LeapFrog Discovery Ball
by LeapFrog
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Our Price: $15.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of LeapFrog Discovery Ball
Customer Review: Mary From Phoenix - What were you thinking?
Summary: 5 Stars
For anyone who has read the spot light review, you must take it with a grain of salt.
First of all, the toy is designed for 6 months to 24 months -and makes no claims it will make a child a genius - nor do any reviews that I have read.
I read the reviews (as I do all toys) before I purchased this toy for my son, for his 1st Christmas (2004), when he was 3 months old. I did not expect him to learn phonics; I expected him to enjoy playing with the toy and subsequently be exposed to the letters of the alphabet and the concepts of rolling a ball, on-off, high (sound) vs low (sound), music and rhythm. If your expectation is this toy will be a substitute for one-on one learning; then this toy is not for you.
My now 13 month old, loves this toy. He plays with it each day, it has not grown "old" as some of his other toys have. I take it off the stand, and we play "catch" sitting on the floor as we roll it back and forth. He enjoys rolling it around our house and playing "chase" with it. The ball is supposed to stop playing music or alphabet song in midstream if it stops rolling - it is designed to encourage children to continue play; to continue to roll it! The voice is not annoying to me, I usually sing along with it to him - and as a parent I know the sounds of toys are inevitable and I can't control them other than not buying the toy.
The buttons of the letters are close together, making it difficult for my son to press - but that may change with time and development of his coordination. For now, I press the buttons and say the alphabet along with it.
My son turns the ball ON and OFF - which is what most kids do with ALL of their toys! ON - OFF is an important concept kids need to understand, and this toy will accomplish that! I sit with my son, and tell him, the ball is on. The ball is off.
It is a fairly heavy weight ball, but it is not hard plastic. It is fairly soft on the outside - but I can see how it could cause damage if thrown. However, once my son starts to throw things - this toy will be passed on to another loving home. It is not a ball designed to be thrown, nor is it a ball designed for a preschooler. It is an infant to toddler toy.
I have not had a problem with grime or dirt on the ball. I do inspect all of my son's toys regulary and clean them when necessary. Unless your rolling the ball in dirt or mud, this toy should not be getting filthy (maybe dusty from your floor or maybe some cookie finger prints on from your child - but not dirty!). The letters are raised and dirt could become stuck in them (I suppose), but I have not had an incidence of that and I have had the toy for about a year (with no dirt in the grooves or letters).
Bottom line, this is a fun toy for infants and toddlers up to 24 months. It may require you as a parent to interact with your child - but is that such a bad thing?
Customer Review: BE THE ONE TO GIVE THIS AS A GIFT!! Awesome Toy!
Summary: 5 Stars
My mother-in-law gave my son this toy, when he was 5 months old. It only took him 5 or 10 minutes to figure out that he had to do something to make the toy work (that it wouldn't perform by itself). Believe me, he had tons of toys even at 5 months, but he never interacted with one like he did, instantly, with this one. It was the greatest feeling for me to be able to watch him learn, and as soon as you hand him the toy, now (at 6 months), he knows exactly what to do. There are several other features that make it a lasting/grow-with-me toy. There are 3 settings. When they spin the ball (which is all my son can do now) the first setting says the ABCs and will stop when the baby stops rolling the ball; the second setting also says the ABCs and the third setting plays a song when they spin it. The letters that go around the ball are for older babies. When they press the letters individually, the first setting says the name of each letter when pushed; the second setting says the sound the letter makes (which is why it says the ABC song like the first setting when it's spun); and on the third setting each letter plays a different nursery rhyme when pushed. There is also an option that lets you take the ball off the stand for older babies to encourage crawling/walking. The ball is a thick rubber-like material, so with younger babies you don't have to worry about them banging their heads on the ball because they are definitly going to "taste" the colorful letters. And the material also allows it to be "drooler friendly":). I don't think I mentioned anywhere that it lights up in response to them playing with it also. I don't write a lot of reviews on the things I buy because I just don't have enough time, but I sat down to do this one to let you know this is money well spent. I think it is especially great for a first toy. It encourages learning and motor skills in younger babies and would make a great gift. There are so many other toys that entertain for about 15 minutes then just take up space and waste money, so I wanted to say I think this is one you won't be disappointed with. AND TO RESPOND TO THE ONE STAR RATING ABOVE: I agree, Don't buy this toy if you are trying to teach your 5 month old his ABC's! (But Who is???) This is a toy that teaches motor and developmental skills to younger children (which of course other toys can do too) but this throws in the ABC and Nursery rhyme tunes at the same time. Which is an added learning bonus as I see it. Nothing replaces a good book to teach a child to read, but I don't think anyone is buying this toy to push learning to read on their infant!Customer Review: Unravel the Greatest Mystery of the Universe
Summary: 5 Stars
After unpackaging LeapFrog Industries' "Discovery Ball" I must admit I was a bit bewildered as to where or how to begin the long but enlightening journey of discovery that would soon consume me for the next 16 days. But after holding the object in my hands and rapping on its equator a few times with my fingers, I was almost immediately rewarded with my inaugural discovery: I sit here primed for more future discoveries! Quite delightful I must confess; I felt as if my mind were a veritable tabula rasa capable of taking on a whole mess of discovering. And it was. First, the object, as the package implies, is perfectly spherical. This is a discovery in itself. I understood precisely why LeapFrog Industries deemed it necessary to classify this object as "ball." My next discovery of course was discovering that I had already discovered why they further sub-classified the object as a "discovery" ball. This discovery-within-a-discovery was most likely a subconsious notion of mine before i unpackaged the ball and became consciously aware of my discoveries.
