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angry birds movie. Introducing LeapPad Explorer, the personalized learning tablet just for kids. A built-in camera/video recorder, 100+ games and activities and innovative creativity and reading apps offer limitless learning and ...
Includes a built-in camera and video recorder, 5″ touch screen and 4 apps (Pet Pad, Story Studio, Art Studio and one of your choice)
Introducing LeapPad Explorer, the personalized learning tablet just for kids. A built-in camera/video recorder, 100+ games and activities and innovative creativity and reading apps offer limitless learning and endless ways to play.
A second teaser for the Angry BIrds Movie for the angry birds movie! CHECK OUT MY NEW VIDEO!! www.youtube.com Music is Mind Heist from Inception! EDIT: WOW, I honesty didn’t think that I’d get such a massive audience for a parody!! May actually make a “Movie” at some point, but this was only ever intended as a joke… I have no idea how Rovio will manage an entire movie in 2014!! Yes, that’s right, Rovio are making a movie in 2014!
Hi! I am Erin T. and I run a website called theMomBuzz. Recently I received a LeapPad from LeapFrog to review and I am sharing my thoughts here on Amazon.
The LeapPad has a great 5″ screen. It is large and bright. I didn’t see a way to control the brightness. The screen is larger than the Leapster Explorer Screen, which measures 3.2″. The resolution for the LeapPad is 480 x 272. (The Leapster Explorer was 420 x 420.) It is a touch screen. You can use your finger or the supplied stylus. The stylus is magnetic, but it can be harnessed to the device with a supplied cord. An extra stylus is supplied in case one gets broken or lost. That has happened 3 times to us with other Leapsters – so it is great having that extra on hand.
The LeapPad device is white with green accents. There is also a violet option, which is nice for the girls. On the front of the tablet there is a power button, sound down and sound up button, and home button. There is also a large silver button that can be used like a finger control, to move a cursor up, down, left, right or explore other options.
The LeapPad comes with a camera, video recorder and microphone. The camera can take 30,000 pictures and the LeapPad can record 120 minutes of video.
The LeapPad is similar to the Leapster Explorer in what kids can do with it. They can read e-books, play learning games, enhance art and animation skills, listen to and play music, learn writing, watch videos, and do flash cards. It also has a built-in camera and video recorder, while that requires an additional accessory for the Leapster Explorer.
One thing I LOVE about the LeapPad is that it works with other Leapster Explorer Games and Apps! That means if I download an app for my son’s Leapster Explorer, I can also upload it onto my other son’s LeapPad. And the boys can also share cartridges. And with the LeapPad came a HUGE library of game cartridges and apps to choose from. Most games and apps are extra, though, not included with a LeapPad purchase.
1. PetPad: Learn to draw letters while teaching a custom pet tricks. Keep your pet healthy and clean with feeding and washing. The Leapster Explorer also comes with PetPad, but with the LeapPad kids can use the microphone to “blow dry” their pet, they shake the device to help their pet JUMP over a pond to pop balloons and they can even tilt the device to move the pet as it follows them onto their home page. You need to connect the LeapPad to your computer to use collected points to purchase food and accessories for the pet. Don’t worry – it won’t die if you don’t do it. But it encourages you as a parent to connect the game to the computer so you can track your child’s learning progress.
2. Story Studio: All About Me: The artwork, photos, writing and recordings kids create all culminate in the Story Studio experience. In the Story Studio, kids create their own book that can be uploaded to view in LeapFrog Connect or shared with friends via Facebook or e-mail.
3. Art Studio: I am SO THRILLED that Art Studio was included with the LeapPad. The Leapster Explorer didn’t have an included Art Program – so my boys were using the Art Studio from Mr. Pencil or Tangled to get creative. The Leapster 2 DID come with an Art Studio, so I was a little sad when I found out the Leapster Explorer didn’t. And whenever a parent asked me what game to get for their new Leapster Explorer, I always said, “Mr. Pencil saves Doodleburg,” because it was educational and creative. But with the included Art Studio, it gives me more options for what games we can get next. With the Art Studio the boys use stamps, shapes, pattern brushes, pencils, erasers (all virtual) to create pictures and express their creativity.
4. Camera/ Video Recorder: The LeapPad has a built-in camera and video recorder. My son used it immediately to take a picture of me. And then I used it to take a picture of HIM for his profile. That’s when I realized that the camera is low-res. He loves taking photos and videos, but he can tell the difference of quality. But it is good for the purpose and helps keep the cost of the product lower than if it was a higher-res camera. With the camera kids can take pictures and videos and then add fun effects.
Additional games, books and videos have to be added either as an app or with a cartridge. Remember, there is a library of over 100 choices. Additional apps and games are separate reviews on theMomBuzz. Please refer to the bottom of the post to connect you to these other reviews.
The LeapPad is designed for children 4 to 9. I would actually feel comfortable giving this to an advanced, tech savvy 2 year old. (Parents and grandparents will know who I am talking about!
I really want to like the LeapPad – my kids do, but unfortunately it just misses the mark. I am a second-grade teacher, so hopefully that will lend some credibility to my review in terms of its educational merits.
The books are great, and when a child comes to a word they can’t read, they can just click it to have it read to them. (Of course, the books are expensive, small, and locked to this device that will certainly be gone/broken/obsolete in couple years)
The videos are great (and expensive, but more reasonable when compared to educational DVD’s). They teach phonics and number sense and are educationally sound.
The downloadable games and apps are expensive and don’t offer a good value for the price. For example, my daughter downloaded the $7.50 Train game and she beat it in about 20 minutes. When compared to almost anything else (iPad, physical books, educational DVD’s, a jump rope, etc) this is just not enough bang for your buck.
The system burns through batteries like crazy. It takes 4 AA’s and I have had to replace them every few days. This wouldn’t be a big deal, except that I don’t really let the kids use it all that much.
The Leappad has a built-in virtual pet that you can earn and buy things for. I’ve never been a fan of having children take care of virtual pets (i.e. watering it, washing it, etc.) And this brings me to another point: unless you are watching closely, there are too many choices your child can make that have no learning involved at all. Ironically, if you are paying such close attention, you should probably just be doing something together with your child as opposed to watching them play this electronic device.
The reason that most parents would buy this is for it’s games educational value. Unfortunately I just don’t see too much of it here. For example, there is a math dice game where the kids roll three dice and try to make the biggest number they can with it. This is a classic game that we use in the classroom. In the classroom game, the child is supposed to place each dice in the 1′s, 10′s, and 100′s places in order to create the biggest number (while learning place value). In the Leappad version, there isn’t even a mention of the place value (which is the whole point of the game). Instead the child just rolls the dice, places them from biggest to smallest AND THEN the computer turns that into a number i.e. 662 without explaining what’s happening and the game continues. This may not sound like a big deal, but it is in essence teaching the child that 6 + 6 + 2 = 662, which of course is not true (and it reinforces a common mistake that children make).
On the Alphabet Stew game, children are supposed to find words on a grid (Boggle-style). There is a list of words (i.e. ‘can’) that the kids must find, but strangely when the child taps the three letters on the grid to spell the word, it doesn’t even say the word out loud. So they spell the word, but don’t learn what word they’re spelling. It’s things like this that make me question who they hired to make these aps.
I wouldn’t recommend this product as a learning device unless you plan on only purchasing the books and videos. That being said, you could get books and videos without this device. BUT, If you want something to keep your kids busy in small intervals, this might do the trick.
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