LeapFrog LeapBand

The leap band is simply a watch with a few games. It does not get your child active and moving as all the advertising promises. The watch does not know if you are actually moving when it tells you to jump. It has very limited controls and is quickly becomes boring. A 2 year old will find it more entertaining than a 4 year old as they already need more out of a game than just pressing 2 buttons. If you can get it on sale for $35 it would make sense to buy just as a simple first watch but do not except much from it in terms of development or exercising.

From manufacturer: 

• Customize and play: Pick 1 of 8 pets, including a unicorn, robot, dragon and more-then choose its name and color
• Pet nurturing: Children can feed, groom and care for their pet; Plus, they can earn rewards to unlock more surprises and pet play
• Healthy habits: In Pet Chef, kids can help their pet collect food to make healthy snacks and unlock nutrition fun facts
• System Requirements High-speed Internet connection; Monitor resolution of 1024×768 Available USB port 1 GB of RAM 500 MB free disk space

2-4 years

Toddler to Preschool

The best features of the watch according to a child.  A 4 year old girl reviewing the watch and highlighting what she likes the most about it.

Nice to Have

10.2 x 17.8 x 22.9 cm

2 year old is consumed by pressing 2 buttons on the watch

Available in most stores, such as Amazon, Walmart and Toy stores

Simple plastic interface, with four buttons, small screen and a front-facing speaker.

An electronic wrist toy watch is definitely not a necessity for a child. It is a nice to have toy that will keep kids entertained for a few hours. It does not really provide much educational value. It is more like a gaming toy.

Medium-$35-$50 depending on color

The watch can not be really played with by 2 or more kids at the same time. It is more of take turns playing type of toy. So if your kids are not good at sharing or taking turns you might consider investing in 2 Leapbands to avoid fighting.

The battery life on these watches is not very long. After a few months a full charge only lasts 10 minutes at best. The band is not really durable and is easily ripped.

The LeapBand can help by encouraging movement and basic coordination. The issue is the band does not really sense if the child is actually moving so moving activities get boring really quick. The other activities/games are not really educational and the limited controls do not allow for much creativity.

The watch comes in 4 colors: green, blue, orange and pink. A girl can pick any color she likes.