These initial discoveries, as banal as they might seem, opened the floodgates for the slew of discoveries that would relentlessly bombard my virgin mind for the rest of that day and for 15 consecutive days thereafter. I discovered truths about my discoveries, that my discovering was being discovered by each sequential discovery, and that each discovery had an infinite amount of possible discoveries directly related to the preceding discovery (and, for that matter, to each preceding discovery's sister quasi-discoveries existing only as possibilities). I also discovered that a discovery was also a discovery within itself and therefore possessed a chaotic black hole-ish quality about it where a near infinite amount of discoveries and sub-discoveries swirl about discovering themselves and each other as the entire architecture of the main discovery collapses to a point. Mind you though, each discovery within the main discovery also existed in parallel as a main discovery itself--the consequences of which can be damaging to the brain if not properly primed firsthand by Discovery Ball. Eventually I discovered a number of discoveries somewhere on the other side of infinity, and much to my delight, stumbled upon my final discovery: that I is/was/will be the Universal Truth.
I highly recommend Discovery Ball for anyone with a few weeks of free time to spare. The ball is exceptionally fun, educational, and durable--well worth the [money](plus shipping and handling).
Customer Review: #1 toy in my grandson's toy chest
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this for my grandson when he was approximately 5 months old. Not only was he fascinated by the Discovery Ball, but his mom and I were playing with it when he was napping. The Discovery Ball can be used two ways, it can be spun around while on the stand it comes with, or it can be removed from the stand and rolled to your child and then you can encourage the child to roll it back to you. So far we have kept it on the stand. My grandson loves to spin the ball and listen to the many different melodies it plays while it spins around. You can also change the settings and listen to the alphabet song and also the sound of each letter. It has an on/off switch and also a switch that allows you to lower the volume. As soon as my grandson received this toy he immediately knew the concept of making the ball turn so that he can see it light up and hear the many melodies or the ABC song. It's been 3 months since he became acquainted with this fantastic toy and at 8 months he is still going strong. When we remove it from his toy box he drops whatever he is playing with and immediately crawls over to the Discover Ball, sits up and starts spining the ball around. He is mesmerized by the flashing lights and sounds. He also loves the fact that he is the one that is making the music and lights happen without any help from anyone. The toy is very easy to operate, no sharp edges, very sturdy and when the ball is in its stand it does not tip over. We cannot find anything unsafe about this toy. It is always available for your child to play with without you having to get up and down to pick it up and put it in the right position for it to work. This makes playing with it even more enticing. The only thing we do is turn it on and adjust the volume. Eventually when he gets a little older he will be able to turn it on himself and also choose what he wants to hear, music, ABC song, or letter sounds. A friend of mine has put this toy on her baby registry list. After seeing it in the store and playing with it she fell in love with it. It is durable, easy to operate, and your child will enjoy it from infancy into the toddler years. It is well worth the money because of the entertainment it provides for long periods of time, both for baby, mom and grandma.Customer Review: Great toy
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't think of a toy that our son has enjoyed as much as this ball. As a little guy (6-7 months) he would love to sit on the couch with it and try to get it to spin with his hands and also with his feet if that was easiest. It was fun to see him get so excited when he could activate it (very easy to do...you don't have to push hard buttons to make it work). I thought it was a great, compact easy to travel toy that taught him cause and effect. He is now 14 months and he will push it around the house for 15 minutes at a time giggling behind it. He does throw it (even if it is in the base) sometimes but it doesn't break. The noise doesn't bother me but if you are sensitive to it like one of the recent reviewers then just take it away from them if they throw it. It wouldn't be a good toy in an apartment because the people below you might get irritated every time it drops since it is heavy. The voice on the ball is very nice and the lights are fun for the little ones. Some negative things about it is that a few of the letter sounds aren't very clear, and you can't get the ball to lock in place allowing easier access to just push the letters.
For the most part this toy has had such a long life at our house because it offers many options to be used at different developments. If you get tired of one way switch it to the other...I don't know another toy that does that. I am skeptical that it will teach my son the letter sounds but I don't think that is it's job...it's mine. It does let him become very familiar with the abc song which I think will come in handy down the road. As he learns different letter sounds I have taken him over to the ball and pushed the letter so he can see it and hear the ball make the same sound he is making..he loves that! Another fun way to use it with an older child (5 years old) is to get them to guess what song each letter will play because most of the letters are also the first letter of the song (ex. "m" plays Mary Had a Little Lamb, "r" is Row, Row, Row your Boat). So I think for a toy it is a helpful tool to parents. It isn't supposed to teach your child to be a genius it's a toy with multiple functions...I wish more were this versatile.