<font color="0000ff">These are some comments on
Little Touch LeapPad, My First LeapPad, Read & Write LeapPad when I asked for comments from some US parents in Jan 2008:</font>
<font color="aa00aa">We've used the "Little Touch" (for babies and toddlers), which was ... well, a waste of money. We then used the "My First LeapPad" (shaped like a school bus), which was much better . DD could use it by herself, and was 3 when we got it, so she was more ready to manipulate and absorb the information. We have now graduated to the LeapPad Read and Write system. We got it for Christmas, and to be honest haven't had much time to play wih it yet, so the jury is still out. I know some people love the Leap Pad computer thingy that looks more like a GameBoy, and can hook up to the TV. BUT, IMHO, I doubt it's worth the money. I've read reviews that said the TV hook up connection is loose and easily damaged, and the TV picture quality in general is lame.
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I didn't think much of Little Touch or the First Leap. The LeapPad was good. I'm not sure if we did much with the write part. My kids are now 4 and 6 and are using Leapster and L-Max. They love it.
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There is only one other brand that I have tried, which I think was 'Active Minds'. My dd liked it, but the book fell apart and was not fixable.
We had the 'Littletouch Leap Pad', which was pretty worthless ... you had to push really hard on the pages to make them work and dd was just not interested. We didn't even try it with ds. Both kids have had and enjoyed the 'My First Leap Pad' and now dd has a regular Leap Pad. Ds really loves his 'My First Leap Pad'... in fact, he broke the first one by constantly dragging it around by the pen cord. I got him a used one through Amazon.com for $10. Frankly, though, it doesn't teach them to read. For my kids, it has been a fun toy, but has not spurred their interest in words at all. In fact, neither of them is really even interested in listening to the story being read. Mostly they just like to point at the pictures. Or in ds's case, point at the same thing over and over in rapid succession until I am about to go out of my mind LOL. Anyway, dd is now 5, and is interested in the words in books when I read them to her, but not the books that go with her Leap Pad.
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We've enjoyed the Leap Pads, though. We're old timers... Back when you could only get the "My First Leap Pad" & then the regular one. We got TONS of mileage from the First Leap Pad, esp since DS2 came along 2-3 yrs after DS1.
As much as I've wanted my boys to use these things for the reading assistance/encouragement, well... They want even let the things read through the stories that follow through many of the books. Instead, they like to explore, seeing what they can touch on each page, playing any games available on the page, etc. Oh well
. We've definitely gotten our money's worth from them.
BTW, if anyone wants a My First Leap Pad, complete with quite a few books/cartridges & a backpack-style carrying case (made by Leap, just for this system)... Then that's the one I would recommend - LOL!
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<font color="0000ff">Seems that the Little Touch version is not worth investing. My First LeapPad can be considered though.
Well, just sharing. The onus is yours. Maybe parents in SG have different experience. Is there a thread regarding "Comments on Little Touch LeapPad" since many parents have bought it?</font>