26 Interactive Reproducible Mini-Books That Make Learning to Print the Letters A to Z Easy and Fun!
Great Take-Home Mini-books From A to Z!
Lots of fun letter-formation practice with a mini-book for each letter!

Kama Einhorn is an editor and writer of books for teachers. She is the author of Cursive Writing Made Easy & Fun! (Scholastic Teaching Resources, 2000). Kama was an ESL-program coordinator for K­8 in San Francisco for four years. She received her Masters degree in literacy in 1997. Kama lives in New York City.

Bring Playhouse Disney to your house with Zippity the new high-energy learning system that gets preschoolers dancing jumping playing and learning with Disney characters they love. The Zippity system introduces preschool curriculum through full-body play and learning. Using the interactive bopper and mat children can stomp swing bop and march driving the learning with their arms and legs.\n\n \n\nThe Zippity system comes with eight built-in games featuring the popular Playhouse Disney characters from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse My Friends Tigger Pooh Little Einsteins and Handy Manny. All eight built-in learning activities bring the characters to life on your TV through high-quality animations and feature two levels of play for hours of active learning fun.\n\n \n\nA built-in Learning Path lets parents see the skills their child is exploring as they play or parents can create a personal LeapFrog Learning Path online for more in-depth insights and learning ideas.\n\n

Immerse your child in the magic of learning with this Disney Princess learning game for your Zippity system. Little ones can make a musical fireworks display with Ariel and Scuttle, explore numbers as they decorate a dress for Cinderella and build memory skills as they dance with Snow White. Three high-energy activities introduce music and math skills as kids put their whole bodies into the learning action. A built-in Learning Path lets parents see what their child is learning as they play, or parents can create a personal LeapFrog Learning Path online for more in-depth insights and learning ideas. Appropriate for ages 3 to 5.

Zippity – Learning Game: Disney Princess

Rev up your child’s reading skills with this Disney • Pixar Cars learning game for your Zippity system. Kids jump and steer with the mat and bopper as they race through Radiator Springs with Lightning McQueen, Mater, Flo and Ramone. Three high-energy activities introduce early reading and measurement concepts as kids put their whole bodies into the learning action. A built-in Learning Path lets parents see what their child is learning as they play, or parents can create a personal LeapFrog Learning Path online for more in-depth insights and learning ideas. Appropriate for ages 3 to 5.

Zippity – Learning Game: Disney-Pixar Cars

Rainy days and indoor playtime don’t have to be boring: with the Leap Frog Zippity, preschoolers can get on their feet and get moving, all while playing interactive, educational video games that feature favorite Disney characters. The Zippity is designed for children ages three to five.

Zippity Learning System Ages: 3 to 5 years Requires: 8 “C” batteries Phillips screwdriver for battery installation Television with standard video/audio input

What We Think Fun factor: Durability: Ease of assembly: Educational factor: Novelty factor: The Good: Video game features calibrating levels that customize to preschoolers’ ability The Challenging: Younger preschoolers may find games challenging but will grow into them In a Nutshell: Video game system gets preschoolers jumping and dancing while making learning fun

Featuring Disney characters like Mickey Mouse, this interactive video game system plugs directly into your TV. View larger.

With 8 different games, the Zippity encourages kids to be active and helps develop skills like coordination and memory.View larger.

Giant Joy Stick Get Kids Moving
Designed to get kids moving and learning, the Zippity is an educational video game system that preschool-age children play by stepping, dancing, and jumping, and moving their arms. The system consists of a main unit, which the child uses to control the onscreen game, and a console that plugs into any television with a standard video/audio input. Both the main unit and the console require four “C” batteries each, as well as a Phillips screwdriver to install them.

The main unit, which requires minimal assembly, is essentially an oversized joy stick–so instead of sitting sedately with a game controller in hand, kids play the Zippity game with their whole body and get plenty of gross motor coordination practice. It consists of a large activity mat with different colored sections, and the “bopper,” which is a joystick-like pole that requires big arm movements for moving backward, forward, and side to side.

