If you’re a family that owns a Leapster system from LeapFrog, trying to choose among the dozens of available games can be difficult. With many retailing for $25 or more, the cost can add up quickly, too. So we had a family test out two different Leapster titles, Creature Create and Batman: Strength in Numbers, to see what they thought.
Creature Create lets kids make their own creatures and, according to the company, teaches “creativity, vocabulary, problem solving and cause and effect.” Our testing mom tried it out with her 8-year-old daughter (her 6-year-old son wanted nothing to do with it because it looked too “girly”) and she said her daughter lost interest pretty quickly. The features to choose from to make the creatures weren’t that different and she thought the teaching part was a little weak as well. Even though the age recommendation for this game is 4-9, it sounds like it would be better for kids on the younger side of the range. Batman: Strength in Numbers, on the other hand, got a rave review from the 6-year-old even though it was difficult. The difficulty didn’t discourage him at all and mom said it did a good job teaching math concepts. Since this game is recommended for ages 5-7, it was a little too easy for the 8-year-old.
Both Leapster games retail for $24.99. For more information visit www.leapfrog.com.