Blackberries for Kids? Not exactly…

The annual Toy Fair, held by the Toy Industry Association, ran from February 17 through February 20. Whenever I read about it, I’m overcome with a strong desire to own a toy shop, partly because I’ve always dreamed of having a toy store, but also just so I could go and check out all the latest cool new toys. But, alas, I’m toy shop-less, so, instead, I zip around the web, looking for posts about the hottest tech toys. Engadget, one of my favorite tech sites, came through with a couple of posts about new devices made by the folks at LeapFrog.

The first one, designed for 3rd through 8th grade students, is called the Crammer. As in cramming for tests? Hmm…not a habit I want my kids to pick up (at least not so soon…). It’s being touted as a study device that lets kids create flashcards, download quizzes for their own textbooks and even play music, too. It looks way cool and would no doubt make the kids feel a little like Dad or Mom holding their blackberries or iPhones (or whatever) because it looks like this:

Expected to be released in the fall, it will be priced at $60 (with 1GB of memory).

It’s much sleeker looking than the old iQuest, which the company no longer makes.

iQuest

We tried the iQuest, but it was a real dud. You can get these for a bargain now, but I don’t recommend it. My daughter picked it up only a handful of times and didn’t even try some of the add-on cartridges they have for subjects like math and science.

For the younger kids, LeapFrog previewed another version of its Fly computer pen. They call it “Tag” and it looks like this:

It’s sort of the junior version of LeapFrog’s Fly Fusion Pentop Computer (available for $79.99):

My kids have one and just never really took to it. When they opened it, they wrote some math problems with it and played games with it, but after the first month or so they just did not use it. I thought it was amazing that they could draw a piano keyboard and then play it. Wow! To me, it seemed really cool and fun to use, but for them, it was a pain (you have to hold it just right, you can’t put your finger in front of the tiny camera which has to be able to see the paper you’re writing on). It’s targeted for kids over eight, but I think it would be better for high schoolers.

When I think about it, my kids have never been crazy about the LeapFrog products. They had the LeapPad several years ago and used it a handful of times, but they would much prefer reading a book themselves or having me read stories to them. Not as cozy as a lap, I suppose…

Early LeapPad Book with Attached Pen

I guess I have a bit of a conflict with the LeapFrog products. They seem so great in theory. I mean, I think if I were a kid, I’d like them. But my kids just have little or no interest. So, while I’ll be keeping my eye on that Crammer (and probably try it out in a store or something), I doubt we’ll buy one.

What do you think? Do your kids like these toys/tools?

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Images from engadget, Amazon and LeapFrog.