Tag Junior - EXCLUSIVE Tiny Toy Tester Review
Toy Whimsy Takes on Tag Junior- The First Parent Review of this Hot New Toy:
Another great opportunity has come up for our toy testers here at Toy Whimsy. The LeapFrog Tag Junior has been given to us to test out and we had a great time last night reading books together. Check out our 2 yr old toy tester with the Tag Junior and then keep reading for an extended review...
I'll have to admit, I was skeptical about the Tag Junior. We already have the Tag from last year and I didn't think there would be much of a difference. My daughter is four and can use the Tag just fine. My two year old would very much like to use the Tag, but had trouble handling the pen, and also had to be reprimanded many times for tearing the pages of the Tag books (as well as many other books we own). I was interested to see if he would understand the Tag Junior or just get bored with it quickly because it wasn't the original Tag. As you can see from the videos, he loved it and I am happy to report it held his attention for over an hour.
Parents' Review: 5 Stars for Wonderful, 1 Star for Terrible:
Assembly: ? Stars-
I can't report about the packaging because LeapFrog sent it to me with no packaging, and with five of the initial titles. I imagine if it the packaging is going to be anything like the original Tag, it will be easy to open and with as little ties and extra packaging as possible. I do know that for the Junior model, you do use a USB cable to load the books onto the hand held device. If it is anything like Tag (and I am sure it is) it literally takes about 2 minutes to load a new book on to the player. They made the downloading part of the device very easy, even more so than an iTunes sort of interaction.
Fun Factor: 5 Stars-
The play pattern was much the same as the original Tag but the slight differences were vital to how my son was able to utilize the hardware. The Tag Junior, as you can tell by looking at it is chunkier, rounded, and easier for small hands to handle (my son was calling it his snowman). By simply cupping his hand over the top and pushing down on the book, he was able to use the Junior just like the original Tag, but instead of struggling with his dexterity, he was free to explore the books as he wanted.
Toddlers read books very differently than preschool children. When left to their own devices, they jump around, and turn pages before reading everything on the page. The Tag Junior works well with toddler's version of "reading" because it will play different sounds when you hit the same picture multiple times. In the book "ABC Animal Orchestra" you hit the animal the first time you hear the sound of the instrument, you hit it again and hear the name of the animal and instrument, you hit it again and hear the animal say something. It is a nice change since with the original Tag my two year old would find one sound he liked and hit it over and over again. The action of the "snowman" works really well too as you have to push it down, like a stamper, to make it read the book. Instead of the original Tag where you drag it along the words to read the book, or hit one small dot to hear the paragraph, this one allows toddlers to stamp their way randomly through the book to hear words and sounds.
Durability: 4 Stars -
Anything that is electronic and plastic is not going to be unbreakable, but I will say in the short time we have had the little Tag Junior, my kids have dropped him a few times and he is still kicking. The best part about the durability of this toy is that the books are board books- not paper books. We have to watch my two year old with books lately because one of his favorite things to do is rip pages out. It makes a good sound and as a destructive toddler, what could be better than breaking something? The board books assure that is he isn't going to break these books and they will last much longer.
Educational Factor: 5 stars -
I don't think Tag Junior is going to replace a parent actually reading to their children and nor do I think it should, but it is a really fun activity to do together and as anyone who has been around a toddler knows, they want to try everything on their own. Mine says "I DO IT!" all the time. This provides them the opportunity to read books themselves and learn while playing. Each book has a learning theme:
Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? (sounds)
Curious George: Color Fun (colors)
ABC Animal Orchestra (alphabet)
How Do Dinosaurs Play With Their Friends? (social play)
Disney Pooh Loves To ... (actions)
Dora the Explorer: 1-2-3 Dora! (counting)
The Backyardigans: Opposites (opposites)
David Smells! (senses)
The title that my son gravitated to was the ABC Animal Orchestra, and granted, we only played with it for a few hours, but the fun sounds from classical instruments to turntable scratching, along with the ABCs, was really fun for him.
Novelty Factor: 3 Stars
Yes, there is an original Tag, and it is great for kids 4 and older, but this new Tag Junior is worth having if you have a child under 4. I was a skeptic, as I said before, because my 2 yr old has tried the original Tag and had some success with it. But when you watch a toddler with a book, and then watch a preschooler you are going to see them use the book in very different ways. Tag Junior takes advantage of the way toddlers hold things in the hands and the way that toddlers utilize books. My 2 yr old had much more success with the Tag Junior and was able to "read" the alphabet and interact with the books much more than with the original, where he was just pressing the same picture over and over again to hear the same funny noise. That combined with the fact that I wasn't nervous about him ripping the pages out of the books made it very much worth having both Tag and Tag Junior in our house.
Overall Score: 4.5 Stars - "A great toy that we highly recommend "
I had my doubts, but the differences in the Tag Junior and watching my child interact with both toys has made me a believer. This is a great toy- and better suited for children under 4 yrs. The price point is perfect for the times at $34.99, with the individual books at $10.99 (one book will come with the Tag Junior). The Tag Junior also will connect with the Learning Path on LeapFrog.com. You will be able to (just like with the Tag) see what your child is learning. While I think this is less important with the Tag Junior then with the Tag (or even Leapster2 or Didj), I do like that the opportunity is there for parents to use the resource if they wish. I always judge a toy with one question in mind, "If my best friend asked me if she should buy this for her child, would I say yes?" and with Tag Junior, the answer is a resounding yes!
You can click here to learn more about Tag Junior, and LeapFrog.com has a dedicated page that tells more about the product and when it will be released.
Also, if you would like to see our video review of the original Tag that we did back in September 2008, you can see it here.
--Laura McMullan
Dr.MOZ on March 31, 2009 at 03:18 PM
Great review Laura! I've seen the pen-style tag, but didn't know about Tag Junior. LeapFrog products are getting more impressive every year.
The one improvement I'd like to see with their Tag line would be the ability for parents to recharge the tag reader (instead of using batteries) with a base unit or plug. You could really burn through a lot of batteries with a few kids in the house!
~ Dr.MOZ
Sharon K on April 24, 2009 at 06:23 PM
This looks so neat. Just wondering if you had an opportunity to see how many titles the Tag Jr would hold? Is it the same 5 book limit like Tag?