LeapFrog Leapster L-Max Educational Game: Madagascar 6 - 8 Years by LeapFrog List Price: $29.99 $22.41 At Amazon on 11-8-2008.

Features Interactive learning cartridge For use with the Leapster L-Max Learning Game System, sold separately Join the hilarious Central Park Zoo animals and friends for an adventure on Madagascar 4 action-packed learning games Teaches essential first and second grade spelling, grammar and math skills Manufacturer Description Join the hilarious Central Park Zoo animals and their new friends for an unforgettable adventure on the Island of Madagascar! Along the way, you can play four action-packed learning games and learn essential first and second grade spelling, grammar, and math skills with Alex, the lion, Marty, the zebra, Gloria, the hippo, and Melman, the giraffe. Then plug into the TV for special bonus rounds! Product Description Join the hilarious Central Park Zoo animals and their new friends for an unforgettable adventure on the Island of Madagascar! Along the way, you can play four action-packed learning games and learn essential first and second grade spelling, grammar and math skills with Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Gloria the hippo, and Melman the giraffe. Then plug into the TV for special bonus rounds! For use with the Leapster L-Max Learning Game System, sold separately. Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism There are four games on this cartridge that features the characters from Dreamworks Madagascar movie. Inside each game there are two levels of play, and in general I would say that even on Level 1 (the easier level) this cartridge is probably too advanced for preschoolers and even some kindergarteners since it requires some reading ability plus some basic math notions. **Mango Math** Melman (the giraffe) gets up a tree and Gloria (hippo) tries to get him down. This game starts out (Level one) with simple math equations such as 5 + 2 = X. Melman and Gloria bounce up and down grabbing mangos until the appropriate amount of fruit is collected to answer the equation. [Thus they need to grab 7 mangos]. [The `hint' button will take children to a page where the equation is shown and solved should they not know the answer.] **Hi Stakes** In this game Alex (the lion) is looking for Marty at Grand Central Station. On Level One your child will be practicing fractions. Alex will go up and down three different levels searching for the one and only shape that is divided into the correct parts -- shows fourths, or thirds, for example. They will also be shown shapes, such as rectangle that is divided into parts, and asked to identify the numeric fraction that corresponds to the portion of the rectangle that is colored blue. For example, find a number such as ½ or ¼. [One of the problems I noted with this game is that the numerical fractions are visually hard to make out clearly on the screen. Detail is not so good here.] **Penguin's Password** This is a fun letter shuffle game. Children are shown letters such as "a, e, c, k" and they need to reshuffle them to form a real word. In this case the word `cake'. **Island Hopping** Obstacle avoidance is part of this game as your child steers jet-ski riding Marty away from debris and incorrect words as they try to complete a sentence. You might see a sentence such as "The ___ laughs" or "The ____ fusses" and your child needs to find a noun that makes sense in this sentence. Five Stars. [A-]. Although the `Hint' button provides good clues and even answers in many cases, children will need to be able to read and understand basic math concepts to get the most out of this cartridge. They will also need a bit of eye-hand coordination. I personally find the characters annoying, but this cartridge has such good learning opportunities that I can't really complain. I haven't seen any games anywhere else that cover the same skills as well: learn math, sentence syntax, and spelling, all while having fun. LeapFrog Leapster L-Max Educational Game: Madagascar Available from Amazon Updated on 11-8-2008.

Toys > Electronic Learning > Item 50

NOTICE: All product prices, availability, and specifications
are subject to verification by their respective retailers.

(C) Copyright 1996-2002,FunToyStore.com