Educational Electronic Gift for 5 Year Old

We have a Leapster but not a Tag. I have found the Leapster excellent for his thinking and maths skills. I believe Leapfrog is great but I wouldn't waste your hard earned $ on the Tag especially when you have a 5 year old whom is probably on the cusp of reading. It is just my opinion but I feel the Tag is a substitute for a parent reading to their children. I would invest in some books instead if you want to get him reading. On a side note - The Magic Tree House chapter books are great - I use these to read to my 5 year old at bedtime, but he has been reading for some time himself. I have to say I'm too scared to invest in a Wii because I don't think I'll be able to get my son off it, and I'd never see my husband!!! I hear the Mario games on Wii are great. You are entering a great phase with your sons!

www.starfall.com is the MOST amazing 'learn to read & spell' program out there, and it's completely free

The Tag was a bomb for us....my sonplayed it for maybe an hour and then it collected dust.

I would definately get a Wii. We have had ours for a couple of years now and have added on i.e. got Wii board. The games are mostly entertaining, however there is definately skill with each game. There are also some out there that are learning. My son loves the ocean so we got Endless Ocean. It is a pain that we have to read things to him...but the benefits of discovering new fish has been fun for him (and I have learned a lot too!). Games: Definately Mario Kart (get the wheels too, much easier to play). You can then either get other games from the Library or rent from a video store or buy 1/2 price at a Game Stop. I wouldn't invest in too many games at first as a; they are pricey, b; have the kids try them first before buying. We also have lego Star Wars, Carnival Games, Bass Pro Fishing.

I have decided to forgo the Tag, my son is a beginning reader(Kindergarten). It is best to have them sound out the words, than have something read it to him. We also have a Leapster and I plan on keeping that for as long as possible as the games are educational and entertaining. :)

The Wii is amazing, great for family time and lots of fun. There are endless games for kids, and parents too. My family loves the Mario Bro. games.
For your 5 year old, they have those games that connect to your tv, and they are very educational and help them read too. My nephew has a couple different kinds and they are good.

Don't bother with the Tag reader. We got it when it came out, and I think between all 3 of my boys, it has maybe been played with for 30 minutes.

As for the Wii, I don't think there are too many educational games out there. Family games, I would definitely get Mario Kart. We were also told to get Mario Party, but that was a VERY short lived game with my kids, and my now 4 year old, had a hard time pointing the remote where it needed to be. Super Mario Bros is also a 4 player game. We have tried games like Family Game Night, and my kids didn't really like those.

My 5 year old also loves her leapster, but not so much with the TAG. She rarely choses to use it and when she does, she just likes to play around with the pictures / sounds. I almost felt like it defeated the purpose of learning to read because she doesn't have to work to sound out the words since it reads them to her. I agree that starfall is a great website for working on reading. I'm sure your kids will love Wii! See if your library has Wii games to check out. We like to try them before we decide which ones to buy.