[KatieAlyse]

So my step daughter and daughter's birthdays are coming up. I want to get them something educational that they can take in the car or where we go. Leapfrog has a lot of good items but I don't know which one to get! They are about to be 4. Rileigh's birthday is April 5th so I don't have much time for her! Clara's is in August so I have some time on her. But I want something that will teach them shapes, number, letters, etc. Any suggestions?!

[Quiet Ballerina]

At 4, they'll grow out of the leap frog stuff pretty quickly. And the price of the games is kind of high too.
for pricing estimates I looked at target:
Leapster 2 is $40, but the games are $20 each.
Leapfrog Explorer is higher at $63, and the games are $25 each
LeapPad Explorer is $99 and games are $25

I don't know how much you want to spend, but have you looked at some sort of tablet like the kindle fire? That's something you can get a warranty on, and the games are much less expensive, and they can grow with the girls.

[alaskanlaughter]

when my son was 4, really anywhere from 2-5, he LOVED those big floor puzzles that showed shapes, numbers and letters...his favorites were long train puzzles that you put together, big sized pieces that stretched across the living room floor, and each train car carried a letter in one puzzle and a number in the other puzzle....so one train had A-Z and the other had 1-20....so he'd build the puzzles and then we'd play with them...like i'd tell him to "find the number 5" or "find the letter T" and then we'd play "what starts with T?" and he's always say "Tyrell" because our buddy Tyrell had gotten him that puzzle for his birthday

i love educational stuff, especially if the parents can get involved like that....like i'd tell him to go "jump over the letter B" and he'd go hop across that puzzle piece...or he'd find things that start with C and pile them on that particular puzzle piece

we had SO much fun with those...in fact, just this week, and he's almost 6, we bought a 550-piece puzzle to do and we've been working on it at the kitchen table during spring break

[KatieAlyse]

Quiet Ballerina they are expensive, that's why I'm checking out Amazon and Ebay lol

Alaskanlaughter That's a great idea, but I can't take it on the road lol but I do love the puzzle idea because Clara loves puzzles! Might just get one!

[TiffNeedsChange]

The leap frog reader pen!! They pass the pen across the book and it reads it to them. You can get a lot of different books but they have to go with the pen. It is called Tag Junior I think

[XLMuffnTop]

There's a Tag Junior and a Tag. At age 4 I'd recommend the Tag as they'll have more room to grow.

[alaskanlaughter]

i dont know what their developmental levels are but i know my two boys were quite different at age 4....

my older son was diagnosed ADHD and has autistic traits...he also had speech delays when younger and his interests, attention span and ability to learn things like reading was not at the same developmental level at his 4-year-old peers

however my younger son caught onto things very quickly at a young age...in fact we tested him for early entrance to kindergarten at age 4...he's now in kindergarten but has already mastered what they need to know well in advance of going into first grade

[98DaysOfSummer]

You can get a referb iPod Touch for like $80 (I know, I sold our old ones on Amazon when we upgraded). Our daughter has been using some version of iPod Touch for a few years now (she's six). There are SO many free/cheap games - educational and entertaining. There are always free books coming out and it's nice for them to have all their music in one place (huge relief on long car rides when I don't have to listen to yet another round of iCarley). I did not think I'd be a fan of giving expensive electronics to small children but this has been fantastic on long drives and long hours in doctor's waiting rooms.