The Better Homemaking Network

We are all very impressed with the My Pal Violet. Even Grandma, Daddy, and Momma like to cuddle with her! Dot (18 months old) will pick her up and hug her often, which is an extremely rare event with anything else. (Even Momma has only gotten one hug from her ever!) She has quickly made this her favorite toy.

This toy has downloadable options, the best of which is programming it to say and spell your child’s name. I only wish they had “Dot” as one of the name options; right now we’re using “baby” which is okay but definitely not the same. I’m hoping the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and I keep posting on the Leapfrog forums to get her name added to the list.

The first few days, Dot was obsessed with the “off” button/paw, and would get very frustrated. You see, that is the one with the bright red circle on it, and red seems to be most attractive to babies. It was a couple of days before I could convince her that the other paws were much more interesting. It is nice to have a quick silencing mechanism, but perhaps it could be a tug of the ear or tail instead of the paw button. What would really make this toy the best (and I would pay even more for it) is if I could load my own music or other mP3s on the fourth paw, with the two-, five-, and ten minute options similar to the lullaby paw.

Every morning after breakfast, Dot rocks Violet:

The lullaby music is a wonderful idea, although I found most of the tunes to be a little too upbeat. I always look for slow and gentle tunes, and nothing with harsh pitches in it. Thanks to a large selection, we have found five tunes that we love. It would be nice if there was a small white LED in her tag that would give a constant soft light during the lullaby music to provide additional comfort in a dark room. The red LED in there now just makes the tag look red instead of purple when it flashes.

The play and music paws are very creative! At first, Dot learned how to cycle through everything a split second at a time until she hit her favorite tune. Now she at least pauses for the “My Favorites” song and the one that spells her name. She also likes doing the animal imitations. She can’t talk yet but at fourteen months she could meow, bark, and moo! She is learning signs for all of the animals and likes it when Violet asks her about them.

Dot loves to pull apart the velcro on the back! If there was a small section in the middle that was a bit wider, it might preclude little hands from pulling it open so easily. At least it is very well made and safe even when she’s open!

For a little background on how My Pal Scout came into being, see this post by Jeff Katz, LeapFrog CEO:
Creating New Products Goes Beyond the Elves at the North Pole.

Along with the Alphabet Pal, this small LeapFrog collection of two items has me impressed with the company and I will be making more purchases in the future. I am EXTREMELY picky about Dot’s toys, opting for fewer, higher-quality toys that serve some educational purpose. She is a very bright and active 18-month-old who can read nearly 100 words, identify all of her body parts, identify many animals through sounds and ASL signs, differentiate ten different geometric shapes and 9 basic colors, manipulate shapes into a shape-sorter toy, and even find middle C on the piano. She thrives on learning and I am pleased that LeapFrog provides products to help nurture that very important aspect of childhood and help it develop into a life-long love of learning.

Note: This review is entirely voluntary and not paid for in any way!