Math Reviews

MY DAUGHTER IS A FIRST GRADER AND SHE DOSE NOT LIKE IT THE CATRIDGE WHAT COMES WITH IT IS NOT EDUCATIONAL AT ALL SHE PLAYS WITH IT MORE FOR FUN I WISH THERE WAS A BETTER CHOICE IN CATRIDGES IT ISA LOT OF CASH TO SPEND AND THE CHOICE OF CAT IS POOR I THINK THE LEAP PAD IS MUCH BETTER SYSTEM SHE JUST FINDS NOT CHALLENGING THNAKS

My son is in kindergarten and is enjoying his leapster!~! Along with the cartridge that comes with the leapster he also recd 1st grade! although it is not totally curriculum based he has the skills needed to use it without help!
The screen is very easy to see!! the pen is also easy! The touch screen feature is great and the directions are easy to follow!~! WE love this toy!!

Though we love Leapster, I was a little disappointed in this cartridge. I do not believe the first grade cartridge addresses enought first grade skills - i.e. limited phonics skills, and only the very basics of first grade math. I didn't feel this cartridge challenged my child like I wanted it to, and having taught first grade for many years, I thought the cartridge would address a broader range of skills reaching to the end of first grade materials. It seems to only hit on beginning first grade skills and here we are in the middle of the year! It is fun and he does enjoy it... but I am already waiting for the second grade cartridge to be released because he is ready for more.

This is a great toy! My son loves the Math Mat so much that when I challenge him to a game he shouts out the answers to the problems and occasionally tries to step on the buttons even when it's my turn to play! This is a great toy for letting the kids run off some of their energy as they review their basic math skills. My 5-year-old son runs around the mat as the computer voice says the equation and then he quickly runs to step on the answer. The mat has three games (number identification and sequence, addition, and subtraction) and two levels of play. Regarding addition and subtraction, the first level requires you to find the sum or the difference and the second level gives you the answer to the problem and the first number in the equation and you provide the missing number. We use level 1 as a warm up since it provides a good review and then we play level 2 for a challenge.

I'd give this toy more than 5 stars in the fun and educational categories if I could. Since most children are quite active and learn math at different rates and since repetition is good at this stage, most children would get a lot of good quality use out of this game. I think the durability is pretty good also but it's really too soon to know.

We just got this two days ago. It is a great toy. My 5 yr old was up at 7:00 this morning playing it! My 2 1/2 yr old even plays it because they have a number recognition mode. It's great for my 5 yr old and I to play together and see who can get to the answer first. He loves doing kartwheels while landing his hand on the right answer. Good Job Learning Resources! Two notes: this math goes up to the end of second grade (18 + what = 22 and 20 - what = 12) and as mentioned in a previous review, it is difficult to hear when there is anyone talking in the room, but the is a repeat button. Therefore I would say it is for 2 1/2 - 7 yr olds.

I am the mother of a very hyper 5 year old boy soon to be entering kindergarden. It has been very difficult and expensive to try and find ways to teach him without boring or frustrating him. I have bought many electronical educational toys and I'd have to say this is about the best one so far to date. I have many leappad products and while they are great in theory, they are not for my hyper child that just wants to "play" and not sit down with some reading pad or talking phonic treehouse. The only time he will sit for a period of time to learn is with his computer games.

I think this is so good for my son because he is hyper and it allows for and even encourages movement. Yet, this toy also requires listening and focused attention. Due to the latter fact, I will admit that at first it seemed like another waste of money. He was getting frustrated because he wasn't getting the right answers and didn't want to play. My son does not know all his #'s and that was my main purpose for buying this item. I did figure out the best way for him was to deivide up the #'s between us. He got the 0-5 and I took 6-10. It's been less than a week and he has almost mastered his side. All in only 10-15 mins of play each day. The fact that he will still play it is a major thrill for me. It's fun factor also comes from it being sort of a timed game so that after each correct answer its ticking will speed up and once time is up it will tell you how many you got correct. We have the highest score possible on the #'s and he is almost as proud as I am.
There are 2 levels and 3 activities: Numbers, addition and subtraction. We are just on numbers but once he learns all of them (my side and his)I know this will be a great way to help him with adding and subtracting as well. There are also some really great suggestions as for other ways to play using the mat included.
So as long as it holds up I'd have to say it's a wonderful toy and not just in theory.

