Chicago – Today LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. announced the availability of exciting new additions to its award-winning infant and preschool lines, including On-the-Go Story Pal™, an innovative portable audio player. The new collection features engaging, educational toys that encourage a love of learning at every stage.
“With expressive reading and fun sound effects, the On-the-Go Story Pal device is designed to help children recognize that hearing stories read aloud is an enjoyable activity,” said Carolyn James, Ph.D., LeapFrog Literacy Expert. “Listening to stories encourages listening skills and builds vocabulary by helping children learn new words and hear how they are pronounced.”
Kids can take the adorable, bunny-shaped On-the-Go Story Pal with them wherever they go for screen-free entertainment. They can listen to stories, poems, songs and lullabies as they build a love of storytelling and develop pre-reading skills. Dynamic narrators, character voices and sound effects bring the stories to life, encouraging listening comprehension and sparking imagination. Other features include an automatic shut-off, the ability to create a playlist and the option to record a story with the user’s own voice.
In addition, two new engaging role-play toys encourage learning through play. The Count-Along Basket & Scanner™ is a grocery basket, shopping cart and interactive food scanner all in one, with a scanner that recognizes the play food pieces. With three play modes, silly music and unique phrases like “Y’all bready for this?” and “Grapes are my jam!” that will have kids giggling, they won’t want the learning to end.
Little chefs will want to turn up the heat on the Choppin’ Fun Learning Pot™, with snap-apart veggies they can drop in the pot. The sensor responds with counting, sounds and learning phrases as the pot lights up. Best of all, the included food pieces are 85% plant-based plastic, made from renewable sources.
“Our On-the-Go Story Pal is the perfect little buddy for kids to experience the joy of storytelling, whether they’re at home or traveling,” said Andy Keimach, President, VTech Electronics North America, LeapFrog’s parent company. “Combined with the other new additions to our infant and preschool collection, we have a wonderful line up of toys that encourage kids to love play AND learning.”
For more information, visit www.leapfrog.com. Highlights of the line, available now at major retailers, include:
On-the-Go Story Pal™: The On-the-Go Story Pal™ player lets kids take story time wherever they go! Spark imagination through 70+ stories, poems, songs and lullabies. The narrators, character voices, sound effects and content encourage listening comprehension and build a foundation for a love of storytelling. This adorable, bunny-shaped player has easy-to-navigate controls and a headphone jack so kids can listen anywhere (headphones not included). Personalize the On-the-Go Story Pal™ by recording up to 10 minutes of your voice reading your child’s favorite story or create your own. Create a playlist of up to five stories, songs, poems or lullabies. A timer allows you to select a variety of stories, songs and lullabies to be played before the player shuts off. Easy-to-navigate controls make it kid-friendly and simple to use. The carrying strap allows kids to bring the player anywhere they want to go. Free additional content is available for download and features four packs of additional stories and music. Play happily ever after! (US$27.99; ages 3+ years)
Count-Along Basket & Scanner™: Let’s shop with the Count-Along Basket & Scanner™ featuring play food, shopping lists and an interactive scanner that recognizes each food piece. Carry the shopping basket or expand it into a rolling shopping cart. Shop the rainbow with eight play foods in a variety of food groups, colors, shapes and numbers. The fish, carrots, strawberries, cake, bread, broccoli and grapes show off their silly personalities with music and unique phrases when scanned. Ready for a veggie dance? Let’s “brocc” and roll! Scan the food pieces listed on the Food Group Feast and Shapes of the Day shopping lists to hear encouraging phrases and songs. Three interactive play modes reinforce learning. In Learn mode, scan a food to find out its name, color and the number printed on it. Some foods also announce their shapes. Switch to Count mode to follow the scanner’s directions to scan foods up to ten times. Ready to play a game? The scanner gives clues for foods by name, number, color and shape in Game mode. Play pieces store in the basket. (US$34.99; ages 2+ years)
Choppin’ Fun Learning Pot™: Prepare a recipe for learning with the Choppin’ Fun Learning Pot™! Children love to pretend to cook. Prepare broccoli, corn, a tomato and a carrot with snap-apart veggies, a play knife and cutting board. Hear the pot respond with encouraging phrases as kids add veggies to the pot. Let’s make spaghetti sauce! Follow five step-by-step recipes to encourage learning with play. Chop the food and set the temperature dial. Now press a food button and stir the pot to make spaghetti sauce, rainbow soup, corn on the cob, carrot soup and broccoli with cheese! Watch the pot “boil” with pretend water in the front panel. Hear the pot count to 10 and talk about colors as you play. Serve up your creation in the bowl, pick up the spoon and dig in! All the pieces store in or on the pot for easy cleanup when playtime is done. Soup-tastic! (US$21.99; ages 12+ months)
About LeapFrog
LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. is the leader in innovative learning toys for children that encourage a child’s curiosity and love of learning throughout their early developmental journey. For more than 25 years, LeapFrog has helped children expand their knowledge and imagination through award-winning products that combine state-of-the-art educational expertise led by the LeapFrog Learning Team, innovative technology, and engaging play – turning playtime into quality time that helps children leap ahead. LeapFrog’s proprietary learning tablets and ground-breaking developmental games, learn to read and write systems, interactive learning toys and more are designed to create personalized experiences that encourage, excite and build confidence in children. LeapFrog is a subsidiary of VTech Holdings Limited, which is based in Hong Kong. LeapFrog was founded in 1995 by a father who revolutionized technology-based learning solutions to help his child learn how to read. Learn more at www.leapfrog.com.
