I have a slightly different prize up for grabs this week. It’s not wooden, it’s not sustainable, it doesn’t really scream ‘natural’, but it’s a fab little gadget, and one we absolutely love.  It’s called the Leapfrog Tag Junior Reading System.

As Ameli faces down the barrel of two years old, she’s developed an amazing interest in books, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a tinge of pride when she climbed the stairs and counted them as she went… one, two, three, four, five, six, eight, seven, nine, TEN.  Or at least, that’s how it usually goes. We’ve never sat trying to teach her letters or numbers, but I’m certain that the stories we’ve been reading since she was just a few months old have had a part to play.

Now, with number two on the way, I’m aware that I might not always have the time that I’ve had thus far to devote to her, so we thought we’d try this Tag Junior Reading System.

The Tag Junior is a base handset onto which you can pre-load a set of Tag Junior books – there are 28 books and games – and the Tag Junior will ‘read’ the stories, add sound effect, and add extra little bits  and pieces to the story along the way.

In order to load the books, you set up an account, buy and download the books and you’re off. You personalise the Tag with your child’s name, so it greets them personally when you switch on and off.  On the downside, when you accidentally put the wrong name in, it seems almost impossible to change it without resetting the entire thing, but that’s easily remedied by not putting the wrong name in in the first place!

The great thing about the Tag Reading System is that it doesn’t have to be  a parent replacement system. You can sit together and ‘read’ together with the reader. We let it ‘read’ the story, then I might ask questions, or ask Ameli to point it to different things and so we play together. The books follow different themes, for example the Disney Pixar Cars book, based on the first movie, deals with shapes and uses road signs to introduce things such as circles, squares and triangles. It uses kites to introduce diamonds and even signs for stars.

There’s definitely been an educational element to it, as on our road trip at the moment, Ameli points out all the triangles (yield signs, for example) and circles (like speed notifiers) along the way.

The books also ask some questions, like on the last page there’s a circle, and they tell you to find another circle somewhere else in the book.  We have a lot of the books now, like Dora the Explorer who counts through the book, and a musical instruments one too and we’ve also got Winnie the Pooh lined up waiting for Ameli’s birthday. (It’s worth mentioning too that we don’t actually watch most of the programs associated with the books, like Dora the Explorer, but that doesn’t detract from their usefulness. Children don’t have to know the characters in order to benefit from or enjoy the stories.)

Leapfrog also offer an online ‘learning path’ that parents can keep track of to see how their child is developing, but that’s more useful when they can use the whole system on their own, which Ameli can’t  yet.

The only real negative I have found with this systems is that Leapfrog don’t recommend reusable batteries, which are a bit of a landfill problem and something I am not keen on, so our way around that is to use reusable batteries until they no longer work, then move them into a toy which requires less battery power, and drains them in a week or two before we recharge them.

Competition

Leapfrog have offered one Diary of a First Child reader the chance to win a Tag Reader. To be in with a chance to win this system, head over to the Leapfrog website, have a look at the books on offer, then come back here and let me know your favourite story.

Competition ends at 23:59 on 29 August, and the winner will be selected randomly using Random.org

You can follow Leapfrog (and Diary of a First Child) on Facebook. If you do, be sure to let them (Leapfrog) know I sent you, and leave a comment below to tell me you have.

AND the winner is katherine grieve

 

 

158 Comments

Leapfrog Tag Junior Review

  1. Definitely has to be Toy Story 3!! All my kids are Toy Story mad, the boys room is all Toy Story. I can’t think of a better way to get them to learn than with Toy Story 🙂

  2. Tag Junior Book – Disney Pixar Cars – just has to be this one, we went to see the new film Car 2 last week as a treat and the whole family enjoyed it. This book would be welcomed with open arms in our petrol head house.

  3. Disney Princesses – I would look forward to reading that and figuring out how to become a princess – let alone a little one!

  4. My little boy is 15 months old and already has a love for Thomas so i would have to say the Tag Junior Book – Thomas The Tank Engine

  5. My kids love Dr Seuss, so we’d love the Tag Junior Book – Dr Seuss, Mr Brown Can Moo. We love to laugh at the silly words and laugh at me trying to read it all!

  6. would be Thomas the tank engine as is a story i would love to read with my young boys, both myself and younger brother grew up with Thomas books so im pleased hes still going strong so that my boys can enjoy him too

  7. Would be Toy Story in our house, with 3 boys all aged 6 and under would get a lot of years worth of use as they all grew 🙂 xx

  8. My grandson is sitting here with me now pointing to Tag Junior Book – Disney Pixar Cars (he’s car mad at the moment, sounds like most boys/men never change as far as cars are concerened) I think these tag books are great what a wonderful revolutionary way to learn!

  9. I would say BACKYARDIGANS is a great wee story and its suitable for both boys and girls, Its a story that the children would get really involved with and love to read over and over again x

  10. I just adore leapfrog my eldest had one when she was younger so would luv to win 1 for my son.My fav is Thomas Tank engine 🙂 x

  11. I’ve liked both your page and leapfrog on facebook, and tagged you in a post to Leapfrom to let then know that you sent me =)

  12. Has to be Thomas the Tank Engine as my poor 11month old only seems to have his 2yr old sisters book to read at the moment! about time he had some ‘boys’ stuff!

  13. For me and my Grandson Lightening Mcqueen steals the scene!!! so “CarsRus” sorry cars for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  14. Mine and my twins favourite is Winnie the Pooh
    like you fb page already and now liking leapfrog and have told them you sent me 😀

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.