This game is great! The tiny dinos spark my 5 year-old son's imagination and enables him to have so much fun that he does not realize he is learning. Furthermore, he does not want to stop!!! He learned place value up to the thousands during our first game. After each roll of the dice the player uses all four dice to make a number and then s/he reads the number aloud (i.e. if you roll 6666 you say six thousand six hundred and sixty six). As we move our dinos around the board T.R. looks forward to our pieces landing on the same track so that we can have a "Showdown". In a "Showdown" you simply have to roll a dice and the person who gets the larger number wins. However, we move our dinos to the middle of the board and have a miniature battle. The player who rolled the larger number wins the battle. The loser is sent back home and the winner gets to move ahead. After playing the game a couple of times without using the cards - which is the simplest level of play with this game - my son asked to use the cards. So on Day 2 we began using the cards. Again he uses his imagination and does a great deal of role play as he carries out the instructions. It fills my heart with delight to see his excitement and to see that he has truly learned how to read numbers up to the thousands. (T.R. learned to read when he was 4 so he independently reads the dice and reads the cards.)

As a parent I highly recommend Dino Math Tracks because kids quickly learn a lot while having loads of fun. This game can be played at three levels, so it grows with your child.

My child loves this game! Each person has a single type of dinosaur in four different colors. Each color represents one of the placement values; Ones, Tens, Hundreds, Thousands. The dinosaurs, as determined by roll of four dice, have to walk their color-coordinated path from start to finish. But look out! If an opponent lands on the same space, a die-rolling duel ensues, with the high-roller prevailing. This basic game is a lot of fun for young children. Then there are two decks of cards, one more advanced than the other, which enable the parameters of the game to expand with the child's developing math skills. My child and I can play on even ground - a rare trait in today's games. This comes highly recommended!

I was not too excited when my kids got an educational board game as a gift, but my kids took right to it and still ask to play it on a regular basis a year later. They have learned a lot, and I am buying this game as a gift for our school friends this year. My only gripe is that the numbers wore off the dice, since the kids played the game so much!

I bought this puzzle for Christmas for my two-year old niece. Not only did she learn how to put it together, but she loved it so much she would sleep with it at night! It has counting, colors, left, right, and a puzzle to boot.

The only negative was it arrived with a broken peg. A little super glue and it was as good as new. I would keep a close eye out for those pieces to break off as they would be choking hazards for little ones.

Toddlers are facinated by the peg puzzle, which allow for them to easily manipulate pieces. This puzzle has been a great gift providing a quiet and educational opportunity. This very durable puzzle with bright colors easily encourages play that leads to understanding left and right.

I have two years old bright twins that are into puzzles. They are a little too young for most floor puzzles and too bored with the common stand-along pieces puzzles. This puzzle is an excellent transition to a higher level puzzle solving. The pieces interact together to form a bigger image. There is a built in logic to their interaction my kids love to explore. The add-on values such as colors and numbers in the pictures under the pieces are very useful. I wish I could find more puzzles like this one.

Alex got this for Christmas and absolutely loves it! This is neck and neck w/Finding Nemo as his favorite LeapPad book.

The leap Pad and its books have been wonderful for my children. I do have a few ideas for improvements like putting all the leap pad books into a holder like what the "Smart guides" are sold in and also that the books need to be more durable (like wipeable pages and more durable pages for the preschoolers). Also there needs to be more of the characters that the preschoolers like ( dora the explorer, blues clues, mickey, monsters Inc, sesame street, george shrinks, bearstrain bears, dragon tales, more bible stories, etc).

My twin boys are 2 1/2 and they love their leap pad. They have watched the Lion King and loved the movie. We like this book because we can go over different parts of the movie on a slower pace rather than by just watching the movie. It's a wonderful addition to the leap pad library

My 4 yr old got this last christmas together with a few other titles. It's definitely his favourite and still keeps him occupied. There are nice counting and matching games and rhymes. It's pages are more interactive (more things to point to) than many other titles. Pooh's pronounciation makes him a little hard to understand at the beginning.

This book was one of my 3 year olds first books for her LeapPad, and it is still her favorite. She likes Winnie the Pooh, and it's filled with games that help her practice counting, find objects from tallest to smallest, matching, shapes, colours, music, and more. She plays with this book by herself and likes it better than most of the Leap Start reading books. It's educational, fun, and is a great introduction to a LeapPad for a preschooler.

My 3 yr old son LOVES this book! He can answer the questions and yet it was not so easy as to bore him. It's perfect for preschoolers who are learning their numbers and counting.

Great for teaching the concept of 10's, adding, subtracting - in a fun way! Highly recommend.

There are 10 wooden beads which slide across each of the 10 metal rods of the toy. The colors are bright and the frame is thick and durable. As should be expected, there are no instructions included with the abacus.

When I got this game and played with my family, I did not think it was much fun because it takes a while to learn the piggy positions. I played again with a fun group who knows the positions well and I really got into it. The more players, the better.

