A big reader myself, I love that my kids love books. Our nighttime routines consist of reading one book after another, and my two year old insists on "reading" one book to me. My 5 year old has started to read pretty early and enjoys reading almost anything he can. After he graduated from preschool in May, we were unsure what to get him for a graduation gift. In Toys R Us, we saw the Leapfrog Tag and he decided himself that this was the present he wanted. The Leapfrog Tag is an electronic toy that looks like a pen and is able to read books designed especially for the Tag. Easily held in a child's hand, the Tag will read the book either by itself or will read each word as the tip of the Tag moves over the text in the book. My 5 year old loves it because he is able to read the book himself and use the Tag when he gets to a word that he doesn't know. Additionally, for each book the Tag has games and activities that center around the character and focus on building skills such as reading comprehension. Something else that I really liked about that Tag is that the available books include current characters that the kids know and love like Kung Fu Panda, Cars, Dora and Diego, Fancy Nancy and more. For my son, the fact that he could read Kung Fu Panda on his own motivates him to use his Tag often.
The Tag doesn't only read books! Leapfrog has also put together National Geographic Kids Activity Cards that work with the Tag to teach kids about all different animals. The cards are neat - they are bound together on top so they will not be strewn all over the house. The children can touch the card in different places with the Tag to learn quick facts such as animal classification and whether or not the animal is endangered, vocabulary words and hear sounds of the different animals. We were able to test out the Land Animals cards and even my 2 year old enjoyed hearing the sounds of the animals and learning their names. My 5 year old was excited to learn that zebras live in Africa and that kangaroos stay up all night.
The Tag hooks up to any computer via a USB connection and allows you to download the books very easily. We were able to do it on the first try, which speaks volumes. The Tag also comes with special software that allows you to track your child's progress as they read their special books.
We highly recommend the Leapfrog Tag for kids ages 4 - 8. The books seem like they would be more of a hit with the younger crowd while the older kids would probably enjoy the animal cards more. Leapfrog has also put together gift packs and starter kits which are great gifs. You can buy the Tag and the books individually online at Amazon.com & Leapfrog.com or you can visit Target or Toys R Us.
Now here's the best part. Do you know a child who would absolutely LOVE the Leapfrog Tag? Visit our Current Contest page on LIParentSource.com to find out how you can win the Leapfrog Tag System with two books!
