Leap Pad 2

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Sorry if this has been done to death but I am thinking about getting my 5 year old twin sons a Leap Pad 2 each for Christmas.

I'm wondering about the games though. There are cartridges and apps?

The cartridges seem quite expensive especially compared with the iPad apps which are very cheap or free.

I wondered if someone could explain about the games? Do they work out very expensive?

Is a different tablet a better choice?

You can download most of the games available on cartridges in app form and there are lots of games available just as apps. Some of them are only a few quid and you can buy gift cards for, say £25 worth, often for less than that.

The leap pads and leapsters are also very robust (DS2 has an original leap pad, which is painfully slow and a leapster explorer GS) and stand up to more rough and tumble than an iPad, which would cost £270 minimum.

Another option to explore is something like a kurio tablet, which is an android tablet, half the price of an iPad mini, with preloaded games and the option of downloading more - all made more kid friendly than a standard tablet. Or, you could get a standard inexpensive android tablet. We're considering the new one from Tesco for DS1, as it has a built in camera.

Thank you! Do you know if I would have to download the apps twice? Or can I download them to my computer and use the same app on both machines?

DD1 has original Leap Pad, now 2 years old, very slow. Buying DD1 and DD2 a Leap Pad 2 for Christmas, they have Disney Princess themed ones on Amazon now.

Games/apps can be expensive, but my DD1 has 2 games and 5 downloads and shes never bored. Usually spends most of her time playing on Art Studio which was FREE with the Leap Pad, typical.

I have no idea about using the same app twice.

Thanks!

At the moment my kids share my iPhone and my old IPhone which can be used on wifi. They also use my laptop for things like YouTube, Nick Jr games and Reading Eggs. There are sometimes arguments but for the most part it works fine.

My parents wanted to buy them a proper game system for their Christmas. They were a bit shocked that my 2 year old would pick up my phone, type in the password and start playing games.

I thought perhaps the Leap pad would be a good choice but I'm not sure now. Something like a Wii might be better?

Or just get them Lego which is what I was planning on asking for.

Actually looking at the options, an Android tablet is looking like a good compromise for us. My husband used to have an Android phone so I will ask him about it.

You can have all the leapfrog apps on all your devices. Some of the apps are a third of the price of others. The expensive ones are long gems, comparable more to DS games I suppose than iPhone apps.

There are ebooks, videos and music too. And a camera and a video camera.

The advantages of the leappad are that it is sturdy and that its all educational.

we've ordered the new tesco tablet for DD1 this year. I looked at the leappad, innotab etc but was put off by the fact the games were expensive. also DD1 watches the children's programmes on the Iplayer. I have an ipad which DD1 uses so was also worried the novelty would wear off quickly with the children's tablets.