Tag, you're it!!

The new Leap Frog Tag is like a smaller more compact version of their popular Leap Pad. The Tag is a large chunky "pen" that is a magical tool to help your child in the sometimes daunting journey of learning to read. I was really amazed by this product the first time we used it. Along with the Tag you get a book that looks just like any other regular book. The book it comes with is soft cover but the extra books you buy come in hard cover, they all have paper pages made of regular paper. It baffles the mind how the pen is able to read the seemingly normal book but the special printing on these pages allows the Tag reader to understand and read the book aloud to your child. Like the Leap Pad it not only reads the story aloud but responds to certain items on each page with noises and sounds. Each page also has a fun game to play as well. The great thing about this system is unlike the Leap Pad once your child has mastered reading the books are just normal books and not like the regular Leap Pad books. We had a wide variety of kids who tested out our Tag and it was a big hit for everyone even those who could already read and even baby L loved it though it is recommended for ages 4-8. Aside from reading the story along with the book the Tag is also capable of reading the story without the book which is a feature that baby L adored. The Tag can hold up to 5 books at a time and connects to both Windows Vista or Mac operating systems to load new stories or keep track of your child's process, both of which are simple and easy to do. Along with the books we also received a National Geographic Kids Activity Card set, this cards are great their are over 40 cards in a set with pictures of different wild animals on each card front and back. Touching the "pen" to these cards and you can hear what sound they make, where they are from and a little tidbit of information about them. I love these activity cards because they are so educational, they even taught me a few things I didn't know. The first few times L used the Tag he was rough and banged the "pen" frantically on the pages, he has gotten better with it and treats it more gently now but I do agree that this unit would be better suited for ages 4-8 as the older children seemed to be a lot better with unit. It looks like Leap Frog is set to come out with Tag Junior for ages 2-4 in May. Though we haven't tried out the Tag Junior if it's anything like the Tag it should be amazing!
The Leap Frog Tag retails for @ $49.99 US/CAD. In the US it can be purchased at LeapFrog.com and in Canada at any local retailer such as Walmart, Zellers or Costco.