My ds (3 1/2) is really into his ABCs. At his preschool they have a letter of the week and they practise writing it out. They also learn the sounds of the letters. He comes home and wants to know how everything is spelled and what that word begins with. "mommy, lamp starts with la la la L". It's just so cute.

So I went into Walmart yesterday to pick up diapers and cruised down the toy section. I want to find a learning toy that will help reinforce what he's learning; sounding out letters, writing them out and recognizing them. I am new to his Leap Frog learning and other toys, so do any of you have any recommendations on which toys your kids responded the best to?

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bumping up!

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Come Black Friday and Cyber Monday Shopping With Me In ONLINE BARGAINS

My son doesn't go to preschool but is like yours. I love the leap frog refidgerator magnets that they put the letters together and it sound them out to make the words and leapfrog also has a couple of great videos. I got mine at Walmart in the toy section with the books. I also saw a vsmile commersial with a toy where they can write the letter and the toy can tell wether they wrote it correctly. I just bought my ds a leapsterlmax which is a handheld game and you can play it usuing the TV and they have alot of learning games and it is used for many years. I bought mine off of ioffer.com alot cheaper than at the stores.

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"Before I was a Mom I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body." ~Anonymous

I have the Fridge Phonics by Leapfrog, and the video, "Talking Words Factory". I believe there is one about letters before the words, though. DD loves the video, and I don't mind her watching it, as it's educational! I also have the math factory one, too. All were around$9.88 at Walmart. HTH!!

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~Jenn~

We do have that. I think that has helped him tremendously with the sounds of letters. I too like the little jingle it sings!!

We have the VSmile thing but like I have said before he's not all that into it. AND to be honest some of the cartridges for his age group are too advanced. So we may wait a few more months before getting him back onto it

I am just curious if any of you have any of the other Leapster games and learning toys. I saw a few different kinds in Walmart and was wondering which ones kids respond to more.

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you can try www.discountschoolsupply.com and lakeshore learning store for items other than Leap Frog, but LF is great!

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There is one thing I want to take a look at- I caught the end of a commercial. I believe it may be from Leap Frog. It has a section where you can practice writing your letters and it will tell you if it's correct (I believe you can do more with it though!)- I think it kind of looks like a magna doodle where you write at- but it's like a laptop (? not completely sure). I only saw the commercial one time. When I go to the store this week, I will look at that stuff and give morw details about it! Sorry this was so vague!

I believe my son has the leap pad you are describing. At the top it has all of the letters and at the bottom there is a space to practicing writing. I believe it has 5 or 6 different settings. It teaches letters as well as sounds and you can practice writing. You pick a letter and then it will show you how to write the letter and then the child tries. It does both upper and lower case letters. HTH

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DS - 9
DD - 6

Crystalwave- does your son like that? I am really thinking about getting it for my 3 year old- she is starting to "write" her abc's and was thinking that it would be a great for learning! What's your opinions on it?

My kids love their Leapsters. The cartridges they have available for the preschool age are phenomenal. Just be sure to read some of the reviews on Amazon to make sure you pick ones your kiddo will like. my dd and ds's favorite is Animal Genius. Now my ds loves the older ones, Batman and Incredibles. The Thomas train and Nemo ones are great too!

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WAHM to Richie, Becca & Ryan!