Christmas gift

The popular Cars 2 theme of Leap Frog makes learning even more fun for pre-schoolers! The program is easy to use and the game idea engages young minds to learn more.

cute game. my kiddo played this for years before he handed it on to his little sister. the leappad finally went caput and we upgraded to the epic that doesn't use cartridges or I bet she would still play it!

I wish these games were better on diversity and graphics because for the price I could buy an xbox 360 game which is a thousand times better. They are slightly educational, but compared to my kindle, my son doesn't even play these games anymore because there isn't a lot to play.

Recently my oldest son, 5 years old, received the new LeapPad from LeapFrog to review for free along with Disney Pixar Cars 2. The great thing about this learning tablet is that it takes the same cartridges as our Leapster Explorer. So when one boy isn't playing Disney Pixar Cars 2 on the LeapPad, he's playing it on the Leapster Explorer.

About the Game: In Disney Pixar Cars 2, children will join Mater and Lightening McQueen in a global race-turned-espionage tale. Along the way, children will practice measurements, problem-solving, graphs, sequencing and patterns.

I had to pry the game out of my son's hands to learn more about it to share with you. So that said, you can be sure he loved it on the LeapPad. And when he wasn't playing with Cars 2 on the LeapPad, my 4 year old was playing with it on the Leapster Explorer. But once I got my hands on it, I chose to play it on the LeapPad to share my thoughts with you.

From the Main Menu of the game there are 5 places to visit:

Adventure Mode: You drive around Radiator Springs finding collectibles. You can meet characters along the way to talk too. It lets you know when you can talk or stop somewhere. There are activities along the way, like customizing cars or keep Mater disguised using number sequencing. As you complete activities you can get badges.

Activity Mode: There looks like there are eight activities in this mode - but two of ours were locked by the time I started playing. Activities in this mode include Airport Chase (matching, fine motor skills), Finn's Photo Mission (graphing), Secret Decoder (matching), Finn's Jump (fine motor skills, tracking), Oil Rig Chase (matching, reading signs, fine motor skills), Disguise Device (number sequencing).

Salvage Yard: Where collectibles from Radiator Springs adventure mode are stored.

Badges: The different badges earned.

Micromods: I haven't ever used micromods. You download them LeapWorld to change or enhance the game somehow. It could be new game music, character upgrades, game modes or moves, etc.

The only thing I was disappointed in was the packaging. I miss having a way to easily organize my games. I kept all previous Leapster Explorer Games in their boxes on a shelf, so the boys can easily find what they are looking for and put their games back. The new packaging has to be ripped apart to remove the game, leaving you with a loose game to easily misplace.

That is everything I discovered! Overall the game is pretty cute and I am impressed with the skills it's teaching. Cartridge games for Leapster Explorer and LeapPad usually retail for $24.99. If you find them less, it's a bargain.