LeapFrog Level Up and Learn Controller (Blue) Review
A pretend-play game controller sized for infant and toddler hands, styled after a real console gamepad. It has chunky pressable buttons, a clickable dial, a four-direction joystick that moves an LED light, and a volume switch. Six animal buttons cover animal facts, the ABC song, counting, rhyming and Spanish words, a cat button plays retro handheld videogame sound effects, and a red shoulder button pops up a tiger for peek-a-boo and bonus games about opposites. LeapFrog lists it for ages 6 to 36 months. Requires 2 AAA batteries; the ones in the box are for demo purposes only. Also sold in pink.
Kylie Harker's review
By Kylie Harker ·
Category scores
- Build quality and fit for small hands 4.5
Sturdy, well weighted, and the controls give small hands genuinely different jobs to do: chunky buttons to press, a dial that clicks round, a four-direction joystick that moves an LED light, and a shoulder button that needs a different grip altogether. It's the sort of toy that survives being thrown off a high chair, and the button resistance is light enough that a small child gets a result rather than giving up.
- Noise and parent tolerance 3
Credit for including a volume switch at all, which plenty of toys at this end of the market don't bother with, and you will be using the quieter setting permanently. But it answers back with sound to almost every touch, and babies touch constantly. You will learn the phrases whether you want to or not. Not one for a small flat or an open plan kitchen.
- Suitability from the stated 6 months 2.5
The age rating is generous at the bottom and quietly capped at the top: LeapFrog itself lists 6 to 36 months. A six month old will mouth it and swipe at it, but the dial and joystick need finer control than that, and the letters, rhyming and Spanish are aimed at a much older child, by which point three years old is coming into view. Expect a real gap between buying it and getting value from it, and a shorter useful life than the packaging suggests.
- Value for money 4
For a toy that gets thrown, chewed and dropped daily, it holds up well, and the fine motor side keeps earning its keep even once the novelty of the noises has worn off. Two things stop it going higher. You'll be buying your own AAA batteries straight away, since the ones supplied are demo only, and the genuinely useful window is more like eighteen months than the three years the age range implies.
- Learning value 3
The fine motor practice is real and worthwhile, and that's the part I'd actually buy it for. The academic content is thinner than the packaging implies: animal facts, the ABC song, counting, rhyming, some Spanish words and a bonus game about opposites. Research on electronic toys points the same way, though gently. Anna Sosa's 2016 JAMA Pediatrics study at Northern Arizona University found they were associated with less parent and child conversation than books or traditional toys, but it followed only 26 parent and baby pairs, so it's a steer rather than a verdict. Useful alongside talking to your child, not instead of it.
The review
LeapFrog have made a baby version of a games controller, and I understand exactly why it sells. It looks like the thing the grown ups won't let them touch. That isn't a cynical observation, it's genuinely why babies reach for it.
My son is four, so he's well past the target range here. He still had a go, because it makes noises and he has no dignity about that sort of thing. What I can usefully tell you is what a parent ought to think about before handing over the money.
The physical design is the best thing about it. It's shaped and weighted for small hands, and the buttons are chunky enough to press without adult finger strength. There's real variety in what the hands have to do: a dial that clicks round, a four-direction joystick that walks an LED light up, down and side to side, six animal buttons, a red shoulder button, and a volume switch that small fingers will find whether you want them to or not. For a baby working on grip and learning to use fingers separately, that mix is genuinely useful, and it's something a wooden toy can't offer.
The content, stated accurately, because the box is vaguer than it needs to be. The six animal buttons do animal facts, the ABC song, counting, rhyming and a handful of Spanish words. The tiger on the red shoulder button pops up for peek-a-boo and unlocks bonus games about opposites. The cat button plays old-fashioned handheld videogame bleeps, which is the detail I find funniest and which children apparently adore.
Now the honest bits.
Six months and up is optimistic, as most age ratings on electronic toys are. It's worth knowing that LeapFrog's own listing gives the range as 6 to 36 months, so the window is a good deal narrower than "6 months and up" makes it sound. A six month old will mouth it and bat at it, and that's about it. The dial and the joystick don't come into their own until closer to a year, and the letters and rhyming land later still. If you're buying this as a baby shower gift, expect it to sit in the basket for a good while before anyone gets much from it.
The noise. There's a volume switch, which I'm always grateful for, and you'll be living on the quieter setting. Be realistic about what you're bringing home: this is a toy that talks, sings and bleeps every single time it's touched, and babies touch things constantly. You'll know every phrase by heart within a fortnight.
The learning claims deserve a little scepticism, and so does the research people quote at you, including me. The study usually cited here is Anna Sosa's, out of Northern Arizona University and published in JAMA Pediatrics in 2016, which found electronic toys were associated with less talking between parent and baby than books or traditional toys. It's a small study, 26 parent and baby pairs recorded playing at home, so treat it as a sensible steer rather than proof of anything. The steer is still worth having. A controller reciting the alphabet is not the same thing as you reciting the alphabet. It's a perfectly good toy. It just isn't a shortcut.
Batteries are worth a word. It takes 2 AAA, and the ones in the box are demo batteries only. Have spares in the house, or you'll be hunting for a screwdriver on the morning of a birthday party.
On the Spanish: it's a sprinkle, not a course. Lovely as exposure, useless as instruction. Set expectations accordingly.
Who it's for: babies from roughly nine months to two and a half, and families with an older sibling who has a real controller and won't share it. Who should skip it: parents actively trying to keep screen-shaped objects out of a baby's hands, anyone already drowning in noisy plastic, and anyone hoping it will teach a second language.
It earns its place in the toy basket. It won't be the toy they remember.
Frequently asked questions
Is it really suitable from six months?
Technically yes, practically not quite. A six month old will mouth it, bat at it and enjoy the sounds, but the dial and joystick need finer finger control than that, and the letters, rhyming and Spanish content is pitched much older. Worth knowing that LeapFrog's own listing puts the range at 6 to 36 months, so you're not getting years and years out of it either. Nine months to around two and a half is where it actually earns its keep.
How loud is it, and can I turn the sound down?
There's a volume switch, so you do have some control, which is more than a lot of toys at this price offer. It still makes a noise in response to almost every press, so plan on leaving it on the quieter setting permanently. If noisy toys already grate on you, this one won't be the exception.
Does it actually teach Spanish?
It introduces a few Spanish words alongside the English ones, and there's a bilingual mode that gives you the animal names in Spanish. That's exposure, not teaching, and it won't get a child anywhere near speaking the language. Fine if you like the idea of your child hearing a second language early on, not remotely enough if you're looking for a genuinely bilingual learning toy.
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