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: We have a winner!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Discovery Ball by Leap Frog is a dual-use toy. The youngest children can spin the colorful ball around on its base to hear the music play, and older, more mobile children would enjoy chasing this sturdy ball around the floor.What impressed me the most was it's use of what we teachers call the "cloze procedure" (I teach first grade). When the child spins the ball, it will sing the abc song. After a first singing all the way through, the ball will stop singing at a strategic point to encourage the child to spin again. What is really happening, is that the song is in the process of being memorized - the young child hears part of it, and when he/she realizes that something's missing, the child physically responds to "fill in the missing gap". That's a pretty powerful response when you see it going on with a 10 month old!
All that aside, my 3 year old daughter likes to play with it, too. Her favorite part is to listen to the 3rd setting, which features 26 different classical tunes.
This toy would be a good investment for your family.
Customer Review: keep the batteries fresh!
Summary: 2 Stars
my boys weren't that impressed with this toy, but to be honest we Goodwill'd it because it scared me at night. Let me explain. The toy is designed so it doesn't make any noise unless it's touched. One night the baby is in the crib, dogs in their kennel, I'm about a sleep and I hear some sort of noise in the living room. I go downstairs, hear nothing, start walking back up the stairs and I head a deep voice, almost a whisper. Now I am fully awake and the am pegged at 'fight' on the fight/flight meter. I check all the doors, pick up the cordless phone and dial 91 and keep my finger on the 1, walk around and there is nothing. Then I hear it again, faint and slurring. I walk over to the toy chest and there is this toy, on top of all the toys. I guess when the batteries run low, the voice slows down and randomly goes off. I removed the batteries and left the remains on the breakfast table. Early next morning, the wife and I conferred and viola out to the Goodwill pile. The boys never missed it. Be ware the scary Discovey Ball!!!! :)Customer Review: WILL KEEP THEM ENTERTAINED AND DEVELOPING!
Summary: 5 Stars
Our son fell in love with this toy in the church nursery when he was only 6 months old. He played with it for hours, week after week until we decided to get it for him for his first birthday. No, your child will not be spouting off the alphabet by one year, but it WILL help him developmentally.
The product promotes hand-eye coordination from spinning the ball and also fine motor skills by pushing the letter buttons. My son loved this toy so much that he would not go to sleep without it. He is now 2 1/2 (still loves this toy) and is now spouting off the alphabet with limited help. Your child may not learn his ABC's overnight, but we all know that children learn from repitition- so this toy will definitely aid in his learning.
Other benefits: the toy plays 27 different tunes, the ball is removable for other types of play, and in addition to saying the letter names it also speaks the sounds of the letters so children can learn phonetics.
Hope your child enjoys this toy as much as ours has!
Customer Review: More for fun than development
Summary: 4 Stars
My son loves this thing; he's 9 months now and he got it at 5 months old. He loves spinning the ball on the stand, first with his feet, now with his hands. It gives him incentive to sit upright, rather than tilting over, so it's good for his back muscles. He also works hard to get it when it's not on the stand and it rolls away from him: good for tummy time and crawling.
The ball has letters, letter sounds and music as the options. I don't know if my child will ever figure out to push each letter on the ball, but I don't think that matters. He pushes them accidentally, and he likes the sound and lights. He HAS figured out that he has to spin the ball to keep the sound going.
Ultimately, music will help a child's development, no matter what its affect on the parent is. The options on this are repetitious, but that also helps children learn. I don't always enjoy this toy, but it's not for me, it's for my son, he adores the silly thing and it's helping his dexterity and interaction skills. Not bad for $20.
Customer Review: Good toy for under 18 months
Summary: 4 Stars
My toddler enjoys playing with this toy. She received it as a Christmas gift just after she was born and has played with it since she was about 6 months old. She has started to hit the individual letters to get the different songs or letter names or sounds-but, not regularly. She does not roll it as much as pick it up and try to eat it. I think she still enjoys it more in the stand then out of it. The one thing I found wrong with this toy is the phonics. It is hard to distinguish the R sound from the M and N and L sounds-they all sound similar-so, I'm not sure how well those sounds will be taught. Of course, I think they learn phonics more from the people around them then a toy, myself. The ball does keep my little one amused-for the brief time she is amused by one toy. It was best for the first month or so after we took it out of the package and has slowly lost it's interesting qualities for her-even when we put it away for a few weeks. She loves balls, though-and I would still recommend the toy to other parents.