SECTOR GUIDE ELECTRONIC LEARNING 67 Tech for tots
Kids’ tablets were among the top-selling toys of last year. Their popularity is proof that children’s core learning, like English and maths, does not have to be limited to the classroom. Dominic Sacco rounds up the latest hot products in the electronic learning sector, including several newcomers…
LEAPFROG
The £79.99 LeapPad Explorer is a top- selling tablet device designed especially for children aged between four and nine years old.
It comes with a built-in camera and
video recorder, accelerometer and five- inch colour touch screen. Following the product’s success in the Toy Retailers Association’s Dream Dozen, LeapFrog will be continuing to develop the LeapPad Explorer’s range of software, games, apps and accessories. These are available from the company’s online App Centre store. Plus, the LeapPad Explorer was one of the best-selling toy products last year, according to the NPD Group. Then there’s the lower-priced Leapster
Explorer, a £59.99 device which promises a personalised learning experience tailored to each child. It’s targeted at kids aged between four and eight years old.
Consumers can also purchase a £14.99 click-in camera and video accessory. This allows users to take pictures, record video footage and edit their content while learning reading, maths, science skills and more at the same time.
MATTEL
Toy giant Mattel is targeting babies over six months old with its Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn collection. The range aims to teach babies about numbers, colours, greetings, first words, and more, in a fun way using lights, sounds and music as rewards. Product highlights include the Click
n’ Learn Remote – a realistically- styled remote where baby is the controller – and the Apptivity Case. The latter is a durable case with chunky handles, so techno tots can play with their very own apps without dribbling onto mum’s iPhone. This autumn also marks the arrival of the Apptivity Case for iPad. There’s also the Laugh &
Learn Puppy available. A host of toys feature the puppy character which helps babies play, learn and grow. Products include the original plush Love to Play Puppy, Puppy’s Piano and Puppy’s Learning Car. And from this August the new Laugh & Learn Dance n’ Play Puppy will hit
01628 500000 01895 202840 VTECH 01235 555545 The Leapster Explorer also boasts
auto-level gameplay, as well as Flash and 3D graphics. Children can even play online. There are several licensed cartridge games available and over 100 apps to download from the aforementioned LeapFrog App Centre.
VTech is launching two brand new products which it hopes will dominate electronic learning sales this year – the InnoTab 2 and the MobiGo 2. The InnoTab 2 is the successor to
2011’s award-winning InnoTab. This was the top-selling toy for December 2011 and the leading electronic toy between January 2012 and April 2012, according to the NPD Group. The new product – aimed at children between four and nine years old – boasts a built-in microphone and a 1.3 mega pixel camera with a rotating ‘self-portrait’ lens. This allows children to put themselves in the frame. Kids can take pictures, use the editing suite to add special effects and upload their photos into games. VTech is also launching new
software cartridges that come with one animated e-book, three learning games and two creative activities,
OREGON SCIENTIFIC
with extra mini apps available to download.
The other product VTech is pushing is the MobiGo 2, the follow-up to its successful touch learning system. This helps children to learn curriculum- based school skills like English and maths, as well as colours and shapes. It also has e-books, drawing activities and a picture viewer. The MobiGo 2 has a touch sensitive ‘finger touch’ screen, a motion sensor that allows kids to shake, tilt or turn the unit to complete tasks, a microphone, slide- up screen, QWERTY keyboard and four-
directional cursor for
playing games. It’s for kids aged between three and
eight years old, and comes with a Cars 2 cartridge. Alternatively, a pink edition is available which is bundled with a Hello Kitty cartridge.
01628 580154
toy shelves. This encourages infants to move, dance and sing as the puppy claps, wiggles and raises his ears along to 25 songs and phrases.
Mattel says it will kick off experiential, word-of- mouth and digital marketing activity to support the range this autumn and winter. Plus, it promises a heavyweight TV ad campaign in the run up to Christmas.
Meep is a wi-fi enabled tablet for kids over six years old that comes with 50 pre-loaded games, apps, e-books and music tracks. It’s fuelled by Google’s powerful
Android 4.0 platform and boasts a seven-inch Z-Force touch-screen, as well as durable silicone sleeves. Oregon Scientific says the whole user interface has been especially developed for children. Extra accessories for Meep include a
joystick, steering wheel, portable piano, drum pad, headphones set, microphone and Game-Pro case for multiplayer action. Parents don’t need to worry how their
child uses Meep, either. The device has a parental control system that lets parents regulate how their children access the internet and YouTube. They can also control how their kids respond to friend requests and how much money can be spent using the online App Store. Oregon Scientific is backing Meep with a nationwide marketing campaign later this year including ‘significant investment’ in TV advertising, as well as social media activity, a PR campaign and heavy online presence.
Meep will be priced at £129.99 and will hit shelves this September.
JUNE 2012
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