Parents' Guide to LeapFrog Explorer Learning Game: Octonauts

LeapFrog Explorer Learning Game: Octonauts is a clever integration of learning and gaming. It's clever enough that you may not be convinced that the information is factual. There is, in fact, a Cookiecutter Shark, by way of example, but it's unlikely that an accordion would really serve as a useful way to distract an orca. This melding of fanciful objects and creatures with the real deal may be confusing for kids, as it's not always clear what's fact and what's fiction. If you can push that aside, however, the activities are cute and fun but repetitive (a trait that rarely bothers preschoolers), and there's quite a bit of information packed in there, especially when you consider the audience. Moreover, there are some wonderful lessons about teamwork, nurturing behavior, and even playing detective. It also does a great job of incorporating visual, kinesthetic, cerebral, and auditory learning activities into a seamless learning experience that gets progressively more challenging (for example, the multiple choice options expand) as you play. Two fins up for a title that's a bit out of the norm but seems to work quite well that way.