There are different modes that include Play and Sing Along mode, Learn the Song, Karaoke mode, and Free Style Mode.

My favorite mode is the Play and Sing Along mode, while the ABC’s are sung, the letters, paired with a picture, scroll along the top from right to left. For example, an ant image precedes an A, a bat image precedes the B and so on. Children can play along with the song by touching different keys on the integrated keyboard. There is an option to change the keyboard to one of 8 different sound options that include a xylophone, piano, guitar, banjo, bell, flute, harp or animal sounds. Additional features include a voice recorder so that children can record while they are singing and playing along, the keys highlight during the song, which allows older preschoolers the ability to play along with success.

Karaoke mode, in true Karaoke spirit, is great for children who have visual letter recognition – meaning they can identify the letters when asked on by sight or have learned to memorize the song and can sing it by themselves.  The letters sung are highlighted at the top to help with the pace of singing as the music plays. The keyboard is included in the bottom so they can play along as well and there is a record and playback feature.

In Learn the Song mode, while the song is sung, it teaches awareness of the keyboard sequence using real musical notes and their letters. Children can learn timing and rhythm as they tap out the song on the keys as they are highlighted. The record and playback feature is also included in this mode. The instruments can also be changed.

In Free Style Mode, the ABC’s are sung as the graphics scroll , the letters are highlighted at the top for kids who are singing along. This time the keys are not highlighted so kid’s can incorporate all they have learned from the previous modes to play along correctly or incorrectly themselves!

Other reasons why I think this is a great app:

- No matter how many times I have listened to it, the child singing it has the sweetest voice ever and it is not one of those tunes that is annoyingly stuck in your head!

- The song is sung slowly which allows young children the time to process what they are hearing to eventually hear the sounds so they can effectively sing-a-long.

- For kids who are working on motor skills, they have enjoyed listening and playing along with the app while dancing or bouncing up and down on a ball to develop their muscle strength and endurance.

- When needing to entertain Gavin at doctor’s appointments or in the car, this app has saved the day everytime. At only 16 months, he loves watching the letters scroll and likes to call out some of the names of the pictures he sees.

This app is available in iPod, iPad and iPhone versions. Kiboomu also sells a few other toddler apps and their website is a great resource for activities for your child that include educational songs with lyrics, downloadable printing sheets, arts and crafts activities and recipes.

Kiboomu provided this app to facilitate a review. The opinions in this post are my own.

When a game begins, the child uses the Zippity bopper and play mat to interact with the characters as they learn how to match colors, recognize letters and identify the concept of left and right. It’s also great for motor planning, which is a fancy way to describe a child’s ability to follow unfamiliar, multi-step directions.

When reviewing the product, I used the Zippity with two children, ages three and six, who both enjoyed the experience in different ways. There are 8 games provided in the original console, each game has two levels of play. There is also an ability to purchase different game cartridges with other Disney favorites such as Cars and Princesses.

The Level 1 games were perfect for the three year old. Whether she chose to play with Handy Manny or the Little Einsteins, because the directions to both games were similar, she could generalize a skill she had learned from one game to the next with almost immediate success.

As an adult, don’t get frustrated with the speed of the directions being slow, this is a great feature that makes it easier for children to understand the directions! For younger children I would encourage an adult to play along so that you can repeat the directions again if they have a hard time remembering them. Level 1 did include some directions such as using left and right, which can be difficult for children this age to understand, so you may want repeat the direction and encourage them to step on red for left or green for right instead.

The Level 2 games were easy for the six year old, but remember all children learn at different paces. He was able to feel successful immediately by quickly following the directions and operating the console completely by himself. We worked on the concept of turn taking, which worked out well and can be a good skill to promote amongst siblings and friends during playdates.

As is typical of many Leap Frog toys, you can use the Learning Path to experience in more detail other developmental skills your child is learning.

What I really like about the Zippity is that it provides dynamic learning in both the physical and mental sense. I personally love games that incorporate whole body movement and the Zippity is perfect for providing stimulation on a rainy day when children aren’t able to play outside. It’s a great game to buy for families with multiple siblings or children of different developmental levels.

The Zippity retails for $79.99, for more information visit www.leapfrog.com

Leap Frog provided the Zippity free for this review, but the opinions expressed in this review are purely the bloggers own.

Leap Frog Fridge Phonics

Excellent toy for children 15 months through elementary school age is Leap Frog Fridge Phonics. The console attaches to any magnetic surface such as a door or refridgerator. Every letter of the alphabet is magnetic, when you place the letter in the console it will tell you the letter and what isolated sound the letter makes. This game is great for working on developing sounds in isolation and for those children that may have articulation disorder with developing isolated sounds. It can also be helpful for young children who are working on their standing balance as they manipulate the pieces while standing at the refrigerator. Fine motor skills are promoted to rotate the pieces into the console. Find this toy at www.leapfrog.com.