Leapfrog Crammer Educational System a Great Addition to Child's Holiday Gift List

Last month Leapfrog, popular maker of educational children's toys, introduced their newest selection which is called the Crammer. This handheld educational system combined with MP3 player is targeted at the third to eighth grade market and aims to make on-the-go studying more fun.

The Crammer Study and Sound System offers the ability to download over 16,000 quiz questions in 1000 practice quizzes. These quizzes are based on actual textbooks so the questions are a great study tool. The quizzes cover math, social studies, science, and language arts. Besides quizzes, you can also create digital flash cards for the same subjects. In addition the Crammer comes with a built-in Spanish translator and two pre-loaded games. The unit can be connected to the internet to create a Learning Path for parents to follow a child's progress and to see what areas of study the child has been utilizing.

The pocket-sized Crammer can also be used as an MP3 player with 1 GB of storage (about 10 hours of music) and a headphone jack. Download songs from any computer with a USB port. The MP3 unit works as the same time as the quizzes, so the child can listen to music while learning. The unit is Windows and Mac compatible. The MSRP is $59.99.

Additional accessories for the Crammer include a case (MSRP $9.99) and a Customizer screen skin and protector set (MSRP $12.99).

We have spent almost a month testing the Crammer with several children and have been overall pleased with the unit. The children have found it to be easy to use. The quizzes and flash cards are fun and challenging. The design is attractive and seems to hold up well to being dropped on occasion. The navigation screen is easy to move around using the rocker-style front screen (it is not a touch screen device as it might appear to be). The sound quality is decent and the MP3 player is fairly easy to download songs to.

The downsides to the unit are the limited number of games and the fact that the kids did tire of just doing the quizzes with it. Also, our first Crammer would not shut off without removing the batteries. After exchanging the unit, we found the new one had the same issue. Customer service recommended rubbing a pencil eraser over the battery contacts and the unit began to function properly.

Overall the Crammer provides a fun educational entertainment system that would make a great Holiday gift for a child about age 8 to 12.