My son is 3 1/2 and i"m thinking of christmas presents. Last year I heared alot about the leap pads. Do you like them do you have one? Is there something better out there?

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

I got a leap pad for dd1 and a my first leap pad for dd2 they were 31/2-4 and 18month-1yr. Never play with them! Maybe if I bought more books for them they would but they are like $14 - $20 each. I do have the mindstation and dd1 liked the activities we could download and that requires a subscription $30? and cartridges also $14 - $20 each. I don't know if I would buy them again if given the choice.

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I bought all of the different levels of leappad as I found them on clearance!

My dd's favorite is the imagination desk. It is a coloring system that interacts with them as they color different "lessons". I see them for sale all of the time on ebay. Leappad doesn't make the system anymore, but I have bought the books on ebay and you can download the replacement pages from the leappad website. You have to have the cartridge to make it work and sometimes i have found the cartridges for sale by themselves. Then all you do is print out the pages.

As for the others, I don't know yet, she's still a little young, but I buy the books when I find them on clearance or for cheap on ebay so that when she's ready, she'll have plenty of books to choose from.

I hope this helped.

I have the Baby version, the My First Leappad and the Regular Leappad. We never used the baby version. My kids love the My First Leappad system. I am giving julia the regular one for Christmas. I bought all of them on clearance and the books are on sale alot at Toysrus for BOGO Free, I buy them then. You can also check Craigslist, they are always on there. Depends on your kids really. My kids love them but some kids never play with them.

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I am only one, but I am one. I can not do everything, but I can do something. I must not fail to do the something that I can do. -Edward Hale

I bought my daughter one for her 4th birthday and so did my friend and our neighbor got her the Fisher Price Power Touch. So we have a essentially 3. She has shown no real interest in them. She prefers to use my computer and play games online or play with her dollhouse or do crafts.

My kids love them..but I agree with the costs of the books...WAY too high...even on clearance..for us. The two we have were gifts, and so were the two books we have!

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Shaking in my boots (well, if I was wearing them in the middle of summer!), but glad to be back!

This is only my opinion, but skip the leappad and go for the leapster. We have one for my 5 and one for my 3 year olds. WORTH EVERY PENNY> My 5 year old starts kindergarden READING and I give lots of credit to the leapster. Games go BOGO at 'r us about twice a year, catch them then.

We got one as a gift; my kids aren't too interested in them. One thing I find annoying- you have to be very careful buying books because there are so many different systems and only certain books work with certain kinds. I know that is how the company makes its money and keeps you buyng, but if you buy the wrong book for your system you can't use it at all. I'd rather spend the money on other educational toys.

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I don't believe in miracles; I depend on them

My 3 yr. old dd has one (got it for her for xmas). I use it as a substitute for t.v. (that didn't come out right). What I mean is when its quiet and her little bro is napping she gets bored of playing w/ dolls and toys and instead of popping in a movie for her, I give her the leappad. I feel guilty about her sitting in front of the t.v. so we're trying to cut back (all of us!). I think it really helps her attention span.

Thank you thank you
I bought an imagination desk today for $3.00 and just printed some pages. i will keep my eyes open for cartridges!!! SWEET!!!!