Leapfrogâ® Leappad Explorer (pink)

We bought this for our 5 year old daughter. She seldom uses it, it does not seem to engage her (she's now 6). We've had it for almost a year, since they first released it. The batteries do not last very long (uses AA's) and the apps are far too expensive. Unfortunately there was no info on how much the apps would be before we purchased it. The apps are $5 and up (most are over $5). The screen also cracked quickly. One thing we did like was the ability to personalize it and have different users. Her older brothers don't use it either though, not engaging enough. We've had many, many LeapFrog products over the years and they are usually top notch. I wouldn't recommend it to a friend and I certainly wouldn't buy one again.

My 4 year-old daughter received the pink LeapPad for Christmas & loves it! As parents, my husband & love how easy it is to set-up and use. The camera & video, art studio, and endless games keep her entertained (and learning) for hours. We feel so much better letting her use this versus taking our iphone or ipad and playing games. She's practiced her letters and numbers and enjoys taking care of her 'animals' with the PetPals game. We've tried some of the other systems and by far this is the best!!!

I bought the leappads for my girls to keep them busy on the way to disney (18 hours) with a 3 and 7 year old. Wasn't sure about my older one liking it but she loves it so much I have to set a limit on it lol. It is very educational and fun at the same time. You will love this product!

I purchased the LeapPad for my daughter's 5th birthday. A friend had just given it to her son and warned me that there were some updates that needed to download and the leap pad needed to be registered--only things you can do from a computer. These updates take about 30 minutes so I decided to open it before I gave it to my daughter, to save my sanity, rather than trying to fight off an excited 5 year old who doesn't understand "software update needed". It is very to do and the included software walks you through the process. Of course once it downloaded I had to play with it--can you blame me? It doesn't come with batteries, so make sure you have plenty of AA's. The ONLY complaint I have about this product is the battery life. Granted my daughter plays it constantly but its getting expensive to change the batteries every couple of days. I purchased three games and an e-book--two hardware and two downloaded from the website. They all run roughly 20$, but are absolutely worth the money. I also love the fact that it comes with two stylus...styluses...styli? whatever they are, there are two of them. We managed to lose both within the first week but that's pretty much par for the course at our house. The great thing is that you don't actually have to use a stylus since the touch screen also responds to finger touch. The camera and video are marginal but totally sufficient for a child. My husband is deploying to Afghanistan for a year and was able to leave her a recorded message that she can watch every night before bed! This is a HUGE bonus for me and would be wonderful for any child who is periodically separated from a parent. So, long and short of it is, if you have enough batteries and a child (or immature adult) you'll be very happy with this purchase.

I write a parenting blog called PrissyMommy.com and I received a LeapPad for review. I can tell you first off what a relief this has been for both my husband and myself. Our preschooler just couldn't keep his sticky (literally) little paws off of our ipad. He was always so intrigued by it, and my husband had more apps downloaded on it for him than us put together! So it's nice that he now has his OWN tablet that can occupy him through the weekends and on family trips. He carries it around in his little bear backpack when he's not on it. He sits between my husband and I on the couch and uses it, and it occupies him longer than any of his other toys and personal electronic devices. The way we see it is computers will become a major part of his life, especially once he starts elementary school, and so I don't feel bad about letting him spend as long as he wants on it since the apps that he is playing are all educational. (It's not like plopping him down in front of the TV.) The apps that he plays with are directly correlated with what he's learning in school now, which is awesome for us. It's like reviewing school on the weekends, in a way that he enjoys and has fun with. We've been doing a lot of letter and number recognition, along with word building and learning about unusual animals and science. I also love that the screen is large, and the video picture is SO clear. He feels just like mommy and daddy now that he has his own camera. He especially loves the drawing feature, since he's really into art and creating. I wish the battery life was a bit longer. We frequently make 5 hour trips down south and he likes to use it on and off throughout the trip, which can be draining on the battery when it's not turned off properly. He is having so much fun that we'd like to buy more games for it. I love that there's such a wide selection available, and that they're also compatible with the Explorer (which he got last Christmas). However, they are on the pricey side to me, so that'll have to be done in moderation. Other than that, we love our LeapPad, and it's replaced his LeapTop for his #1 favorite personal electronic device.