Join me every week for Win-It Wednesday, with 24-hour giveaways just for you!
Leap Frog products have always been a part of our family, beginning with our first copy of The Letter Factory that we watched over and over with our first son eight years ago. I say first copy because it became so well worn that we actually had to purchase a new copy to replace it! So when I heard about the new SmartyAnts curriculum that’s been developed by the founders of Leap Frog, I was very interested in giving it a try.
The SmartyAnts system consists of an interactive website and a companion SmartyAnts Phonics Reading Pup that reinforces the lessons taught on the website in a fun and engaging way minus the computer, allowing children to practice the reading skills they’re currently working on any time, any place.
We received the white SmartyAnts Phonics Reading Pup to give the system a try, and my four-year-old daughter immediately fell in love with him. He’s very fluffy and cute and surprisingly cuddly and soft for something that has mechanical parts housed inside. He comes ready for fun, preloaded with 10 songs designed to help teach your child the alphabet, letter sounds, phonics, word building, and rhyming.
I decided to let my daughter just get to know the Reading Pup for several days before introducing the online aspect, and he quickly became a constant companion. But when I showed her the SmartyAnts website and how it complements the dog, that was when the real fun began. I’m kind of embarrassed to admit it, but the site showed me just how much I was underestimating what my daughter was capable of. I was under the impression that she was still working on her lower case letters and sounds, but she breezed through those right into the four-letter words level!
The SmartyAnts website is very cute and really draws your child in with activities that seem like play on the surface but are really teaching them valuable skills all the while. My daughter just devoured all of this and asks to play frequently. And the best part is that you can download new files to the Reading Pup that reinforce these skills during free time.
The SmartyAnts Phonics Reading Pup retails for just $29.99, and I fully expect him to be one of the hottest toys this holiday season. Included in the box is one SmartyAnts Phonics Reading Pup (choose husky or white pup), USB cable, parent guide, and one-month membership to SmartyAnts Web site.
One lucky Deal Seeking Mom reader will win a Phonics Reading Pup with a 1-year subscription to SmartyAnts.com!
+++++++++++++++
If you are reading this in your email or feed reader, please CLICK HERE to visit the original blog post to enter. Email entries will not be counted.
Want to win a one year subscription to Smarty Ants, as well as a Phonics Reading Pup? Just leave me a comment here, before 9pm on November 22nd, telling me about the fun ways you and your little ones have discovered learning how to read.
Prize:
(1) SmartyAnts.com Phonics Reading Pup and 1-year Subscription
This giveaway ends at 9:00 p.m. EDT on Monday, 11/22 and is open to all U.S. residents 18 years or older. I’ll use Comment Contest to select the winning comment. Winner will be notified by email and listed on my Giveaway Winners page. Winners must respond within 48 hours of notification to claim their prize. Good luck!
While you’re in a contest entering mood, don’t forget to check out the Giveaway Gathering for a variety of contests being hosted on Deal Seeking Mom readers’ blogs!
Disclosure: I received a Phonics Reading Pup and a one-year subscription to SmartyAnts.com to review for this post.
Amber
My daughter would LOVE this!! She is very musical so we spend lots of time singing songs. Flash cards help too.
Theresa
My 2 year old twins have the leapfrog puppy pals that sings songs and helps them spell their names. They love these things. I would love to have this for when they get the age to start reading. We are already working on spelling small words like nap.
Matt
email subscriber. my son is learning colors and shapes…he will soon be on to learning words (he’s 1 1/2)
Tara
My daughter is almost 2, so she doesn’t know how to read yet, but she does love to look at books and for me to read to her, so I think we’ve started off on a good foot for her to love to read.
Mary Soliday
My 4 year old would love this! We love interactive phonics programs and would love to try this!
michele johnson
Leapfrog products are amazing..tag readers helped teach my daughter many new words.
Brion Pampell
My four year old niece and I have fun writing letters to her little friends. We sound out the words and write letter by letter. I’m sure she’d LOVE to play with this adorable little puppy. :)
Laura E
We have read two books before bed everynight since my 2.5 year old was a baby. One always being Snuggle Puppy which has a little song you sing in it. Now it is SO fun to read as she knows the words to the song.
