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As a work from home mom I’ll admit, I’m reliant on electronics to help keep my kids busy while I work. I prefer fun and educational games, books and puzzles but my kids are no strangers to Netflix. LeapFrog is a brand I can count on to make products my kids love. All three of my kids have their own Tag and Tag Jr. readers which they love. Whenever LeapFrog comes out with a new product, I’m anxious to check it out. This holiday season they’ve released two new products that are sure to top Hottest Toy lists and best of all, they’re very reasonably priced!
[amazon_link id=”B00CRZXSGE” target=”_blank” ]LeapFrog Learn to Write with Mr. Pencil[/amazon_link] — When I first saw this product I didn’t really understand what it was. Essentially, it’s really nothing more than an oversized stylus. That being said, the app that goes along with it is quite impressive. You can download the basic app for free but the stylus unlocks the full app. Priced at just $14.99 it’s a great value. The unlocked app contains more than 85 activities in the town of Doodleburg. They’ll practice numbers (1-20), letters (both upper and lowercase and shapes with interactive writing guidance. Mr. Pencil is very encouraging!
You can track the progress of up to 3 children (perfect for me as all of my kids are in the right age group for this product) with separate profiles. Kids complete tasks to help Dot and Dash decorate 24 parade floats for Doodleburg’s Art Appreciation Day Parade. The stylus and app work with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad devices.
My six year old tried the app first and he was hooked. He wanted to keep playing until he “beat the game”. I love that he enjoyed it so much and it was good practice for him and his writing skills as a first grader.
My youngest who just turned 3 will probably get the most use out of the app. It amazes me how much she is learning from it already. As you can see from the short video above, she really enjoys the game, especially the confetti machine. Two days a week we visit either McDonalds or Starbucks while we wait for my middle daughter to finish preschool rather than driving all the way home and back. I work on my laptop while she “works” on the iPad. So many customers were giggling at her this day because she was so excited and kept yelling “Yay!” She’s lucky she’s so cute or she might have been more of a distraction. Instead, like she’s so good at doing, she brought smiles to the faces of those around her.
My middle daughter who’s 4 also really likes this app and enjoys during her work while her brother is at school and her sister is napping. It works out really well! We are definitely getting $14.99 worth out of this product!
The pencil is perfect for little hands and those just learning to write. For my son, a standard size stylus might be better as regular pencils are what he uses at school. For the girls, Mr. Pencil is great. I highly recommend this product!
The second product is the [amazon_link id=”B00CRZXS82″ target=”_blank” ]Creativity Camera Protective Case & App[/amazon_link]. It turns your iPhone or iPod Touch into a kid-friendly camera and creativity center. This one I checked out on my own. Because I already KNOW my kids are going to love it, I’m saving it for a Christmas gift.
It might be designed for kids but the app is so much fun I couldn’t stop playing with it. That’s a doctored pictured of myself, above. Cute, right? Ha! I can only imagine the things my kids will come up with! You can add frames to photos, play around with the silly accessories (like the photo above) and so much more. The app itself is free but just like with the Mr. Pencil Stylus, purchasing the Creativity Camera Protective Case unlocks even more fun. I suggest purchasing the case. It’s only $14.99 and makes the app easier to use. Even more importantly, it protects your device! My kids have a tendency to be a bit rough with electronics so protection is important! The case not only protects your device but it turns it into a really neat looking camera your kids will love to play with. Another win for LeapFrog! Great product!
I received free product as part of a promotional program with LeapFrog and MomSelect, however, all opinions expressed are my own. I was not compensated in any other way. See Mommies With Cents disclosure policy for more details.