LeapFrog Learning Drum
by LeapFrog
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List Price: Our Price: $11.88 You Save: $4.11 (26%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of LeapFrog Learning Drum
Customer Review: Best purchase I've made for our son!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I got this for my son when he was 6 months old. At first he would just stare at the flashing lights while I hit the drum. As time went on, he would hit the drum himelf, and he would smile as if he was proud of what he had done. Months went by, and now he drags that toy everywhere. He loves to change the tunes and music styles constantly. And now, at 23 months, he likes to start up the drum, then play with some other toys. However, when he hears that the drum is about to shut off, he'll stop what he's doing, run over and hit the drum again, just to keep it going. The drum is VERY durble!!! Drop it, bang it on a table, whatever! And the battery power lasts longer then any other toy he has. He has even discovered different ways to "hit the drum". For example, he'll turn it on and place it on one end of the coffee table, then he'll start hitting the other end of the table and that vibration alone makes the drum keep working. I have a feeling that he will never tire of his drum, and that's ok by me. I'm so pleased that he took a simple toy, learned the basics, then was able to understand the toy enough to control which setting he liked best, and so forth. I think this toy is a perfect gift for a baby shower or a 1 year olds party. Another great thing is that the drum is pretty small and light enough for a baby to lift, hit, and tote around the room. A+ toy!!!Customer Review: I hate this thing! Zero stars.
Summary: 1 Stars
My in-laws bought this from a neighbor and my husband thinks it's great, so unfortunately I can't get rid of it. It's also virtually indestructable, though I haven't yet tried dropping it from the second story of our house. I much prefer traditional, non-electronic toys, and this one is just the antithesis of everything I find ideal in a toy. One small positive note- my 7 month old, who is well into the "banging everything he can" stage, just cried when I brought the toy out. If you want a drum toy, get a real child's drum or some bongos, or give the child a pot and a wooden spoon. If you want to teach the alphabet and numbers, sit down with your child and use a book. The toy does not allow for free unstructured play, as any time you stop tapping the drum, an extremely annoying child's voice pipes up saying "Let's play the drum! Follow Me!". Learning the symbols for numbers, as this toy attempts to teach, does not do any good without the conceptual understanding of what the numbers mean. There's no connection between "2" and "this many: o o". Similar story with the alphabet, though to a lesser degree. The music is annoying, though I suppose it appeals to toddlers at least somewhat. At least the batteries are removable, so that when it does finally drive you nearly insane, you can remove them, since it won't take your child long to figure out the On/Off switch.Customer Review: Not The Best From Leapfrog - a review of their drum
Summary: 2 Stars
From our point of view, the other reviewer is correct, alot of small children will learn nothing from this drum because to learn something you have to pause long enough for the drum to 'say something complete'. Certainly my little boy wouldn't stop whacking it. (I was afraid he would learn to stutter from the frequent repeats-lol).
And I know it's supposed to have won awards, but my two children (girl and then boy) just didn't get it. My daughter, for example, just didn't like the noise, even at the quieter setting.
And my son... well, when he was old enough to sit up and play with this toy, he wouldn't stop making it repeat the first few syllables, over and over. And later, when he was older (15 - 24 months) he found it boring, having moved on from any stationary playing position. He was action-guy, and far more into Thomas, mega-legos and watching the Leapfrog videos than he was into sitting with a drum to learn his alphabet.
Two Stars for us. It just didn't work as an educational toy at our house. During the timeframe in which it would and could have been educational the children were too young to absorb the information; and by the time they were ready, sitting down was the last thing on their agenda.
**Note: For alphabet learning, we highly recommend Leapfrogs videos.
Customer Review: Too much hype for baby
Summary: 3 Stars
Received this as a gift when our son was 4 months old. I think it is recommended for 6+ months, but he grew into it. In general, I am not a fan of battery operated toys with lots of lights and noise because they are really popular at first and then the child gets bored. This is a perfect example of that.
It is designed to have the child hit or bump it and it plays music and says the alphabet or counts. But it never would get more than 15 seconds of real attention. I think it is a great concept, but I could sing the ABCs to him and accomplish the same thing while stacking blocks. It is just not something that keeps a child's attention very long because it isn't that interesting once they figure it out.
The other concept it is trying to teach is letter/number recognition. As it says the alphabet, each letter shows up on the screen in LED lights. Again, I think it is a good idea, but it falls short of matching the child's interest level with development level. A 6 or 9 month old who is likely to play with the drum can't begin to comprehend character recognition. But an 18 month or 2 year old who is beginning to do that is not at all interested in thumping a small drum -- not enough there to engage them.
Customer Review: Great, but SUPERVISE play for toddlers
Summary: 5 Stars
This toy is amazing (or else my child is). At 10 months, she had the toy only a short time before she learned how to turn it on and change the settings. On one hand, she is learning logic and coordination. On the other hand, it means she is driving us crazy with a toy which we should be able to turn off and make quiet. Eventually, with constant repetition, she will learn to count and her ABCs, because it goes on and on and on and on... It also is fun because she can smack it around to make noise, and play drums or a preset tune.Parents, please be VERY careful leaving this toy with older babies unattended. Our daughter is learning to walk, and therefore to climb. She is still unsteady on her feet, and isn't walking far unassisted, but she will place the drum near a wall, gate, or the side of her play corral, and then step up onto it. Sure, it's cute to see her balancing on one foot tippy toes and see how coordinated she's becoming--- until it tips, and she falls, hitting her head on other hard toys, or on the wall. We have removed this toy from her playpen and bring it out only in the middle of the floor, where she can't get the help of a wall to climb onto it.