Battle of the Handhelds

We bought Bug the Leapster Explorer for his fourth birthday back in October. At first, thought it was great--but since then, he has blown through most of the games, and annoys the pee out of me begging for more games (which are $7-$25 a pop). The games, however, really ARE educational. I like how he’s learned to navigate a desktop-type environment.

Update: We made the mistake of letting him play an old SpongeBob game on the PS3. Now he's like a little addict (another topic altogether), and the Leapster is "for little kids." 

Pie got the Fisher-Price iXL for Christmas, and I like it much better because it has “mini apps”--a drawing program, tic-tac-toe, jigsaw puzzles, a Donkey Kong-type game, letter-tracing practice, etc. These types of games have more shelf life, in my opinion, because the kids can play them over and over. Plus, you can still buy the expensive cartridge games if you want.

I recently bought myself a Kindle Fire. As someone who has never used an iPad and still has a flip-phone, I say, this is the best thing ever invented! e-books! Netflix! Plus, I downloaded a Tangrams-type game for the boys, added a link to "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" on YouTube, and Angry Birds, on which Bug has totally surpassed me. I’m seriously considering selling the Leapster and the iXL and buying the boys a cheap Andriod tablet (or waiting for Christmas and getting them these new kid-friendly Nabi tablets, designed especially for kids). I wish I would have known.