OT: Anyone have the leapster...do you like it?

[cfwallen]

sorry for the double post.

 

[MegaWoman]

Both my kids have Leapster2 that we bought them for Christmas. (The Cars & Princess themed versions were on clearance at Wal-Mart) And we have lots of games thanks to a BOGO sale. They LOVE them, and we love that the games are educational, age appropriate and "grow" with the child. You can connect them to your PC and monitor how your child is learning (or if there's anything they're lacking) and they also get "rewards". I've looked at the Nintendo DS and honestly for us to buy one there would have to be way more educational games available. (Also why we don't have a Wii).

And my kids share the games equally. There are some things on the Jedi Math that my DD loves and DS wil play the Princess games too. (And I really like I Spy myself ) They're great for roadtrips and long waits at the dentist's office!

 

[Leajess99]

Hello,

My DD (5) is starting to get into computer games. She has outgrown her leappad, and I don't want to get a big system like Wii. We had gotten her a VSmile but found the games and graphics horrible.

Does anyone have the leapster for a preK kid? do they like it, dislike it. Any pros and cons you can share?

tks!

My youngest is now 6 and she got a Leapster L-Max for Christmas 2 years ago. She absolutely loves it still (when she has batteries in it). We did have the first one quit at just before one year but Leapfrog was wonderful and replaced it with no problems. All of her games still work with no problems. She does now have Nintendo DS but the Leapster is more educational than the DS and well worth it. I would have prefered her not get the DS but it was from her father for Christmas so no real choice. She only gets that on occasion because it is kept with her sister's at their grandma's house. Keeps from them wanting to play them all the time.

 

[Leajess99]

We have 2 leapsters, my dd7 and dd4 LOVE them. Their is a good selection of games and they are very durable. Mine have been dropped out of the truck, off the table.... We did just buy a second nintendo ds for our dd7 and both her and dd4 who is almost 5 love that too. The ds seems to be pretty durable too. That's what I was worried about, I didn't want a 150 game to drop and break, but the new one we just bought, but we've had the other one for almost 2 years.

A recommendation if you are worried about possible breakage of the DS is to get the Nerf protector for the DS. It is awesome and even when the DS gets thrown it is still protected. My friend's child threw his and it stayed in the Nerf protector and no damage.

 

[mom2aredhead]

I was starting to think we were the only family that didn't love the leapster. Honestly, the games are very redundant - help Diego/Nemo/McQueen run around and collect letters/numbers/shapes. Good for about 20 minutes. The only game that my now 5 year old truly liked was Animal Genius because it was different. The "Click Start" (which we got as a gift) is pretty much the same thing but on the TV instead of the little screen.

He likes the DS a bit better, but the problem I run into with that one is that since he can't read a lot of the instructions himself I end up getting a lot of "Mommy I need help - what does this say". He just got it for Christmas and only has a few games, but maybe we just have to find a few others that are geared more toward younger kids...which I thought the Build a Bear one would be, but that has the most written instructions probably of all the games.

My advice is to save the money and just go on Playhouse Disney dot com, Noggin dot com, starfall dot com, or webkinz and play the free online games.

 

[CJ's Mommy]

Hahaha...my son is playing his Leapster Lmax right now. The nemo game. He is 4 1/2 and we got it 2 Christmas' ago and he still plays it everyday. He loves that thing. And let me tell you, the pp's are correct, these games will teach your child. My son has the Letter Factory game and he knows the sounds each and every letter makes from that game. So, if you are looking for a game system that is fun and can actually teach your child, then this is definitely for you. I am amazed at what my son has learned from playing that thing.

And another thing, my younger sister has a DS lite and she was just staying with me for a week while my parents were away and all my son wanted to do was play her DS lite. It was kind of scary, like an addiction almost. The games were mindless video games, nothing educational. Pacman, stuff like that. I don't know if they sell better games or what, but I wasn't happy with that game system at all. I can't stand how people get addicted to video games these days. Dh and younger brother included!

 

[Bektasmic]

My DS 6 got the TV Leapster for Xmas when he was 4 and the handheld for birthday when he turned 5...they were good for 4-5 year olds but no longer hold his attention (even w/new games). I loved the educational factor, too and hesitate on the DS-a friend of mine got the Leapfrog Didj and says it's like a cross between DS and leapster-games still educational but better graphics and skews a bit older.

 

[chemysterygal]

And let me tell you, the pp's are correct, these games will teach your child. My son has the Letter Factory game and he knows the sounds each and every letter makes from that game.

Oh, thanks.

"Every letter makes a sound, p says puh."

Great, now I can't get that frailin' song out of my head.