CNNdotCOM Technofile: LeapFrog toys

LeapFrog Toys was started by a lawyer who couldn't find good educational toys for his young daughter

By Rick Lockridge
CNNdotCOM Correspondent

(CNN) -- Many kids would rather eat their vegetables than play with so-called "educational" toys. So how would LeapFrog Toys' highly regarded line of interactive toys "play" in a room full of toy-hardened grade schoolers?

Pretty well, as it turned out at Atlanta's New Century School. A sure sign that the toys were a hit came when one little girl held up a Turbo Twist Spelling toy ($40) and asked, "Do you think I could have one of these?" She proceeded to work all the adults in the room.

The children were also eagerly trying and trading the cylindrical Turbo Twist Fact Blaster and its math and spelling counterparts. There were also oohs and ahs over Leap's Learning Band -- a boombox that teaches colors and sounds ($35) -- and the School Time Leaptop ($50).

LeapFrog Toys is a 5-year-old company started by a lawyer who was frustrated by his inability to find any good educational toys for his young daughter.

"A parent will be able to say, 'Put that pencil and paper down, and go play with that toy!' And (the kids) will be learning their homework while they're doing it," said Matt Brown, vice president of LeapFrog.

The School Time Leaptop ($50) drew oohs and ahs

The company's online store features several categories of toys, which are sorted according to age and toy features. Some of them are "Web capable," meaning you can use a Leap Link Connector ($25) to upload a child's scores to the Web, and then view a report card of their progress. You can also download new lessons and material to the little cartridge that sits in the Leap Link Connector, and then plug the cartridge back into any of the Web-enabled toys.

The toys themselves are smart enough to adjust the difficulty of each lesson to the skills of the child who's playing.

"Once a child starts missing questions, the toy identifies a zone where learning can take place, which we call the Leap Zone," Brown said.

LeapFrog toys appeal to a kid's innate desire to bang on things. With Turbo Twist toys, for example, a child sorts through possible answers by vigorously twisting the device, then smacking the end of the toy to enter a choice. It can get pretty noisy sitting in a room full of youngsters playing this way, but that's the way young children like to play: noisily and physically, and LeapFrog was smart enough to design its toys accordingly.

So out of necessity, the toys are durable; they're also colorful, musical and highly interactive. If a child gets the answer right the first time, a frog pops up on screen to offer congratulations. If the child's first answer is wrong, the frog offers another try for half the points. Music and sound effects accompany a lot of the questions, and the toys themselves look like they're built to take a lot of punishment.

The toys have become so popular that it's often difficult to find them on the Web. LeapFrog's own online store has been sold out of many items lately, and it's been just as difficult to find them on Amazon.com's new Toys R Us spinoff and other Web sites. A spokeswoman for the company told us LeapFrog Toys is working hard to fill orders, but admitted they're unable to meet current demand. She added that the company is delighted to have become so popular.

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LeapFrog Toys
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