My husband and I are starting to think about what Santa should bring our little girl for Christmas. She will be 3 yr 9 mo and halfway through her first year of preschool at Christmas time. She loves stories and reading and is also very adept at navigating our iPad (she is allowed a little bit of time on the iPad if she plays educational games first). We are looking at the Fisher Price ixl or the Vtech Reader. Any experience with either product? Both seem to have good reviews. We would like to get something that will entertain/be useful for a couple of years and also be something we can hand down to her little brother.
we bought the iXl for our son last Christmas (he was almost 3 at the time) and he loves it. He played with it right away and still continues to use it - especially on car trips. We will probably buy him some new games this year for Christmas.
I got the iXL for my daughter for x-mas last year (she was 2). She still plays with it nearly everyday, and sometimes I have to take it away from her because she's been on it, for what I think, is quite long enough. I got a lot of titles loaded on it, and put a bunch of music and pics for her to have fun with... I can't say anything about the vtech reader, but I really made a good choice with the iXL.
Of course every kid is different, I would suggest going to toysrus or target and let your kid play with the ones on display and see which one your kid seems to like better. That's what I did and it worked. Good luck.
We have had reading gadgets like that... and really, after a bit of time, our kids just did not use it.
And then, actually just reading to them from a book, was better.
And doing Preschool workbooks with them. For both numbers and letters etc.
Now, the iPad is GREAT for kids and learning.
There is also an iPad app called "Math Bingo" that is fun.
And a "Word Bingo" too.
And you CAN get books on the iPad too.
For example:
http://www.funeducationalapps.com/ipad-book-apps-for-kids/
http://www.padgadget.com/2011/04/23/mybookshelf-a-great-i...
Just do a Google Search for "iPad book apps for kids."
My kids LOVE the iPad.
Then there is online stuff like www.starfall.com
Then, each kid is different.
All the learning gadgets my older daughter has/had.... well, my younger child, my son, had different interests and per things HE liked to learn on.
I skipped over the ixl and went with the mobitech...great choice! My son loves it! I think they all do the same thing, it is a matter of matching the device to your child.
