LeapFrog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Alphabet Set - Styles May Vary
by LeapFrog
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Our Price: $23.49 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of LeapFrog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Alphabet Set - Styles May Vary
Customer Review: Great Learning Tool; but Do Monitor the Letter Sounds
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this toy for eight dollars w/free shipping (had over $25 of Christmas items purchased) back in December. I wanted our 2 year old to have a learning type toy in the kitchen to play with while I cooked. She has had little to no interest in letter recognition/etc...have tried books, songs, videos--nothing sparked a willingess to focus on the ABC's.
We have had so much success w/this product in just two months. She knows all her letters by sight, recognizes many sounds and can select the right starting letter if I give her a word, and will whisper sing through much of the ABC song that the toy plays.
This product also allows the kids to work on the few colors involved w/the toy, and categorizing the letters by color.
I have not had the problems w/the wrong sounds coming out of the toy to the level that many seem to have had. I did notice that "Z" will 9/10 times say the "W" sound. I just correct it for our daughter by singing loud over the toy and giving her words that start with "Z". (The packaging was gone by the time we discovered this issue...so we deal w/it.)
Overall, I am very pleased w/the toy and it's a great learning tool for our 2 year old. If the sound issues were corrected, it would be a top-rated toy for us.
Customer Review: Parents, don't be misled!!
Summary: 2 Stars
As a child development specialist, I see that this toy has very little to almost NO educational value for any preschool age child(5 and under). Parents, the best way for your children to learn to read is by READING to them. Stories with rich vocabulary, rhymes, and interesting content are the most important avenue for reading readiness. A kindergartener will learn letter sounds within a few weeks when he/she is ready. There is no need to start early. The first five years are for building that vocabulary and learning grammatical structures! Reading includes much more than just phonics. Comprehension of the language is far more important. Consider how you may be able to "read" a paragraph in French, but can you answer, "What happened?", "Why?" and "What might happen next?". Have your child play with blocks, playdough, and pretend play activities to expand their conceptual(colors, sizes etc.) and language skills while they are preschoolers!! Also, a toy that does everything for a child does not encourage them to use their problem solving or creative skills. Don't forget, the best thing you can do is to get down on the floor and play with your child. You are his/her best language model. Above all, READ to your child! Plus, mechanical music is just plain annoying!Customer Review: Excellent educational toy!!
Summary: 5 Stars
LeapFrog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Alphabet Set Please note: this review refers to the newer sun shaped Leapfrog Fridge Phonics, not the older blue and red version.
I purchased this item for my 17 month-old daughter along with the Leapfrog Fridge Words Magnetic Word Builder (airplane shaped, not the older version Word Whammer). First off, I was thrilled that the upper-case letters from the Fridge Phonics are interchangeable with the lower-case letters from the Word Builder. Now my daughter can learn her upper and lower-case letters at the same time. A noted change with the new versions of this toy - if a letter has more than one phonetic sound, both sounds are given. For example, when the letter A is placed in the toy it gives the long and short vowel sound. This is also true for some of the consonants that give more than one sound (i.e. the letter C).
The only drawback to this toy is that at times the voice is not as clear as I would like. Also, with a younger child, having all 26 letters out at the same time may be over whelming, so I only put up about 10 letters at a time. Other than that, I am thrilled that I purchased this toy.
Customer Review: Incredible! My 21 mo. old knows almost entire alphabet
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this toy after seeing my 19 mo. old daughter playing with it for an hour while visiting at one of my friend's homes. I figured, at the very least, I can get her to stay away from me while I'm washing dishes or at the stove. But what an incredible learning tool this turned out to be! I don't think it'll work wonders if your child isn't ready for it, but my dd has always been much more verbal than physical and this toy really helped that explode. She was already getting the tune of the alphabet song and maybe could sing a few of the letters before I got this toy. Now, at 21 mos. and only having it for a couple months, she can sing the ENTIRE alphabet song (although M-N-O is often mumbled) and can recognize about 20 letters (only the Capital letters and when written out clearly in block print). Obviously, it required reinforcement by continually encouraging her to identify letters on books, signs, and other places. But I definitely think the Leap Frog opened the door and helped by providing extra reinforcement when I wasn't doing it. It also is great for kids to hear the letters and the alphabet song as sung by someone else other than me (who she hears all day long).
LOVE IT! BUY IT!! One of the best toys for this development stage!
Customer Review: No Replacements Tiles!
Summary: 4 Stars
I will join the chorus and concur that this is a great toy. My 2 year old took some time to warm up to it but at almost 3, she loves it. No complaints about the product, my only disappointment is that I just discovered that the "N" is missing. I have looked everywhere and finally decided to go ahead and contact Leapfrog to purchase a replacement and I was SHOCKED to discover that they do not sell replacement tiles. Seriously!!! I am sure my kid is not the first kid to misplace a tile or want a tile to spell their name (e.g. Nathan needs two As). They offered me a 15% discount code to apply to whatever I buy off the site but that does not address my immediate issue. I was even willing to buy another tile/alphabet game at the next level of play (e.g. the 3 letter spelling toy) but then I realized that those are lower case letters and won't work. I am now scouring eBay & Craig's List to see if I can find someone selling individual tiles.
Message to Leapfrog - It is ridiculous for you to expect parents to buy a duplicate toy just to replace one or two tiles. It might serve you better to provide replacement tiles and charge for them. I was not expecting a freebie but I am irritated that I have been denied the option to replace one lone missing tile!