I think you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who isn’t a fan of the LeapFrog line of learning toys and accessories. We bought the LeapPad years ago along with the original Leapster. Since then I’ve reviewed the Zippity Learning System and Tag and Tag Junior Learning Systems and my kids are still enjoying “reading” books with those nifty handheld devices.

When I heard about LeapFrog’s new Leapster Explorer, I jumped at the chance to review one…in pink, of course. We already had a green Leapster for George, so it was only fair Livi had one to call her own as well! (Green Leapster Explorer pictured below.)

Before I tell you how much both my kids love our new Leapster Explorer (and play it all the time and beg me to “buy” more shampoo for their dogs and fight over whose turn it is to play), here are a few details about this new LeapFrog learning tool:

• LeapFrog’s most powerful gameplay yet; includes Flash and 3D graphics and the biggest, brightest touch-screen.


• Children can create a personal on-board pet, take it with them into LeapWorld and back again onto Leapster Explorer, earning treats and accessories for their pet along the way.


• Auto-leveling gameplay; the system stores information about a child’s progress and adjusts game and challenges so kids can learn at their own pace.


• Variety of experiences (literacy skill-building, phonics, mathematics, music, animals and geographical landscapes to name a few).


• For children ages 4 to 9.

That’s a lot of good stuff in one little handheld device! And that good stuff has kept my kids, especially Livi (only three but super mature for her age) occupied for hours on end.

Wait, I don’t let them play the Leapster Explorer for hours, promise. But with only three games (Penguins of Madagascar, Disney Princesses and Toy Story), it’s pretty impressive they have yet to tire of it. Like I mentioned before, Livi is constantly asking for more shampoo, which I can buy on LeapWorld with tokens she’s earned playing the games.

At less than $60, Leapster Explorer is a fabulous holiday gift, especially if you want to keep the kids entertained while you take that much needed Christmas Day nap!—Emily

A few weeks ago I reviewed two new games in Gamewright’s collection: Take the Cake and Can You See What I See? Bingo Link. Perfect for the younger group, my littlest ones really enjoyed these games. Of course, their older siblings were good sports and played along, but they were really biding their time until they could review the two other Gamewright games included in the samples sent for review: Dweebies and Rory’s Story Cubes.

Dweebies was first to be tried and tested by Madison, Lauren and me. The concept is fairly easy; you collect Dweebies—by far the cutest creatures ever printed on playing cards—by matching cards on both ends of any row (horizontally or vertically). Yes, the concept is easy but some of those Dweebies are super sly and will be gone before you can pair them with a match. We learned this the hard way a few times! You win by having collected the most Dweebies once the game is over—or those Dweebies are at a standstill.

Madison’s comments: “I think it’s cool how each card has its own personality. I think it’s also cool you can see how many there are of each card. I love this game!” (Note: Each card has a small number telling you how many matches that Dweebie has…yes, there’s a little strategy involved.)

Lauren’s comments: “It’s fun. It’s really easy to learn and all the Dweebies have different personalities and the game even gets your brain working.” (Good to know someone’s brain is working during summer vacation!)

My comments: “I actually really, really loved playing this game. I was the one begging for ‘just one more game, please!’ The Dweebies are super cute, the games aren’t too long and it’s seriously fun!”

The next game we tested was Rory’s Story Cubes. What I love about this game is it’s one of those you can actually play by yourself AND doubles as a great non-messy travel game. The tiny little box contains nine cubes, all with a variety of different pictures on them. All you do is roll the cubes, throw out a “Once upon a time…” and you’re on your way! You can play however you’d like: roll all nine and take turns building a story using all nine pictures; divide up the cubes, roll and then take turns building your story. The possibilities are endless! We divided the cubes among the three of us and each took turns rolling one, adding to the story as we went—a story that included a scarab beetle, lightning and a letter addressed to a padlock.

Madison’s comments: “I like it because it’s funny how people make up the stories as they go and you don’t know what they’re going to say.”

Lauren’s comments: “I really like them because you can tell your own story.”

My comments: “This is a really great game for me because I have very little imagination. Just ask my girls how well I do playing Barbies or Polly Pockets. I suck. But Rory’s Story Cubes got my storytelling juices flowing by supplying the images and letting me run with it. I think this would be an awesome travel game too!”

Both Dweebies and Rory’s Story Cubes are award-winning games. After testing all four games from Gamewright, I’m convinced this company is the way to go when it comes to fun, educational, imaginative games. We’ve seriously loved every one!—Emily

*** GIVEAWAY! Gamewright is giving away one game, winner’s choice! ***

NOTE: This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Here’s how to enter. You can do as many of these as you’d like. Each one is worth one entry into our giveaway:

•   Visit Gamewright.com and leave a comment telling us which game you’d most like to try.
•   “Like” Gamewright on Facebook and leave a comment telling us you joined.
•   Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL of your tweet.
•   Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL to your blog post.

Include a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: June 30, 2010 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

• Congratulations to Nadia P., the winner of the Gamewright giveaway! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read the review and add a comment. Keep reading the Daily Dish for your chance to participate in more giveaways!

Though our game closet isn’t as stocked as my aunt’s (I swear they buy a new game every week), we do have quite a good selection of children’s games. You’ll find classics like Battleship next to some sort of Disney princess game. In our closet there’s something for everyone!

Of course board gamers like us are always looking for fun, new games to try (and add to the shelves) so I was excited when Gamewright sent us four of their games for the family to try out and review on the Daily Dish. Today we’ll be sharing with you our take on Gamewright’s Take the Cake and Can You See What I See? Bingo Link.

First up is Take the Cake, an award-winning game that’s focus is the ever popular cupcake. (I was sold when I first saw the name of this one!)

