So.... <shudder> tell me about Leappad, VTech type things please...

[GoodWilfToAllMN]

Am I going to hate myself if I buy one instead of crusty dusty old books for my 4 yo? I hate the idea but running out of Chrissie pressie ideas...

And what, er, are they exactly? Different types of thing? Different brands doing the same thing? Like Nintendo DS but for young'uns... or WHAT?

Someone must have one, surely?

Well i have bought ds2(2.4) a vtech laptop thingy for christmas, he can learn his numbers, words and the alphabet on it, it will teach him coordination and different phenetics/sounds etc

2.4?! Eeek. Will such a device be no use to a 4 year old then?

no leap pads are fab imo. Lots of good books, & also games that you can play together, fun as well as eductaional.

My youngest had 'my first leappad' from about 3 while my eldest had his normal leappad at about 5. I sold my first leap pad on ebay last christmas & now my youngest (now 6) uses the normal one.

I would recommend them

hope that helps.

GoodWilf it is age 3+ but i didnt see the harm in buying it for a nearly 2 and half year old so got it for ds

He likes to 'help' me when i am on my laptop, so now he has his own

ds 4.10 got the Vtech VSmile Pocket which is the handheld game console last Xmas and he loves it - great for keeping him entertained in car. He also had the Vsmile console (for the TV) but never played with it really even though it was the same games, found joystick harder to control. Can personally recommend Vsmile pocket (comes with Scooby Doo game for 5-9 yrs) but buy one of the younger games 3-5 years too to get him started.

There is also a hand held Leapster which I have seen other people say is better than the Vsmile pocket, but I havent seen it so cant comment.

On both consoles the games are based around shapes, colors, letters, numbers etc. We like the fact that the handhelds are very portable.

We are hoping having the Vsmile pocket will put off getting a DS Lite for a least another year.

He has had the leappad book in the past and we got 3 books for it and he never really played with it much. It seems quite popular, just wasnt his thing - prefers us reading him real books.

hth

my son has a vtech got it for him age 3.
He LOVES it and he is now 6,it has helped with colours,counting and so on.
He has the art stuido that goes with it which is fun.
It would make a good present i think.
Hope this helps.

Neither of my dd's got along with the leappad books. Books are much nicer IMHO.

My dd2 did get a leapster for Xmas when she was 3 - she loved it ...still does (she's 5). It has certainly stood the test of time and even big sis (nearly 9) likes it

Thanks all

So Leappad book thingies not so good, Leapster or Vtech handheld OK...

Will investigate.

So you can buy different programmes/games for them? Any particular recommendations?

Why thank you

Yes you can buy different games for the leapster, but tbh my dd plays more with the one that came with it