Reading and taking time with kids makes a difference and we would love to add this into our reading time!
Sarah
My kids love books, so we read together at least twice a day. Both of my kids also have the Tag Reader, which they love love LOVE!! It’s so great that they can explore and enjoy learning to read even when we aren’t right there with them.
jodi d.
this is so cute!!! i haven’t seen it before! this would be great for my daughter!!!!
PS
I love leapfrog! This little guy sounds much better than those other stuffed toy/website combos :)
kristin
We use the Leap videos with our son. They are so cute and easy. When traveling, we use signs and billboards for letter recognition, starting with A and proceeding through the alphabet.
Lisa
I have always included books with my children’s toys from the time they were born and bedtime stories are a great ritual. When reading I always point to each word and my children follow along. At 2 years old, my daughter had memorized “The Three Little Kittens” so well that she even knew when to turn the page! She did this at the doctor’s office waiting for her appointment and the nurse there actually thought she could read!
Stefanie O
My daughter cannot read yet ( she is 2). But we are on our way with a lot of help from leap frog. I think everyone has watched ‘the letter factory’ a zillion times! The tag jr reader is amazing! I have been lucky enough to have a daughter who loves books which is wonderful. Flash cards are a huge help as well as learning through play. Like I said she cannot read yet but I am hopeful that she will be able to by her next birthday.-she knows all her letters and sounds as well as her numbers to 20-including backwards so reading is next!
Laura
My 4 year old and I have a nightly routine of “reading” at least one book, then doing flash cards while her little brother naps during the day. This would be an incredible toy to help her learn to read!
Mindy
My 5 year old would love this. So cute. Thanks for sharing.
Lauren
My 2 year old son and I love to cuddle up with a book and he really enjoys his Tag reading system too.
Katie
My son has been playing a lot with Leapster Jr. lately, but would love to have a dog teach him!!!
[email protected]
Katie
I suscribe to you via email!!
[email protected]
Diana B
Wow this looks cool. My daughter is 4, so we had been moving kinda slow…introducing letters and their sounds slowly…then I found starfall.com. They have a ton of free games and videos to teach phonics, they also have a ton of printables. I think this phonics dog would be a great addition.
Jon
My son is just starting to get into reading and would LOVE this dog.
Shannon
My oldest girls loved their leapfrogs. I’m sure my youngest will too!
Julie
I discovered a place that sells the “I Am Sam” books that I learned to read on when I was young – and bought them for my son. We are loving reading through them together, and he is always surprising himself and me with how much he is learning.
Dave Grabsky
We have lots of Leapfrog toys. We read a lot of books. My son would love this!
Amanda Sherry
This is soo neat, I have never seen him before.
My daughters 6 &7 both can read pretty good and they read a book to thier little sister (2) each night.
saraht
my daughter has some disabilties and this effects her comprehention and things. So she is having trouble with leters and of course reading. so i purchased a couple easy books and we read them and then she “re reads them to her dolls telling her own version of the nook
Heidi
Wow I am intrigued! We have used BOB books for our early readers and I like those. My 3 year old loves dogs so I am sure this would be fantastic for her!
Katie
I read books to my son that were above his age-level consistently since he was very young–two and three-years-old. We talked about the mechanics of reading when he was three–what quotation marks were, what capital letters meant (proper nouns). He started to recognize the name “Thomas” and “Percy” because of the capitals, and he knew his alphabet very well by then, and started doing a small amount of sight reading on his own at age 3, and was reading by age 4, before pre-K. He loves to read, and I think the best way to teach kids is to read to them often–but choose books that are interesting to you, too, so you can read them for long periods without being bored.
This SmartyAnts pup looks adorable, and I’d love to give it to my younger son, who also loves reading, although I’m sure both boys would love it. Thanks for the opportunity, Tara, and for all your great posts.
rebecca
We read tons of books my son loves learning new things.
deb
I have daycare kids so I am always looking for new items to allow them to grow. Plus it doesn’t hurt that I don’t get bored either….this would be a great addition.