LeapFrog Fridge Phonics

The LeapFrog Fridge Phonics educational toy range are designed for 2 - 7 year olds. A much better alternative to the magnetic alphabet letters we used to use!

Kids place letters, or a combination of letters in the reader and hear it's name and the sound they make. The Games build in development, each game having more complexities.

The first in the Fridge Phonics series is the Magnetic Alphabet Game. Word-builder and Word Whammer are the more complex Fridge Phonics Games. You can read more about each game by clicking the links above.

Learning Outcomes for LeapFrog Fridge Phonics Games

• Fine Motor skills are developed as preschoolers manipulate the Fridge Phonics letter into the reader
• Alphabet exploration, learning to recognize letters
• Associating the sound and name of a letter to the visual representation - the beginnings of phonetic reading!
• Even young children will start to spell simple words, such as Mom, Dad, their own name, then older children graduate to the more complex word games
• Leapfrog educational toys encourage learning word building
• Begin to understand rhyme and the building blocks of rhyming poetry

Critique of LeapFrog Fridge Phonics Games

For parents outside of USA, the American accents used in the Leapfrog educational toys, and in fact all the LeapFrog Games are an issue. Parents report that particularly little kids find pronounciation confusing, and some parents are very resistant to the idea of accents becoming generically American.

I'm Australian - well actually a New Zealander, so there are even more differences! I always notice when I am in the UK with my little Grandchildren, I have to modify some of my words that are either spoken differently or have a different name. For example a Pushchair in New Zealand, is a Stroller in Australia, and a Buggy in the UK! Many names, spelling and pronunciations are becoming more standardized with the development of the Internet, and often that will be American.

You can use the differences as a learning tool, to help kids understand that people speak differently in other countries, and a lot of the Leapfrog games are also available in Spanish. I make a game out of differences in words with my Grandchildren, and when you think about it there are lots of things that have more than one name and lots of different accents even within America, England or even in Australia.

Only you can choose if the benefits of the Leapfrog Fridge Phonics games outweigh the discrepancies in the pronunciation.

Finding The Best Deals in LeapFrog Fridge Phonics Games

I recommend buying online, particularly if Christmas shopping! Dragging kids around the Mall and trying to hide gifts is exhausting! Plus the benefits of buying online, is you often get a much cheaper price, even with the postage, save on petrol, shop the hours that suit you and have time to research the best deal without wearing out your shoes!

I've saved you a lot of hassle by researching the two best and most secure ways to purchase online. The Amazon Links for LeapFrog Fridge Phonics Games are in the right column, and the Auction Listings on Ebay are below. You can often get significant savings buying via Auction, and can usually buy brand new fridge phonics games, not just second hand. However, when choosing second hand, you can often get several games for the price of one new one!

If you have never purchased in an Ebay Auction before, it is really easy. You simply click through on a listing and up the top of the page you will see a link to log in or register. You register with an email address and username. There are usually multiple ways to pay for an item, often PayPal, or direct deposit. Read more about online auctions in our leapFrog Games Article.

If you can't see an item you are looking for in the listings below, you will find a link at the bottom for more listings, or you can enter a search in the search box at the top of the listings.

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