Pass the Pigs is really the ultimate travel game. It's entirely contained within a handy dandy carrying case for easy transport. The plastic case is about the size of a checkbook and contains all you will need for hours of fun and hilarity. Nestled inside the case are two pink pigs, a small tablet (with golf pencils), and (of course) the rules. The pigs have a black dot on one side of their tiny little bodies and this dot will affect your scoring.

Basically, you throw the pigs (much like rolling dice) and the way the pigs land (dot side up, touching each other, on top of each other (my oh my!), etc) corresponds to a score (each with cute little piggy names like pig-out, leaning jowler, trotter, making bacon (very bad!), etc.. Where strategy comes in is the roller of the pigs has to decide whether to keep the score and pass or to keep rolling in an effort to add to the score. The object of the game is to reach the winning score first (usually something like 100). The roller of the pigs can keep rolling until pigging out (which is fairly easy to accomplish) or pass. If you pig out, your score is reset to zero. It's fun stuff!

Pass the Pigs is a variation on Yahtzee, with the fun little pig dice being thrown into different combinations with various point values.

It's a great game to take on trips, or to pull out when entertaining children of various ages; everyone can enjoy it. I've played with children as young as 4 and had a fine time.

Although the rules of the game rely on the player taking a turn until he or she determines that luck is about to run out (at the risk of losing all accumulated points), this can easily be modified (esp. for younger children) so that each player throws the dice in turn and records points.

The educational value is in using mathematical skills, and pattern recognition skills, for younger players.

This game is very durable, but it would be a sad day indeed if the little pigs were ever lost. Luckily, all the parts (pigs, score pad, pencil) fit into a neat little case.

My son got this toy for his 4th birtday. He truly loves it, but it's a battery eater! I cannot believe how quickly this toy drains 4 AA batteries. Thank goodness they are coming out with a recharging unit soon or we'd go broke!

I've never written a review before, but feel I have to about this product. It is the BEST money spent on my daughter ever!!!! My daughter got this for Christmas when she was 3 1/2 years old. She has played with it every day. At night we read books to her and then let her do her Leapster for a little while. We just purchased The Letter Factory for our last trip....and she already knows ALL the letter phonics....it is just amazing!!!!! We have never had a problem with it in 7 months...and we just put new batteries in it for the first time. I so highly reccomend this toy!!!!!

Twice bitten...

We got my 4 year old a Leapster last Christmas. He loved it and could do all the activities the cartridge it came with had, plus the Dora the Explorer cartridge. The problem(s) we had, though, was that after just 2 months the screen or stylus lost it's sensitivity. You could no longer select items on the screen and going through the steps on the card provided did not help (you can't recalibrate if the screen won't pick up the stylus touching anywhere on the screen it would seem). We blamed our son for dropping it and "not treating his toys well". Then four months later we broke down and decided to buy him a new one to take on a trip (his older sister had a Gameboy she was taking). Two days before vacation I was driving 40 miles roundtrip to buy him a Gameboy and returned the NEW, NEVER PLAYED with Leapster. It had the SAME problem the first one had, right out of the box--and no, this one also would not/could not be recalibrated either (we apologized for thinking he had "abused" the first one).

While it's fun and keeps the youngsters occupied for longer than most things will, it's just not worth the money and time to try and get a "good" one. Not after getting TWO lemons.

This is a great book if you have Bob fans in the house. The only concern that we had with it is that it does teach insecurity through Lofty. Saying things like, "I'm not any good for anything," really doesn't do much for the self esteem in a child. As a teacher, my husband was quite concerned about comments such as those stressed by Lofty throughout the book. We also didn't like hearing Spud saying, "nay, nay nay nay nay" -not something you want to hear repeated by a three-year-old. Anyway, my son loves this book and plays with it throughout the day, almost daily. I just wish I could edit out those things that are insecurities and it would be a great book. Whenever Lofty says that he can't do something, my son says, "yes you can!" So, keep that in mind before buying the book. You're going to have to explain a few things as the story goes along. They really need to make more of these books with characters such as Bob. They're a bunch of fun and the music/voices are the same as the show.

This is a great leap pad book. My 4 yr old son loved it instantly. The familiar characters from the Bob the Builder show make this book lots more fun than the ones featuring the Frog. I especially liked the fact that this book helps to teach that teasing is not a nice thing to do. There are at least 2 games on every page and it has the music from the show also. It is definitely worth the price and I hope they make more Bob the Builder books for the Leap Pad.

My son is 4 and he loves this Bob book. He prefers it to his Bob videos since he is playing with the characters as he reads the book. It's wonderful that Leap Frog makes books that go beyond teaching ABC's for kids because there are so many important things they need to learn, and this book has loads of them (bigger vocabulary, comprehension, numbers, shapes to name a few). As a former teacher, I highly recommend this book for the entertainment AND education.