Evan and Lauren's Cool Blog: 11/18/13: LeapPad Ultra Hot Tech Toy For Kids

My kids had LeapFrog Leapster L-Maxes since they were very small and always loved them. I knew the LeapPad Ultra was going to be a huge hit. They are always using my iPad which gives them too much access to the Web and YouTube. The LeapPad Ultra lets them play with a tablet but it is kid-safe! Both on the inside and the content within.

What first struck me was how durable the casing was and how clear the hi-res screen is. Plus there is a password protected Parental Controls. We started there to setup Wi-Fi and for me to add another Profile so both Lauren and Evan could play with no fighting. It responds to a child's touch or the stylus. My son likes the stylus better.

Now I don't need to worry about the web content they are accessing as everything available to them is educator-approved! It has LeapSearch powered by Zui which is one of my children's favorite features. We looked at different topics and even watched a video of dogs barking Jingle Bells and dogs surfing. The kids were cracking up. These are YouTube videos and are clear to watch, just limited to content for kids. There was also Soccer videos.

There is a library of 800+ apps, games, eBooks, videos, music and more! Plus there is a camera which is always a hit with my kids. They could take silly photos and use them as their Profile Picture. They could also customize their background screen.

Plus there is an app called Photo Fun Ultra which they were having fun with.

Not only was it selected as one of Time to Play's "Most Wanted" (pictured below) and The Toy Insider's "Hot 20," the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio this year but it is also on the Kmart Fab 15 Toy List and many other retailers lists. Plus it is recommended by 97% of teacher to parents. LeapFrog already received more than 60 awards globally from prestigious parenting and industry award organizations.

The LeapPad Ultra features a seven-inch high-resolution screen, a rechargeable battery, front and back cameras and video recorders and 8 GB of memory. There is a front and back camera, video, and MP3 player. The tech kids dream!

When you go in to Parental Controls you tell the LeapPad Ultra your child's grade level. This area also allows you to purchase Apps just as you would on any other tablet.

Then the learning games draw from 2,600 skills and select games auto-level, adapting to your child’s pace in subjects like reading, writing and mathematics.

Both Evan and Lauren were having fun playing games. Ours came pre-loaded with some games for review purposes. One game is Turbo and the kids were having fun racing the snail.

I also saw it helping my son with the calendar. He could mark days that were done and track what day of the month it is. One thing we could not try out is the peer-to-peer play. I have a feeling the kids would love that as you can play with others using virtual pets, and even Pet Chat which allows kids to safely text with safe chat phrases and fun sounds. Unfortunately we only have one device so we couldn't check it out.

My son said this is just like an iPad. Maybe I will be able to reclaim our iPad now. As always we are super pleased with LeapFrog Products and know you will be too.

It includes 11 apps out of the box and a built-in rechargeable battery which I appreciate as we went through a lot of batteries with our Leapsters. Here it is as packaged.