LeapFrog LeapBand product reviews

When this first arrived my kids were very keen on having a good look at it, but I first wanted a look at it myself. Gave it a quick read of the instructions and connected it to my computer.

Downloading the necessary file takes no time at all and once you've logged in you can edit it to pick when your quiet time is to lock the LeapBand. ie for my children between 8:30am-3pm on a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, they are unable to do anything other than check the time, as well as between 7:30pm-7:30am every night. As we homeschool the kids, they were able to keep the watch on all day, and as it was such an exciting item, they were checking the time every five minutes. Whilst this was distracting at first, once the novelty had worn off (ie. they had each had a whole day with it to themselves) the amount of times they looked at it lessened and it has aided my six and five year old with learning how to read a clock and tell the time.

If you have a compatible device you can download an app onto your mobile, tablet etc for extra activities for the kids. The main thing that I really like about the app is that you don't need to be connected to wi-fi to play any of the activities but I'm not sure if it syncs when you connect it or if you don't get the points added to the account.

At the moment there are five children in my house, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6 (two aren't mine ) who were all rather interested in the watch and all were asking me when they could have a turn. My six year old had the first turn with it, he got a day and a half with it, due to when I got it, and he really got into wanting to work out what time it was, waiting for the big hand to be on the 12 and the little hand on the 3 so he could play the games, and then with no help from me at all he managed to work out which buttons did what and how to play the activities with the animals and even how to change between them, change their colours etc. The watch has the added bonus that when the battery is dead low it says "please give me to an adult to recharge" or something of the likes, so my son brought it to me right away.

My five year old was the next to try it and she too was able to work out what to do, it was rather amusing seeing her listening to the watch as it instructed her as to the activity she needed to do, whilst bouncing about on the trampoline. Later I had all five kids listening intently for the instructions. My three year old sees the watch and asks for it on, more for the novelty and because her siblings get a turn with it. The six year old, that is not mine, was very eager to give it a try and kept asking me when he could have a turn and was eager to work things out on his own.

The kids have really enjoyed having this, it was easy for them to work out what to do without my help and they can now tell the time enough to be able to go "it's nearly the time I can play!" which is a big plus for me, that not only has it been getting them more active, it's helping them learn how to tell the time. My only real complaint with this would have to be the volume, would be good if it could be even just slightly louder, and the band is a bit clunky and awkward to get on at times, no matter the wrist size.

At $70 it isn't a cheap watch, but I am going to see how well it survives daily use for the next couple of months and if it does stand the test of time well then I might just get one so that my older two have one each.