 12-24 months, introduces word-object associations. Setting 3 is for toddlers ages 2-3 years because it uses rhymes and introduces preschool readiness skills.
Little Touch LeapPad comes with the book "One Bear in the Bedroom," a cute story book about a bunch of animals that sneak into a little boy's house. The book, which is constructed of durable material that resists tearing and is wipeable, introduces numbers, shapes, colors, and more. Once placed inside the Little Touch unit, the book cannot be easily pulled out by the child. The unit also comes with two activity cards that insert into the platform to continue the learning introduced in the book.
This product is a fun learning aid for parents to use with babies and toddlers. The music, sounds, words, and pictures work well to create a stimulating environment in which to play with your child. The book comes with excellent suggestions about how to use it with your child. The three settings assure that the book will grow with the child. Five additional books/software are available for $12.99/each.
However, as the child gets older and wants to explore Setting 3 on his or her own, this learning aid may be frustrating to use. The amount of pressure required to activate the touch-sensitive areas in the books can be difficult for 2-3-year olds to apply. Even parents may have to push hard to make the Little Touch work. As a consequence, purchase this product as a learning aid for you to use with your child, not a learning aid for your child to use alone.
Rate It!
| Content | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS | adults | kids | ||
Sexual Content |
 |
|
||
Violence |
|
|
||
Language |
|
|
||
Message |
|
|
||
Social Behavior |
 |
 |
||
Commercialism |
|
|
||
Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco |
|
|
||
Educational Value |
|
|
||
