Leap Pad Explorer Ages 4-9 
Release date: Fall 2011
Price: $99.99
A little while back, we talked about the announcement of the VTech Innotab, a tablet for kids. The Innotab had some great features and is an exciting first entrance into the kid’s tablet space. I’m excited to say though that there are going to be multiple options out there. This week, I took a look at the new Leap Pad Explorer by Leap Frog.
I’ll start by saying that Leap Frog has always impressed me. They know kids! Time and time again their products are kid-tested, smart, engaging, and feature great uses of technology. The Leap Pad Explorer continues that tradition.
The Leap Pad Explorer features a 5″ full color screen that is durable and “drop-able”; perfect for little hands. On the side of the screen is a stylus that can be used freely or tethered to the device with an in-package string so that kids don’t lose it! (there’s also an extra just in case!). The device has a built-in camera that takes pictures and shoots video and that’s not all - We haven’t even begun to talk about the software.
The Leap Pad Explorer comes with tons to do built right on to the device, and plenty more that you can purchase and add on. There’s an included animation studio and art studio where kids can take their photo, add color, draw, and distort the images. There’s an e-reader that allows kids to read and interact with books. These books feature animation, a touchable dictionary, built-in interactions and synching voiceover with text that allows emerging readers to learn as they go. Finally, story studio allows kids to create their own stories with their photos, artwork and by recording their own voice.
That’s what comes with the device, but the Leap Pad Explorer also plays any Leapster Explorer cartridge game that your child already has or is newly purchased. That really turns the Leap Pad into a full gaming device. The Leapster Explorer won a Toy of the Year Award last year and the games for it are really wonderful. They are educational and target many subject areas including reading and math. Some are pen-based, teaching kids to write or draw and others feature the accelerometer or traditional video game controls to steer cars, win races, or just explore.
The final feature of the Leap Pad is an online destination site. Kids can connect the device to the computer to buy animated videos (from Disney, Nick, etc), games, or ebooks in the Leap Frog app store for instant play. For parents, there is an online learning path to see what your kids are doing and learning with the Leap Pad.
The re-use of the Leap Pad name is also brilliant. Parents will remember the aisles of original Leap Pad’s in the 90′s and the name also reminds us all of those adult iPads out there. The original Leap Pad sold over one hundred million copies, and it looks like the Explorer version intends to do the same thing.
One thing is for sure – The kids tablet race is definitely on! And I think this one is a winner!
Nickelodeon prepares for its 8th Annual Worldwide Day of Play (WWDOP) set for this Saturday, September 24, 2011, with the addition of a number of superstar athletes to the talent lineup for the network’s big celebration that will take place on the Ellipse in Washington, DC. Athletes and stars will be featured in Worldwide Day of Play: Get Your Game On!, a half-hour special that will air on Nickelodeon that evening at 7:30p. As in previous years, Nickelodeon’s TV networks and websites will all go off-air and offline Saturday, September 24, from 12p-3p, to encourage kids and families to get up and get active. Before going off-air at noon, the network’s stars will give viewers special on-location reports from Washington, DC, focusing on the activities and sharing tips on healthy and active lifestyles.
