Lara has laptop envy. She often wants to mimic what I do by playing on my laptop (although I think she understands that my work laptop is definitely out of bounds) so she was over the moon when asked to review the Peppa Pig 'My First Laptop' by Inspiration Works. OK, so it is a little more simplistic than my own laptop but it's a toy more than a learning aid so I think that's excusable!
Lara likes to carry her 'puter' around by the handle and find herself a cosy spot to sit down and open it.
When we received the Peppa Pig My First Laptop I had low expectations. I was quite happy for it to turn out to be purely a toy with nothing but a vague attempt at being 'educational'; after all, some of Lara's favourite toys are ones that simply make a lot of noise (most of these are, it seems, Peppa Pig themed!) However, I have been pleasantly surprised at how much Lara does learn from the toy, how it really does make her think about numbers and letters.
The My First Laptop is suitable for children from age 2 to 5. It has four different play modes suit different abilities (and moods). The laptop opens up to reveal a brightly coloured screen and a number of differently coloured buttons that correspond to Peppa's friends, letters, numbers and musical instruments. The first game mode is an exploratory one for younger children where they press buttons to find out what they each mean. The next two levels are quiz modes where the laptop asks your child a question about what they can see on the screen and they have to respond by pressing the correct button. The second quiz mode is a little beyond Lara right now but it means she has plenty more usage to make of this toy. The final mode is a music mode (perhaps Lara's favourite) where you can press buttons willy nilly to make sweet, sweet music (errrrr.......).
I really think the quiz modes work well. Lara is slowly getting on top of her basic counting skills but has a long way to go when it comes to letters and word noises so I think this will make a great way for her to start learning. The number of options is limited though so I'm worried that, given time, it will be more of an exercise in memory and repetition than in genuine learning.
The Peppa Pig My First Laptop has a RRP of £19.99 and is available at Amazon, Mothercare, John Lewis, The Entertainer and Morrisons.
Lara likes to carry her 'puter' around by the handle and find herself a cosy spot to sit down and open it.
When we received the Peppa Pig My First Laptop I had low expectations. I was quite happy for it to turn out to be purely a toy with nothing but a vague attempt at being 'educational'; after all, some of Lara's favourite toys are ones that simply make a lot of noise (most of these are, it seems, Peppa Pig themed!) However, I have been pleasantly surprised at how much Lara does learn from the toy, how it really does make her think about numbers and letters.
The My First Laptop is suitable for children from age 2 to 5. It has four different play modes suit different abilities (and moods). The laptop opens up to reveal a brightly coloured screen and a number of differently coloured buttons that correspond to Peppa's friends, letters, numbers and musical instruments. The first game mode is an exploratory one for younger children where they press buttons to find out what they each mean. The next two levels are quiz modes where the laptop asks your child a question about what they can see on the screen and they have to respond by pressing the correct button. The second quiz mode is a little beyond Lara right now but it means she has plenty more usage to make of this toy. The final mode is a music mode (perhaps Lara's favourite) where you can press buttons willy nilly to make sweet, sweet music (errrrr.......).
I really think the quiz modes work well. Lara is slowly getting on top of her basic counting skills but has a long way to go when it comes to letters and word noises so I think this will make a great way for her to start learning. The number of options is limited though so I'm worried that, given time, it will be more of an exercise in memory and repetition than in genuine learning.
The Peppa Pig My First Laptop has a RRP of £19.99 and is available at Amazon, Mothercare, John Lewis, The Entertainer and Morrisons.
