Product Review : the Word Whammer By LeapFrog

Out of all the products out there for beginning readers, one of the best is the Word Whammer™ Fridge Phonics Set from LeapFrog®. LeapFrog took a wonderful product, their Fridge Phonics single letter set, and expanded it to allow children to spell three letter words. Children learn letters, phonics, and how to spell common three letter words. The toy has a dictionary of over 325 words and sounds out words that it does not know. The Word Whammer™ comes with all of the letters of the alphabet and comes with duplicates of several letters so children can spell words like mom and dad.

There are three setting in the LeapFrog® Word Whammer™. The first setting is Letter Hunt. The second is Word Builder, and the third is Word Hunt. Each of these settings will be discussed in detail.

Letter Hunt
In the Letter Hunt setting of the LeapFrog® Word Whammer™, a kind voice asks the child to put a letter into the Word Whammer™. When the child puts a letter into the Word Whammer™ and presses down, the toy identifies the letter and sings a song about the sound the letter makes. Children begin to learn the sounds the letters make through song, which is one of the quickest ways that children learn material.

Word Builder
The Word Builder setting allows the children to pick three letters at random. The kids put the letters into the Word Whammer™ in order from left to right. Kids know where to put the letters from the blinking lights above the spaces. As the child puts the letters into the toy, a voice tells the child the name of the letter. When all three letters are in the Word Whammer™, the toys tells the child to push on the letters to see what word they built. When the child pushes down on the letter, a voice restates the name of the letter. Then the toy sounds out the letters. If the letters the child picked spells an actual word, the voice says the word after sounding it out, and a song is played. If the letters don't spell a word, the toy will say the sounds of each letter and then another voice will say "Great sounds". It is beneficial to the child to hear the letters repeated and the "word" sounded out, even if it does not spell an actual word. It reinforces phonics to the child.

It is important to note that there are some three letter words or three letter combinations that could sound out to be a word that you would not want your child to know (i.e. a - s -s, s - e - x, f - u - c, or f - u - k). When these letter combinations are picked, the toy blocks sounding out the letters and encourages the child to put three new letters into the Word Whammer, protecting your child's innocence.

Word Hunt
In the Word Hunt setting of the Word Whammer™, the toy picks a word that the child should make then spells the word. The toy then tells the child the first letter again and the light above the space blinks. If the child picks the right letter, it moves on to the next letter. If the child does not pick the right letter, it restates the letter that the child is looking for. When the child is taking awhile to find the letter, the toys gives the child a number of hints. First, it tells the child the color of the letter that he or she is looking for. Second, it tells the child the sound the letter makes. Finally, it tells the child what letter it comes after. When the word is finally spelled, the toy tells the child to remove the first letter to make a rhyming word.

All in all, the Word Whammer™ by Leap Frog® is a solid product. It uses reinforcing behaviors through repetition and song. It teaches letters, phonics, spelling, and rhyming. It teaches children to read common sight words and does it in a fun way. I recommend the Word Whammer™ to anyone that has a preschooler. It currently sells retail for $18.74.