Can anyone tell me about Leapster?

[MaMight]

My inlaws have asked if my children would like a Leapster for Christmas.

I have had a google to find out what one is, and there seem to be lots of different products made by Leapster, and Leapster 2, and games and I'm a bit confused.

Can someone explain what it all is?

And is it good?

And for what age?

Even if you find out from others what they have, it might differ from inlaws idea of what they plan to buy.

Why not ask inlaws, since you know there is a range of products, so you can be completely sure!

how old are your lo's???

my 3yo and 5yo loved theirs to begin with,but quickly got bored of them and progressed to a nintendo DS each,

If it's a thing that goes on their laps with a beanbag on the back, you slot cartridges into it and it holds a book on the front, I would say total waste of money IME.

(4 yr old boy)

Hmmmm. I'm not sold. It's like a gameboy idea but for younger children? I am not really in the market for ever more convenient ways to put them in front of a screen when they could be doing other things. I think no.

Thanks all.

My dd's had a Leapster 2 each last Christmas (They are 3.6 and 4.9). They do play with them, probably a couple of days a week for 30 mins or so.

All the games are educationally based, some have basic maths, some letter recognition, some are opposites or memory games. There is also a drawing function which dd1 uses most.

The reason we bought the Leapster is because they have the learning path system where you can hook it up to the internet and see what progress your child has made and what areas they are improving in. You can also download games from the site for free such as Letterpillar and print off award certificates.

There is a wide selection of games from about 3 up to 10ish, I think, with different characters such as Nemo, Star Wars and Dora the Explorer.

We are happy we bought ours but dd1 now wants a ds like her big brother so not sure how long they would keep an older child interested.

My dd got a leapster for her 4th birthday - she's now 6.6 and still loves it!!

I would highly recommend