Play and Learn
The Zippity’s eight games feature favorite Disney characters in quality, three-dimensional animation. All are designed to introduce preschool-age kids to a wide range of learning skills–not least of which is practicing listening and following directions. The game system starts out with Mickey Mouse teaching your child (and you!) the basics of how to use the controller, and each game is introduced with either a narrator or a character giving instructions.

Listening, memory skills, and coordination skills are also developed in several games, such as “Darby’s Honey Pot Jam,” “Goofy’s Fancy Dancing,” and “June’s Twist n’Twirl.” These games ask the child to do certain “moves” in a short sequence to create a dance, for example, to step on the green section of the mat or to push the bopper in a certain direction.

The Zippity introduces plenty of other learning skills through the eight fun games, including color recognition, letter and number recognition, and even introduction to classical composers and world cultures. In games featuring Handy Manny, kids get a little introduction to Spanish vocabulary; and in “Super Sleuths on the Case,” kids put their problem solving skills to use by helping Winnie the Pooh collect clues to answer questions.

The “Learning Path” in the system’s onscreen main menu provides a bit more information about the learning skills the Zippity introduces to your child. Leap Frog also has a more robust online Learning Path Web site, which is touted as a complement to all of its products, including the Zippity. We found, however, that the Learning Path Web site is better suited to use with Leap Frog’s other Internet-connectable toys and doesn’t augment the Zippity experience in a substantial way.

Different Learning Levels Customize to Child’s Ability
Each game features two levels of difficulty, and at each level the game calibrates itself to the child’s level of advancement, so the games can grow with your child. We found that our three-year-old toy tester is just old enough to start using this toy. She required an adult to reinforce the directions given by the game–more practice would make the process easier, and older children would also be able to catch on more quickly.

Be warned: although the picture on the box shows a child energetically leaping on the interactive mat, the pace of the games is much slower, especially at Level 1. But the slower pace and the level of challenge doesn’t make them any less enjoyable. Although our toy tester found the games challenging, she had a lot of fun trying– and she would only get better with practice. And once the included games are mastered, other game cartridges are available for separate purchase.

What’s in the Box
Zippity main unit with “bopper” and interactive mat; console with attached AV cable

Zippity – High-Energy Learning System

Now even preschoolers can take real digital photos with this safe, durable camera made just for them. The Disney Pix Jr camera has won awards from Parenting Magazine, etc etc. It’s built rugged enough to withstand fumbles and tumbles. Shooting pictures is easy; it comes with a big color TFT view screen and automatic flash. Disney magic makes it fun – just one click of the Magic Wand Button lets kids insert lovable Disney characters into their photos. The camera holds up to 500 photos at a time and its easy to download pictures to PC. Preschoolers can get even more creative with the award winning Disney Pix Photo Editing Software which lets them customize photos with frames, fun graphics and special effects.

Flash onto the scene with our Pix Jr. Cars Digital Camera. This 1.3 Megapixel kid-friendly Lightning McQueen camera is extremely durable with rubber grips, icon-labeled function buttons and a large display screen for easy viewing. Powerful on-board processor allows little racers to snap pictures super-quick. Download pics on your computer to add cool Cars graphics with Disney Pix photo editing software. Kachow! Imported. Camera Specifications: . Lightning McQueen graphics . 1.3 Megapixel Resolution . 1 1/2” Color LCD screen . Built-in Auto Flash . 32MB internal storage. Holds up to 150 photos . SD/MMC Card Slot . Expandable to 2GB for up to 500 photos . Long battery life. Up to 15 hours of continuous use . Rugged case with rubber grips . Plastic/PVC . 3 1/2” H x 6” W . Requires 4 AA batteries, not included . Ages 3+ . System Requirements: . Windows 2000, ME, XP or Vista . 300 MB free hard disk space . USB port . 4x CD-ROM . Windows 2000, ME, XP: 300MHz or faster processor, 128MB RAM . Windows Vista: 800MHz or faster processor, 512MB RAM . Package Includes: . Disney Pix Photo Editing Software, wrist strap, USB cable and User Guide .