[moonshine]

And by that I mean the computer toy/game whatever it is. Does anyone have it or is familar with it? MIL has been pushing to buy DD one for her 2nd birthday, which is coming up and I have indicated that I wanted to check it out further before giving her the ok. Course, she keeps asking until she gets the answer she wants and DH wasn't aware of my reservations and told her last time she asked (after I had ALREADY said I wanted to wait) to go ahead and get one if it was age appropriate.

My reservations are that while DD will grow up in a computerized world, does she need to get a toy like this at 2? Is it really that good? I would generally much more prefer natural, non-battery operated things. DD has a few things that require batteries and plays with them passingly the way she plays with everything.

I guess I am just wondering if I am being too "granola" for lack of another way to put it and making more out of this than I should. Course, MIL pushing whatever she wants without regards to what we want is a whole other issue.

 

[mojomom]

My dd has one but she is 6 and we bought ours used at a garage sale. I did put off getting one, dh wanted to get her one when they first came out and when wre the hot thing. My view was that i would rather read to her myself. But i must say now she has one honestly as a family we enjoy playing with it with her. I will catch my dh and her on the bed playing the games. But i have a 2 year old ds and I think he is to young for this type of toy. he has already ripped a page in his sisters book. I think holding off and waitng at 2 is very reasonable, I agree with your reasins they were the same as mine. Maybe if your MIl insists on getting one it could be a stay at grandma's house toy, we have a few of those

 

[Kirsten]

Both my daughters have a LeapPad. Dd1 (now 7) has the regular one. It is a battery powered book basically - plastic part holds books which come with little cartridges that allow you to use the pen - attached - to touch the page in different places. MIL would buy the actual LeapPad then you (or your MIL for future gifts) could buy her new books to go with it. The LeapPad is about $40-50? and the books are usually $14.99.

I think it is actually kind of neat when they are learning to read. Of course you read to them but it is fun for them to use the LeapPad too. You read along and when you get to a word you don't know, you touch it with the pen and the book tells you the word. You can also get it to tell you the sound a letter makes. There are spots at the bottom of each page where you can touch to play games - and there are places in the illustrations where you can touch to make sounds (like you touch the kitten and hear it meow for example).

There are different types of LeapPads now. A year or two ago the My First LeapPad came out. It is for preschoolers so I would hope that is the one your MIL is getting. The regular LeapPad would have books that are geared to much older children. There is now a brand new LeapPad Deluxe or something for older kids. Some now come with a different pen that you can practice your writing with. My now 3 year old daughter got a My First LeapPad when she was 2 1/2 because she liked to pretend play with her sister's. I like it but I am ok with both "natural" and "mainstream" toys.

Upsides:
MIL is paying for it

new books available for it to extend play value
educational aspects
good for long car rides
volume control so it can be turned down

Downsides:
it is a plastic/battery toy
if you lost the cartridge then that book wouldn't work

I think in the plastic/battery type toy genre, it is definitely one of the better ones. I would be fine with it.
Kirsten

 

[Alstrameria]

Dd has had a My First Leappad since she was about 18 months. She seems to really like it and learned how to use it quickly. It's also great for trips and visiting.

We don't buy a lot of toys but that was one I'm glad I did.

Jen

 

[Kelso]

Dd got Quantum Leap Pad just after she turned 4yo. This will last her for many years because it uses all the cartridges except the First Leap Pad. She enjoys it and it certainly doesn't replace reading to her. It's also a nice thing for her to use at quiet time or when she wants to be on her own. Ds (34mos) on the other hand, has come close to ripping the books(he rips most books). He enjoys looking at it and making it talk to him, but he couldn't use it unsupervised. Not that this is a bad thing, the music book is fun for him and he likes to hear the stories. Also dd can 'read' to ds using the books and they both enjoy that aspect of the toy.
Just my .o2

 

[jeca]

DD hs a my first leap pad and she really does like it. It has lots of song's in it and she loves mucic. Plus it really does coordination. (touch this, touch that) she use to touch all over the screen but now she can actually target what she wants. I do not think it is nescary though, but she likes it.

 

[luckylady]

My DD (almost 18 mos) has the little leap. It has really cute stories like "Guess how Much I love you". She likes it a lot ( we play with it together) my only complaint is that the on/off button is right on the front and she likes to push it so I hear "hello, goodbye, hello, goodbye, hello, goodbye" LOL. Needlaess to say I keep it up high unless we are reading an interactive story together.