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To nurture the innate and insatiable curiosity of babies and toddlers, LeapFrog now offers their LeapStart Learning Table in the UK. Geared for ages six months and above, it's packed with activities to stimulate and entertain. The Learning Table consists of a table top with four detachable legs, enabling it to be used as a free-standing play table or be placed on a table or the floor. It has two volume settings and shuts off automatically after 30 seconds of inactivity. Two programme modes are offered--Learn Mode and Music Mode—which are controllable by flipping the page in the centre book. Around the book are lights which twinkle to the music as well as six musical activity areas to press, slide, pull or tap: a set of three drums, a cello, a maraca, four piano keys, a banjo and a music box. Learn Mode introduces colours, shapes, the numbers 1-10 and the alphabet in addition to concepts such as in/out, high/low, up/down and on/off. Music mode offers an impressive array of tunes. Spin the maraca to hear 13 jazzy tunes including favourites such as "Row Your Boat", "London Bridge" and "Frère Jacques" or strum the banjo for 14 familiar melodies such as "Jack and Jill" or "Alouette". An especially
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nice feature of the Learning Table is that it plays real music, including four real piano chords, real cello sounds and the riffs of a jazz vocalist. This is a nice change from the electronic sounds of most toys. Teaching aspects aside, the Learning Table appears to be just good fun, plain and simple. The seven-month-olds who tested this were, not surprisingly, most interested in licking and biting the table top but did giggle when their actions produced musical results. It was the 2½ years olds who really went to town, pressing, spinning and tapping with abandon and joining in to sing the peppy ABC song. They also liked flipping the book page, not because they had any understanding of changing programme modes, but because they liked the chiming sound. While the age guide of six-months-plus may be a bit early, there is certainly enough here to make the learning table a good toy for "growing" with a child, beginning with elementary concepts and progressing through to knowing and recognising the entire alphabet. The legs are easy to attach and detach which means the table travels well but it can be a bit wobbly, so be careful. It requires 3 AA batteries (not included). --Ann Prahl
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