My Toddler's Little Leaps

So we have anew edition in the house. Another wonderful baby girl. We have been so busy with the newborn that most of my toddler's plans to destroy the house have gone unnoticed.

Now please do not take this post as a product endorsement or sales pitch. It is not. I am simply relaying my experience with the products mentioned below.

Today I decided to break out my 2 yr old's "Santa" gift, a Little Leaps video system from Leap Frog. Now normally I am all for Leap Frog products. I see their method of hiding education within cartoon like characters, creating games based around these characters and now moving into the home entertainment/video game field. None of this is bad or bad for your child.

I do feel that this product was not thoroughly thought out. Rather than go with a stand alone console, such as V-Tech, Leap Frog went with what seemed to be a more user friendly format.

The Little Leaps use your existing DVD player. The interactive console/controller is set up like a universal remote control. I can understand the ease in which some one could hook this up. There is a DVD disc that comes with the product that instructs you through the quick set up process.

Prob;em, none of the DVD players in my house, my sister-in-law or my sister's house work with this product. Needless to say I was quite disappointed with this.

Luckily "Santa" cam through this year and got my oldest a V-tech Smile. All though it is more advanced for the younger one, it still has big enough buttons and handles for the 2yr to have fun. In fact the 2yr old has played it more than the 4yr old. She has actually picked up on the starter games and is building hand to eye skills.

As with all products you buy for your children, I recommend that you do thorough research prior to purchase. Toys are becoming more and more expensive these days as well as using some advanced technologies. Personally I want to know everything my toddlers playing with and what it is capable off.