Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD review
We bought this DVD last summer, when M started expressing an interest in learning the alphabet. He's probably watched it about a dozen times now and almost knows the whole alphabet (L, M, N, O, and P always come out in a blur). I was a bit skeptical at first, because I figured he could learn the song and read his board books to learn letters, but now I'm glad we have the DVD, since it's educational, musical, and fun. I guess when it comes to buying DVDs or watching TV, I am pretty particular, since we don't watch much TV in our household and I don't really want our kids growing up watching a screen for hours each day. So far, the general rule is that we try to watch TV or movies together as a family. It's been a great tool to distract M for 20 minutes on rare occasions, especially when he is difficult to manage (when only one of us is home with both kids).
It is based on the LeapFrog characters and has a cute plot. Tad's dad works at the Letter Factory and his family is busy preparing the letters for an important presentation. Since Tad doesn't really know the alphabet yet, he wanders off on his own, disappointed that he can't help out. In doing so, he runs into Professor Quigley, who takes him on a tour of the factory, meeting each letter in the process. By the end of the DVD, they've gone through all the letters of the alphabet, each with their own theme and song. The concept of the letter factory is quite clever - each group of letters has a class where they learn what sound they make and what words they spell. It's pretty catchy and fun for adults (J and I both enjoy it too). We find the classroom for the letter "X" pretty hilarious, as it is an X-ray room, and when a switch is flipped, everyone is a walking skeleton image (massive radiation exposure!). The first time we saw it, J and I both remarked with a concerned "Hmm." In any case, it's fun for the kids and they learn something too. M sings the letter songs on random occasions, which is pretty cute.
The most impressive thing that I didn't anticipate was how quickly M would learn to recognize letters by sight. The first two letters he learned to identify were "A" and "M." He pointed at the "A" on our foam play mat and said "A...ah" and then pointed at the "M" and said "M...mmm."
There is an alphabet game on the DVD too, which requires the remote control. I'm not as impressed with the game as I am with the feature. I'd definitely buy this again as a gift for a toddler. It's a steal at just under $10 at Amazon.com.
Useful Links
Amazon.com "Letter Factory" DVD
