Toy Review | My Own Story Time Pad

Recently I received a My Own Story Time Pad from Leap Frog to review. My son Charlie just turned 3 and was so excited to play with it. First thing I did was hook it up to the computer and sync with the Leap Frog Learning Path. If you don’t already have the Leap Frog Connect software on your computer, their site will lead you through the download and then you will be ready to personalize some of the features on the My Own Story Time Pad. You can personalize the My Own Story Time Pad with your child’s name, that is a big hit with my son. When Scout the dog talks he says my son’s name, how cool is that. When my son pushes the letter C it says, “That’s the first letter of your name, Charlie. Let’s celebrate your letter.” The screen shows his name and then Scout the dog does a short dance to music.

The most favorite button for my son to push is the email button. I personalized it so he receives emails from Mom, Dad, and his Uncle, plus it comes with an email from Scout. He laughs every time he hears the Story Time Pad read his emails to him.

Another feature he adores is the music button. One of the songs spell out his name. I was able to choose other songs from a list when I was in the Learning Path. So ours sings a number song, the alphabet song, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, If You’re Happy and You Know It and more. In this setting he can also make his own music by pressing the letters of the alphabet. All the letters make different and sometimes funny sounds. The letter “A” makes a donkey noise, it gets a big laugh by all my kids every time they press it.

Here is what the Leap Frog site says the My Own Story Time Pad teaches:

• The Alphabet – Children who can recognize letters with confidence have an easier time learning letter sounds and word spellings.
• Storytelling – Children learn the patterns of oral language and stories by listening to and repeating what they hear and read.
• Phonics skills – To read independently, children must understand the relationship between the sounds in spoken words and the letters that represent those sounds.
• Pretend Play – Pretend play offers a creative outlet that strengthens a child’s understanding of the world as he acts out stories he knows and situations he observes in the adult world. As imagination grows, dramatic play becomes more complex.

This has been a great learning tool at our house. Even my older kids, ages 5 and 7, like to play with it. The only negative thing I have to say about it, is that the graphics on the screen can be a little difficult to see. For the price, around $29.99, it is a steal for all the learning tools and interactive personalization features you get. This would make a fantastic gift, especially for a younger child whose older siblings have a LeapPad or Leapster. (My son thinks this is his own LeapPad like the big kids have.) If you want to learn more about the My Own Story Time Pad from Leap Frog click here to go to their website.

*No monetary compensation was given for this review. I have written my honest opinion about this product. Please visit Leap Frog to find out more about their products.