The game is for ages four and up and has you shaking a sprinkle shaker full of colorful miniature wooden shapes. If any shapes match a cupcake on a card, you add them and when completely “frosted,” the card is yours. That’s it! Shaking the shaker helps with fine motor skills and shape and color recognition.

Now, Livi is only two but she does know her shapes and colors so we gave it a shot. She and Madison had a great time playing this little game, although it was hard to keep a two-year-old focused on shaking, then matching, then waiting for Madison to take her turn. (Hence the four-and-up guideline.) But even so it was still a great game for reinforcing Olivia’s knowledge of colors and shapes. I love the simplicity of the game and the dang cute cupcakes, shaker and “sprinkles.” Plus it’s one I could handle playing over and over again, which is a good thing because that’s what we’ve done since we first opened Take the Cake!

Next is Gamewright’s Can You See What I See? Bingo Link game. We love Walter Wick’s Can You See What I See? books and we love a good game of Bingo, so we couldn’t wait to try out a game that featured both.

Though designated for ages six and up, George was able to play with just a little coaching from Mom. Each board features the same 61 objects but in different places. The goal is to create a linking path from one color to the same color on the other side (red to red, blue to blue, etc.). You call out an object and everyone must find that object on their own board. That’s it! Sounds almost too simple to be fun but it really was—even after playing multiple times.

Can You See What I See? Bingo Link is also an award-winning game and helps with spatial relations, fine motor skills and visual discrimination. (I need work on that last one; I could never find those dang objects!) And actually, this is a great game to play with kids of all ages because it kept Livi entertained (she loved placing those little pegs wherever her heart desired) while I played with the older three. And it never gets old—I swear those objects move around the board when you’re not looking!

I can’t wait to review the two other games from Gamewright. The girls are super excited to crack them open. Look for another Gamewright review and giveaway in a few weeks! I think these next two are going to be great travel games perfect for summer vacations, so stay tuned!—Emily

*** GIVEAWAY! Gamewright is giving away one game, winner’s choice! ***

NOTE: This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Here’s how to enter. You can do as many of these as you’d like. Each one is worth one entry into our giveaway:

•  Visit Gamewright.com and leave a comment telling us which game you’d most like to try.
•  “Like” Gamewright on Facebook and leave a comment telling us you joined.
•  Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL of your tweet.
•  Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL to your blog post.

Include a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: June 4, 2010 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

• Congratulations to Tina R., the winner of the Gamewright giveaway! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read the review and add a comment. Keep reading the Daily Dish for your chance to participate in more giveaways!

I. Love. LeapFrog. That pretty much says it all. The company has sent me their Tag Reader and Tag Junior to review on Boutique Cafe’s Daily Dish and adore them both, as do my kids ranging in age from 2 to 12. Okay, so maybe the 12-year-old doesn’t use the Tag Readers but she did think they were super cool. Basically, whenever LeapFrog has a new product they want me to review on the Daily Dish I’m all over it…because I know my kids will be too.

The latest addition to LeapFrog’s line of electronic learning products is the Zippity Learning System. This not-so-little gadget is sort of Dance Dance Revolution meets Wii meets old-school Atari controller—but for 3- to 5-year-old children. The set consists of an interactive mat and “bopper” plus a small console that plugs into the television. The console has places for extra games but already comes with 8 games (2 levels each) featuring fave Playhouse Disney shows like My Friends Tigger & Pooh, Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins. (Anyone else absolutely adore Little Einsteins?) You can also purchase separate games with other popular characters like Lightning McQueen and those ever-effervescent Disney princesses.

George was so excited to try out his new Zippity he kept asking how soon ‘til Dad was home he could play it. (Yes, I could have set it up but I love giving Dad a chance to get involved with these reviews.) But George couldn’t wait so big sister got it all plugged in and set up for him. After that it only took a few false starts to help George understand how the mat and bopper worked and away he went trying out each game (easy level only) and finding out his faves; he really enjoyed making June and Goofy dance and helping Handy Manny’s tools fix things. Don’t believe me? Here’s a little video for you:

And just like the Tag Reader and Tag Junior, the Zippity offers the built-in Learning Path so you can track the skills your child is exploring as they learn and play. It’s really pretty cool. Though I love the Zippity I will say a couple things bothered me. One, the amount of batteries this puppy takes. I think it’s like 4 C batteries for both the console and the mat…and I have yet to find rechargeable size C batteries. (We’re big fans of rechargeable batteries around here.) And two, even though the games are geared towards 3-year-olds and up, the easy levels moved a bit too slowly for both George and me. Touted as an “active” learning system, the only time George really got moving was when he free danced with June, and he was moving way too fast for the game to keep up with him!

But all in all the Zippity is a huge hit at our house and would make a great holiday gift for the preschooler in your home. Even Livi had a great time taking a turn on the mat—after she gave her sister the count of three to do something. (Who do you suppose she got that from?) Check out this outtake video:

*** Giveaway LeapFrog is giving away one (1) Zippity Learning System to a lucky Daily Dish reader (and $80 value)! Here’s how to enter. You can do as many of these as you’d like. Each one is worth one entry into our giveaway:

•  Visit LeapFrog.com and leave a comment telling us your favorite LeapFrog product.
•  Become a fan of LeapFrog on Facebook and leave a comment telling us you’re their newest fan.
•  Follow LeapFrog on Twitter and leave a comment telling is you’re their newest follower.
•  Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL of your tweet.
•  Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL to your blog post.

Include a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: November 12, 2009 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

• Congratulations to Sky S., the winner of the Zippity giveaway! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read the review and add a comment. Keep reading the Daily Dish for your chance to participate in more giveaways!