Best Techy Toy for 3-1/2 Year Old - Too Many Choices!

My son got the Leapster explore for Christmas last year, he was 4 then now 5yrs old and he loves it!! Before that he used to play with his sister's pink and gray leapster (the one before the leapster 2) and the old games and still does sometimes when his explorer is on the charger. His play time with it is limited every day and the only time it is unlimited is for long car trips (from Jax to Disney) or if we are at an appointment to help keep him entertained for a while. While Leapster makes a great line of products, the leappad might be too advanced for him right now. JMO

S.

http://news.consumerreports.org/electronics/2010/12/holid...

My husband and I were just talking about this today at the gym. My husband's response, "We should just get her an iPad." lol

I think I decided on the iXL....It does more than just one thing and it doesn't have a bunch of little pieces! :)

we have the same issues and have most of what you described above. Truthfully my three year old and six year old both have the I-pod touch.. Small and no phone. We have movies on it, games, learning games etc.. Graphics are great, its small so fits right in my purse for the plane, restaurants..etc.. I recommend the 32G one however which is about $299.00 but totally worth it and the technology wont pass you by.

Leapster is good. My kids had that since 2 years old, and they could play it by themselves, it is pretty intuitive. It is also fun and educational.
And it grew with them.

My kids just had the 1st original Leapster Learning game system.

What you should do is, go to Amazon, and look at each of those items you listed, and read the reviews of it. Because, they have lots of reviews of those items.

I LOVE the Leapfrog...my 3 and 5 year old have a LeapPad and LOVE them!! TGhey learn so much as they think they are just playing games or watching the movies on it.

If you have an iPad, there are so many great apps they get buy, from coloring, music notes, books in different languages, they can also record a book reading with their voices on it, in addition letters and numbers, there is also a stylist for an iPad my little one is practicing writing etc.

I recently upgraded my daughters' Leapster Explorers to the LeapPad. They are almost-5 and 6. They had the Leapster Explorer for a bit over a year and they loved it and I did too. They would still be enjoying it if I hadn't broke down and got the LeapPad (I just thought it was so cool!). The best part is that the cartridges are interchangeable, so I didn't have to invest in more games. Unfotunately I'm not sure whether to recommend to you for your 3.5 year old the Explorer or LeapPad because they really are both great. I love the educational aspect and feel my kids truly have learned from these devices. My daughters are not "gamers" so their time using it is limited and not always daily, so I have found so far that I haven't had to put a limit on their use (which I feel is essential IF the child uses it a lot - I really HATE video games!) I did a write up on the LeapPad, I'll attach a link to it here if you'd like to read it, but I would definitely highly recommend one of those two devices. Another great option is the LeapFrog Tag Reader - also enjoyed a lot by both my kids. Good luck! Here's that link: http://lilyrose.hubpages.com/hub/LeapFrog-LeapPad-Explore...

I don't know if this is the 'best' one but my 3 1/2 yr old loves it: LeapFrog Think & Go Phonics http://www.amazon.com/Leap-Frog-Think-Phonics-Learning/dp...

I think it's old, actually, can't find it in stores. But the settings on here are great and add variety: say the letter, find the letter, say the sound, find the sound, make a word (using 3 letters)

I do see a lot of kids in the grocery store playing with an iPad or their mom's phone.

Why would you want this type of addicting "toy" for your child? Vision should be used far away at this age, not near point until they go to school. Don't stress his visual system prematurely and don't get those "happy juices" flowing in his brain.