Children's educational toys and learning products have changed so much since my oldest daughters (now 14 and 11) were little; compared to their older sisters, Lil Man and Lil Diva seem to have a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips and so many creative and fun products to help them learn everything they need to learn to be ready for whatever the world throws at them.
LeapFrog has long been one of my go-to brands when it comes to educational toys for my kids, I love that they make learning so much fun for little ones by providing them with toys that are actually learning tools in disguise, like two of their newest offerings the Creativity Camera Protective Case & App and the Learn to Write with Mr. Pencil™ Stylus & Writing App.
About the Creativity Camera Protective Case and App.
- Designed for little ones, the Creativity Camera Protective Case and App combines the camera power of iPhone® and iPod touch® with creative learning fun! The case protects your iPhone or iPod touch device and the information stored in it while your child enjoys hours of play. To use, simply download the free creativity learning app, and place your device into the protective case for hours of games and activities. Children can edit photos to make silly pictures, go on photo missions to create special albums and even play an exciting augmented reality game. This innovative app toy turns your device into the ultimate creativity camera that kids will love!
About the Learn to Write with Mr. Pencil Stylus and App.
- The Learn to Write with Mr. Pencil™ app toy gives kids a fun, engaging way to interact with the world of Mr. Pencil and the citizens of Doodleberg as they learn writing and drawing skills! Children can use the adorable stylus to unlock an adventure-filled app with more than 85 interactive activities, and practice writing letters and numbers along with drawing skills in a fun way.. And don't worry about the safety of your screen - this kid-friendly stylus is specially designed not to scratch it! This breakthrough app toy helps turn your iPhone®, iPad® and iPod touch® into the ultimate learn-to-write tool.
Thanks to MomSelect and LeapFrog, we had the chance recently to try out both of these cool new offerings from LeapFrog and my little ones, couldn't have been more excited! With a number of Apple products in the house, I couldn't wait to get the kids started playing with these two products and they were both adamant about starting with the camera. One of Lil Man and Lil Diva's favorite things to do is pick up my iPhone (or my oldest daughter's iPod Touch) and take photos, they love capturing their own silly faces as well as the occasional awkward shot of mom in the kitchen cooking (not very cool kiddos, not very cool). While I don't always love their choice of subjects, I do love seeing them have such a deep love of photography and the creativity that it can and often does, inspire. I did hesitate for an instant when taking my iPhone out of it's protective case and placing it inside the Creativity Camera, but the instant I closed the door, I knew that it was well protected no matter how rough the kids were with it, which definitely made it easier for me to hand it over for the kiddos to go create.
It didn't take long before both Lil Man and Lil Diva were snapping pictures of everything from the cats to the floor, but their favorite subject seemed to be themselves, as you can see below, Lil Diva was having a lot of fun with the editing aspect of the Creativity Camera app. Lil Diva loved that she was able to snap her own picture and then go in and add silly colors and frames and even cute little stars and hearts and flowers, she actually spent the better part of an hour walking around the house taking photos and then editing them, the two below are a couple of my favorites.
I honestly can't remember Lil Diva having this much fun with another educational toy, unless of course, you count her beloved LeapPad.
What I love about the Creativity Camera Protective Case and App:
* It's easy for Lil Diva to use! The size and shape of the protective camera case, is perfect for Lil Diva's tiny hands, while the camera itself is bigger than most traditional cameras, Lil Diva had no trouble at all carrying the camera around and snapping pictures with it.
* It lets Lil Diva become familiar with taking photos and editing them within an app that is specially designed for little ones. I like that my little ones can take photos (without limitations) and edit them within one app, without having to go into the photo albums on my phone, choosing a photo and then opening another app to edit. The editing options available are simple to use and perfect for Lil Diva's age range.
* Lil Diva can be creative without me worrying that my iPhone will be destroyed in the process...I really love the piece of mind that gives me!
Next up is my personal favorite of the two, the Learn to Write with Mr. Pencil Stylus and App. I decided not to enroll Lil Diva in preschool this year, mostly because she's my last child and I wanted to spend some more time just the two of us before she starts kindergarten next fall, but the decision not to enroll Lil Diva in school meant that I would have to work with her twice as hard while she's at home to get her ready for kindergarten next year. I'm constantly picking up new educational tools and trying new activities to keep Lil Diva interested and excited about learning, but keeping a four year old's attention isn't always easy. The one thing Lil Diva does always love to play with is my iPhone so I knew that chances were good that she would really like using the Mr. Pencil Stylus along with the app on my phone...and I was right! Check out the video below of Lil Diva using the Learn to Write with the Mr. Pencil Stylus and App.
As you can see from the video, Lil Diva is excited about playing with the Mr. Pencil Stylus and app, but it doesn't take long for her to become frustrated when the app doesn't respond the way she wants it to. It took a little practice on her part, but Lil Diva quickly caught on to how the stylus worked and was able to navigate through the tasks with ease.
What I love about the Learn to Write with Mr. Pencil Stylus and App.
* Lil Diva is learning to write her letters, shapes, and numbers the correct way, but in a way that is also fun for her. I really appreciate that the app forces the child to write the letters and numbers in the correct way and will not let them move on if they haven't, this of course, was also the one thing about the Mr. Pencil Stylus and app that Lil Diva often became frustrated with, but her desire to move on throughout the tasks, had her quickly figuring out the correct way to write each letter.
* I really love that the Mr. Pencil stylus is so portable, Lil Diva can open the app on my phone from virtually anywhere and as long as she has the Mr. Pencil stylus (which easily fits in her bag) she's ready to play and learn.
I'm really glad that we were able to check out these two new gadgets from LeapFrog, not only have they become a big part of Lil Diva's everyday play, they've also become two great learning tools, which I can definitely appreciate. Though Lil Diva has no idea that she's getting one, my husband and I bought her an iPod touch for Christmas, I just know that these two toys will become an even bigger part of her everyday learning and play when she has her own device to play with them on. If you have a little one in the 3-6 age range (and honestly, Lil Man in 6 and loves the Creativity Camera), then I definitely suggest checking out these great new toys from LeapFrog, both of them would make excellent holiday gifts for the little ones in your life!
Disclosure: I received the items above from MomSelect and LeapFrog to review...all opinions are 100% my own.
It is hard to find a product that can actually teach your kids and help keep them motivated. I think it would encourage them to keep playing, stay focused and practice writing.
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