You’re on the hunt for decent electronic learning toys, but I’m guessing you’re feeling a bit spoilt for choice.
It seems as though there are just too many electronic toys on the market these days. How do you choose?
Ultimately, only you will know which gadget toys will go down with the child you’re buying for, but what sort of toy enthusiast would I be if I didn’t offer my suggestions to help you narrow down your options?
So before you head off to find a suitable electronic toy for your young’uns, you may want to check out my top picks for 2014.
I’ve broken the toys down into specific age categories: Infants, preschoolers, school kids and older school kids to make your hunt for the perfect toy easier. 🙂
Top Electronic Learning Toys for Infants (0 – 1 year olds)
#1 Baby Einstein Baby Neptune Ocean Orchestra Musical Toy
Musical toys for infants totally rock! This cute little Neptune Ocean Orchestra will keep your baby thoroughly entertained, with it’s captivating flashing lights and cool musical tunes.
Baby has the option of playing 5 different types of instrument sounds, ranging from the cello to a harp.
As baby gets older, s/he can learn how to play the instruments together… creating their own musical compositions.
A great electronic learning toy to help babies develop an ear for music from a young age.
#2 LeapFrog My Talking LapPup
Here’s an electronic learning toy that will get your baby squealing and cooing with delight.
It’s highly interactive with buttons that make sounds, play music or light up.
It has a built in roller rattle that is easy for little hands to work. You can even play peek-a-boo with your baby by opening and closing the lid to reveal the puppy’s face.
Talking LapPup, comes with lots of other play and educational features. Baby can learn songs, learn shapes, numbers and colors too.
#3 Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes
This is pretty much an MP3 for babies… except it only plays classical musical.
Want the baby you’re buying for to develop a taste for Mozart, Vivaldi, Chopin and Rossini? Then this is probably going to be a good choice of electronic toy for your infant.
You’ll love the fact that Take Along Tunes is totally portable, so easy to throw into a bag when you’re travelling.
Baby will love listening to the soothing music watching the flashing lights.
Best Electronic Learning Toys for Toddlers (1 – 3 year olds)
#1 VTech Cody The Smart Cub Plush Electonic Learning Toy
Young children love the feel of plush toys and VTech’s Cody Cub is an adorable electronic toy that is totally huggable. In fact this little guy is programmed to respond to hugs and cuddles from your child.
Cody offers a variety of fun electronic learning opportunities from teaching your little one about the different parts of the body, to introducing your child to their first words, to learning fun songs and everyday greetings.
You can even program Cody Cub to remember your child’s name and birthday. How cool is that?
Cody Cub is suitable for young ones from ages 6 months to 3 years.
#2 LeapFrog Learn and Groove Music Player
Toddlers love to sing and dance. That’s what makes electronic toys with a musical element so popular for little ones.
The LeapFrog Learn and Groove Player is just one of those ‘easy’ toys; it’s easy for little hands to grasp and use, easy to clean and easy to carry around.
It’s the sort of electronic toy that will keep a child quiet and engaged on a long car journey.
The player is highly interactive with a choice of around 20 instantly recognizable songs, like Old McDonald and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
Plus there are a ton of additional learning experiences, games and apps that you can download for the player.
#3 Mega Bloks Inc Mega Bloks – Billy Beats Dancing Piano
This is a unique electronic toy for toddlers in that you can build and play music, learn songs, and learn all about colors and shapes too.
Billy Beats Dancing Piano is bright, chunky and lots of fun for little builders.
#4 Playskool Sesame Street Steps To School Elmo’s Count Along Crayons Toy
Your toddler will probably recognise the character in this electronic toy. It’s Elmo! And who doesn’t love Elmo?
Elmo’s Count Along Crayons teaches little ones how to count, recognise colors and say their ABCs. Elmo will speak the letters and numbers out loud, allowing your child to repeat them back.
Elmo also plays sing along songs that your child can learn and comes with his very own set of crayons.
Best Electronic Learning Toys for Preschoolers (3-5 year olds)
#1 LeapFrog Read with Me
This little guy’s name is Scout and he’s a cuddly, interactive pup that will help your toddler get a head start on their reading and English language comprehension.
Scout comes with a set of 5 books which teach a range of concepts from storytelling and rhyming to understanding phonetics and language patterns.
Read with Me Scout doesn’t just read the books out loud, he asks questions too. This helps build comprehension skills.
Scout also sings songs and makes little noises whenever he is hugged or petted.
A great electronic toy for pre-schoolers.
#2 VTech MobiGo 2 Touch Learning System
For little kids who are already showing an interest in technology, this MobiGo Learning System may just be one of the best electronic learning toys for preschoolers.
It has lots of educational features, entertainment and games built in, that will occupy tiny minds for ages. It’s small and compact, which means it can accompany your toddler anywhere he or she goes.
The MobiGo is super easy for small kids to use, with a slide out QWERTY keyboard and stylus, for speedier operation.
#3 LeapFrog Letter Factory Phonics
Is the toddler you’re buying for ready to learn their ABCs?
The LeapFrog Letter Factory will speed up their progress by not only teaching them the ABC, but teaching them how to correctly pronounce each letter, phonetically.
Top Electronic Learning Toys for Kids (5-8 years old)
#1 LeapFrog Reader
Leapfrog recently came out with an electronic learning toy this year, which teaches kids how to read and write.
This is set to be a very popular Christmas toy and learning resource for kids in 2014.
Check out this post I wrote on the LeapFrog Reader for more info.
#2 VTech InnoTab 3 The Learning App Tablet for Kids
Kids like to imitate; it’s a huge stage in their development.
They see you with your tooled up iPad or Kindle and they want a piece of the action too.
Good job we have smart PC tablets for kids like this VTech InnoTab 3. It’s packed with features that will keep children pre-occupied and away from your smart device.
#3 LeapFrog LeapPad Ultra Kids’ Learning Tablet
Of course we can’t have one of the leading kids PC tablets without the other.
The LeapFrog LeapPad Ultra comes feature packed with 11 pre-loaded apps, parent controlled Wi-Fi access and a large screen capacity. This is a kiddie table with a ‘real’ iPad feel.
One thing I will say, if you have the LeapPad2, then you’ll probably just want to stick with that.
From what I’ve read, there isn’t enough of a difference between the two learning tablets to warrant an upgrade. Same goes for the InnoTab models.
And that’s that…my list of top electronic learning toys.
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