Kids Handheld Learning Computers?

We went from leapster to an actual computer (hand me down, yay free... and HE didn't care it was a hand me down).

There are SO many amazing things online and for CDR drives

www.pbskids.org
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/
http://kids.discovery.com/
http://www.discoveryeducation.com/
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Plus hundreds and hundreds of others... heck, even the CIA has a kid's page.

Then in CDR games you've got iSpy, Reader Rabbit, Clue Finders, Carmen San Diego... the list goes on and on.

Plus you can stream netflix or play dvd's on the computers as well.

If you don't have a hand me down option, refurb laptops can run as little as $100 each.

Leapsters are great.... and educational.
Both my kids have had theirs since 2 years old and like it a lot.

We have a leapster 2 and my son loves it. He also plays a lot of games on the computer: nickjr.com, abcya.com, jumpstart

We just got our 4-year-old the new Leapster Explorer and he loves it! I like that it has a lot of features that can be customized via the Internet (i.e. spelling lists, etc). You can also pay for and download e-books and videos, so it can sort of be used like the Tag books AND a portable DVD player (so to speak).

BUT I also agree that there are so many free games out there on the web for kids. You might want to get a decent family computer and spruce it up by buying a fun, kid-friendly keyboard and mouse. If it has a DVD-Rom, that's even better!

I love the leapster systems too but that being said....my now 7 year old outgrew hers by the time she was six. I would say go with the DS, it will last you for years and there are TONS of games for them with lots of variety. I bought her a cooking, personal chef one that I love to use! Its fun because we can cook together! They are learning as well as playing. If you buy all three they can "connect" (don't ask me how!) and play games together and talk to each other. Its really cool! It will last them a lot longer in my opinion! I do limit the amount of time she can play on it but I tell you its a life saver on trips! Best of luck!

My son has a leapster 2 and a Didj, as far as handhelds. He will be 7 in a few months, and is begging for a nintindo ds. That said, he likes his leapster but prefers the didj games. The leapster is cool because there are a lot of games for it, but he thinks the didj games are more for big kids. There aren't many games for the didj though. Maybe you could get 3 different systems and they could interchange them? I don't know how well they would share, but then they would have the best of everything. Also, we have a little laptop that he loves, but you can't take it with you if you are sitting waiting at the doctors office or something. Good luck! And happy birthday to them!

My son has a leapster 2 he's had it since they came out a couple of yrs ago he's turning 6 this month and still plays it.
We will be getting him a leapster explorer for Christmas. In addition to the leapster 2 features it also has an e reader feature , and they are coming out with a camera/video camera for it in a few months. Leapster age range is 4-9 .
My almost 9 yr old likes to play her brother's Leapster 2.