Leapster: Dora the Explorer
© 2004 LeapFrog
This Leapster cartridge offers two modes of play and five activities that informally reinforce basic math, early reading and memory skills. After signing in (the game can store up to three players) children choose from "story" and "activity" mode. The story mode embeds the activities in a story about animals in danger. As they work through each game, children rescue animals, who show up later in the Animal Rescue Center. The other way to play is to go directly to the games, and select one of three challenge levels. Animal Match is a sound matching game, where children hear an animal sound, and then select one of three options with the arrow keys. Stepping Stones is one of the weaker games, where Dora hops from rock to rock, in search of a specific shape or letter. Troll Bridge is one of the stronger activities, featuring four types of concentration. The action is fast paced, and you can choose to match sounds, opposites, letters or numbers. Animal Rescue is a slow moving activity, where children complete a bridge by pushing number or pattern blocks in place. Celebration is a innovative movement game, where children are asked to match the movements of Dora on the screen. All in all, this is a solid set of activities that nicely span the K to 1st grade age range. It is not as much fun as SpongeBob, but still a solid game.
$25, Leapster, Smart Toy
Teaches: early reading and math: memory, language (Spanish/English), shapes