Wow, Christmas is fast approaching yet again and I am beginning to feel that familiar pressure when it comes to selecting and buying toys and requested items for the big day for my six children.
Obviously there's the financial pain of the season to contend with felt by most parents but on the lighter side of that, is the challenge to find exciting new playthings which will engage your child for longer than five whole minutes. Ever bought your child a toy like that?; Something that was discarded out of disinterest within minutes of being unwrapped? It gives you a very horrible sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach as a parent to witness that.
I dislike the wastage and consumerism of the Christmas season and so I am very particular about selecting items that are educational, enjoyable and engaging for my children. A good toy pick should be strong enough to go the distance and continue to have the 'pull-power' to keep drawing them in further down the track. I firmly believe the Leapfrog brand offer these three impressive elements. They've been a high-standing brand in my mind for many parenting years now.
LeapFrog recently sent my two youngest children a parcel of goodies for their enjoyment. You can bet my little road testers were pretty pleased about that too!
Miss Celeste, (once the excitement of the post box itself wore thin!) descended upon her LeapFrog Mobile Med Kit with all the urgency of a true emergency department professional. She rolled its little ambulance housing, fumbled and fiddled, pressed buttons, clapped her way through its happy tunes and admired its inclusions with lots of enthusiasm and interest.
This little girl of mine is almost two now and has begun to branch out into the exciting world of pretend play. We've had a couple of medical toys over the years and they've always been very successful playthings with this age group. Our existing medical kits were well and truly beyond their use-by however so a shiny new toy with all her favourite medical bits and bobs is a huge treat indeed.
The Mobile Med Kit is a good, sturdy, rolling ambulance with a cute face and an even cuter personality. No need to worry about your child taking tumbles pushing this, even when they lean all their weight on it while they do so. It has a good design being wider at the base which makes it able to take a bit of punishment at the hands of your toddler.
The little ambulance itself speaks and sings with a good, crisp British accent (love that!), and its sweet little voice comes in two volumes too so that Mum and Dad can still hear the TV. The ambulance encourages your child to complete medical missions and rush to the aid of a patient to the tune of its siren.
On board are all the regular essentials used by any GP: A pretend-play stethoscope, a thermometer, (complete with twistable temperature function), an otoscope for checking out ear complaints and a squeaking syringe for jabbing siblings and parents as required. (Ever popular that one!)
The Mobile Med Kit stores everything on board and can be easily carried or rolled from room to room by your young child. Medical toys are a fantastic way to acquaint your toddler with the real workings of a regular doctor and this little toy is designed to educate your young one about the human body, health and hygiene.
The Mobile Med Kit by LeapFrog retails for RRP $34.99 and is suitable for the 2 plus age group.
Taite was beside himself with joy when the latest LeapFrog Leap Band appeared. This sensational toy is designed for the 4-7 year age group and Taite sits right in the middle of that at 6. He's an ever-active boy in need of constant entertaining and the Leap Band is the perfect toy to rope him in and give him purpose.
Leap Band is a small gaming device which is worn on the wrist. This is not just a watch however (though is does have a time display). Leap Band is packed full of fun activity inspired learning and it is powered by play. Every movement and every activity is designed to get the wearer physically busy and earning 'joules.' Joules to us grown ups are units of energy but for kids with a Leap Band these are depicted as actual jewels. Earning enough jewels unlocks up to 8 animated pets which is a huge incentive to get into action for a fun reward.
The device comes with one pet unlocked and ready to customise. Additional pets are a real physical workout and not so easy to unlock as to make the toy redundant quickly. The device has a brilliant high resolution colour screen and again, a pleasant British accent. It does not require batteries thanks to an included USB - simply dock to your PC to charge. There are even parental controls so that you can lock your child out at bedtimes and during school hours.
Setting up the Leap Band was super simple and it took around 20 minutes to fire itself up with the included USB. There is very little to do to get it functioning as it pretty much does it all for you. Parents just need to register the device or sign into their LeapFrog account as part of the process - all prompted and all easy.
Watching my Son play with his new Leap Band is so entertaining!
Taite spent a good long Sunday afternoon getting to know his new device and I spied him doing the sweetest little challenges as he worked towards powering his pet and earning new ones. I witnessed him pretend to walk like a penguin, wade through imaginary water while carrying ice cream, and even crawl like a worm on the ground! There are too many activities to list here.
The Leap Band has initiated unexpected play opportunities with additional family members too which I am very happy to see. There is sharing happening here! When Taite gets a bit worn out from earning joules, he passes his Leap Band over to a Brother to continue the action. The boys all hit the trampoline together to 'up' the chances of earning even more joules!
One Leap Band equals lots of worms slithering...!
I think this device is fantastic! It is very engaging for all the reasons I have mentioned here and well worth the RRP of $59.99. Despite the recommended age range of 4-7 years, my 8 and 10 year old Sons were extremely interested in this toy too. LeapFrog toys are available in department stores and toy stores across Australia. Visit the LeapFrog website here for more information on these and other great toys available in the range.
LeapFrog would like to offer two Six Little Hearts readers the choice of one of these two toys to win!
Choose either a Leap Band (Valued at $59.99) or Mobile Med Kit (Valued at $34.99) for your child.
Total prize pool is $94.98.
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I really appreciate this so thank you in advance.
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*Disclosure: The items reviewed in this post were gifted. Opinions expressed are those of the blog's author.
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