Leapster for a 6 year old?

[Tera_&_Gibson]

My son wants a Leapster and a DS. I want him to have the leapster for the educational value but am worried it will be to young. I am also worried about the graphics quality. We have a Wii and he plays several video games so that might be an issue. DH thinks we should get both us get him the DS and MIL get the Leapster. He could then alternate the use to keep it educational but still fun. Any ideas?

 

[unionville]

I have an 8 year old son - he probably outgrew his leapster by age 5. I would get the Nintendo DS. There are actually some educational type games that you can get now.

 

[jellybeans0607]

I don't know much about systems, but I would think the leapster is too young for him. Also the DS can certainly be educational. i can't think of any game that we have that doesn't have some sort of educational value.

 

[tinkerlisa]

Go for the DS. My son had it and after 6 months he grew bored of it. he has had his ds for over a year and although he hasn't gotten any new games for it, he still loves it!! We also have a Wii and he likes that too.
Also, the leapsters aren't very good. the reason he grew out of his so quickly is because the games were always freezing up on him or the thing would turn off for no reason. he treated it like gold so i know it wasn't like he was throwing it that could cause those problems. my friends son had one and his did it too.

 

[adoptionmomma4]

My kids love the Leapster. We have one right now and they all share it. It "belongs" to my DS 7.5 and it was replacement for the on he got at age 3. They really do enjoy the games and I feel like they are at least learning something when they play it. We have a ton of leapster games so there is usually something each child is interested in. I also just bought my 2-year-old dd a pink leapster for Christmas. I guess we really like it in this house.

That being said, my older two both have a DS and ds 7.5 is dying to get one for Christmas. He bargains playing time with the older two. We do not have a ton of DS games. DS is getting a "red ds" for Christmas and will be very excited. When we were at Target last night I asked him if he got a DS for Christmas would he still play with his leapster and he said "yes, when my DS is charging!"

We also have a Wii (thanks to MIL ) and the kids like it as well. They graphics on the leapster do not bother them or they just do not mention it.

I guess I would go with just the DS at this stage.

Good luck!

 

[dreamer17555]

Leap Frog just creeated a step up system called the Digi from the leapster- I would look into that.

-Becca-

 

[sha_lyn]

Leapster games go up to 4th grade, so no the leapster is not too young for him. DD is 5th grade and still uses the Batman multiplication and division game to practice her skills.

ETA: was interested in the Digi so looked at their website. It appears that they are no longer making the 4th grade games for leapster.

 

[scoochie75]

My ds is 6 also - he has had a leapster since he was 3 - still plays his math baseball to work on his multiplication and division. He also has a Nintendo DS - he plays that here and there but would much rather play the Wii all the time if he had his choice. This year the only thing he is asking for from SANTA is the Didj by leapfrog. If he was anyone else I don't know if I would go this route over a DS but for him he is the type of kids who loves reading non-fiction books and doing math worksheets so it kind of fits his personality. My other kids I would definitely go for a DS.

 

[mjkacmom]

We have 2 Leapsters, 3 DS's (soon to be 5), Gamecube, and a Wii. My 5 year olds still play with the Leapster, as does my 7 1/2 year old. They are so different - I haven't had much luck with young DS games in the educational sense (dd7 has the hamster and pony games - brush the pony, feed the pony, love the pony....). After reading this thread, I'm going to get some multiplication games for them for the Leapster. They do not hold up as well as the DS - we've had a replacement already, and the rechargable batteries don't last long anymore.

 

[EthansMom]

Both my DS7 and DD4 have Leapsters. DS7 also has a DS. Most of the Leapster games currently on the market are for the 4-6 year-old. Although my DS7 still plays with his Leapster, he isn't learning much from it anymore. It is EXCELLENT for learning letters, basic phonics, and basic math. Once your child knows that stuff, there isn't a whole lot to keep their interest.

My son loves his DS. But, even though he has one educational game, he doesn't play the educational games much. Mostly, he likes games like the Legos Star Wars, Sonic, etc...

Personally, I'd get the DS.

 

[clr055]

I bought my daughter a leapster last Christmas. By her 6th birthday in April she was bored with it. Now she wants a DS for christmas. Go for the DS.

 

[melancholywings]

Another DS supporter here. We got DD a leapster first when she was 3, then a DS when she turned 5. She never touched the leapster again, and when I cleaned out her room a month ago (she's 7) she said it was to 'babyish'.

 

[toy]

My 6 and 8 year olds still love their leapsters. We just bought the digj and I would recommend it. They love that too. My 8 year old have a ds and she alternates between the ds and the digj. They are increasing the games for the digj. You should let him try it out in the stores. He might like that better. Every time you connect the Didj to your computer, game info is transferred to your child's Learning Path online, so you to see which skill areas your child likes the most, know when your child has started playing with content above their grade level, and even get a view into the actual questions your child has answered during play.

 

[shelby101301]

We just got my 5 yr old son a version of vsmile (very similiar to leapster) - I think a cyber version that in addition to being a hand held that can also be hooked up to the internet.

We don't use the internet part, and I've never really let him play video games before, although he plays a little with the Wii. It seems to be just right for his age level, and he's enjoying it so far. I do limit how much he can play it though, just like TV.

So no, I don't think 6 is too young for the leapster. I don't have any experience with the DS. Hope that helps.

 

[Fabinva]

The Leapster is a great for learning, my DD6 still loves hers and DS8 played with his until he was 7.5, he has been playing PS2 since he was 4ish and still found the Leapster very entertaining.

 

[ERMama]

my 7.5yo still plays with his leapster. he wants a DS but im not sure i want to buy one. he says a didj (the new one from leapfrog) would be awesome too.

the didj has better graphics.

 

[Tera_&_Gibson]

Thanks for all you input! I think MIL got a leapster for him on sale at Target. I'm still not sure if we will get the DS too. He really hasn't asked for much for x-mas and DH wants to play it too...lol.

 

[Omma]

I made the mistake of getting our oldest a DS last year for Christmas and the younger two Leapsters. (They were 4, 5 & 7 at the time.) They soon were bored with the Leapsters no matter what new games I tried. They now have a DS and I look for educational games they can play on that. They love it.

 

[maxy mouse]

DD (7.5) still enjoys her Leapster. She got it for her 4th birthday, just before a long vacation with a long, long plane trip and much car time. We have added games before trips. As you my guess she uses it for the most part in cars, boats, planes and automobiles. She plays with her newer games but still goes back to some of the simple ones, her old favorites. We have never had a problem with the unit.