I have reviewed a few of the wonderful educational toys from LeapFrog since I first started blogging and I haven’t been disappointed yet. LeapFrog is a company that has a great understanding of both how kids learn and how kids have fun and that understanding means that my kids love LeapFrog toys as much as I do.
Until recently, however, most of the toys I had reviewed were meant for older children. Zackary was an enthusiastic tester, but I was really curious about whether or not LeapFrog’s products for babies and toddlers would be as fun and educational as their toys for preschoolers and older children. I got the chance to find out when my youngest son Benjamin received My Pal Scout to review.
My Pal Scout is an adorable plush toy puppy that plays music, talks and sings songs. My children have a more dated LeapFrog toy called Baby Tad that follows the same general concept, but My Pal Scout is definitely far more advanced than the older models and I couldn’t wait to see what he could do.
When the toy arrived, the first thing I noticed was that I had to connect the toy to my computer with the included USB cable. Once my LeapFrog Connect program detected the toy, I was able to quickly and easily set up My Pal Scout with personalized information just for my baby.
The first step, of course, was the name. I just typed in my son’s name and the computer gave me an available audio file to listen to so that I could make sure the name was right. After that I was able to choose special details about my son like his favourite colour, food and animal. I immediately chose cheese for Benjamin’s favourite food and a dog for the animal (though cats are a close second) but Benjamin’s a little young to understand the concept of a favourite colour so I just decided to choose blue.
Finally, I had the option of choosing five daytime songs and five nighttime songs that Scout would play and sing at different times. I chose a few of the new songs that were listed and then just picked a few songs at random as well. With that, Scout was ready to be introduced to Benjamin.
My youngest son has always been a little hesitant about stuffed animals and so I made sure to approach him carefully with Scout. I turned Scout on when Benjamin was still quite far away and when Scout said his name, Benjamin looked at me inquisitively. He slowly approached Scout and was soon giving him a big hug!
I was blown away by how many personal details Scout had incorporated into his program. Even some of the songs I had chosen featured Benjamin’s name and his favourite things. Benjamin loved listening to Scout talk to him, but what he loved most of all was the music. From the purely instrumental songs to the songs with lyrics about daily activities to the songs that featured Benjamin’s name, my son never tired of listening to Scout’s music. And the best part was that if he did start to get tired of the choices Scout played, I could just reconnect the puppy to the computer and replace the current tunes with some brand new choices!
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Benjamin loves his My Pal Scout and I do too. He’s such a cuddly and interactive friend for my son and even Zackary loves to sit down and play with him. The fact that Scout only features Benjamin’s name doesn’t bother Zackary in the slightest; he just loves seeing what Scout is going to say and do next! If you have a toddler in the house, My Pal Scout is sure to be a hit with your little one. And as they’re enjoying the fun of hearing familiar words and songs, they’ll also be gaining valuable word recognition skills! No matter what the age of your child, LeapFrog has a toy that they are sure to love, and parents with younger children can’t go wrong with My Pal Scout!
Buy It: To purchase My Pal Scout or other great toys from LeapFrog, check your local toy store or shop online now
Disclaimer: The product/s mentioned above were provided free of charge from the company or PR firm for the purposes of this review. Opinions expressed belong to Mommy Kat and Kids and are NOT influenced in any way. Please view full Terms of Use and Policies
We love Scout. I can’t believe my kids names are options. My son, who is just about 1, when Scout asks him questions will nod back to him.