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Exploring the VTech Innotab 2S

VTech Innotab 2S

Our family loves learning and technology, so we were thrilled to get the opportunity to review the new VTech Innotab 2S! This solidly built tablet boasts plenty of memory, and Wi-Fi access so that you can download updates and new games without having to plug into a desktop. It also has a stand (see the lavender tablet in the photo below) – not a feature that we have used much so far, but nice to have.

 

InnoTab2S Blue and Pink

My three kids were instantly drawn to the Innotab 2S, and they have been very careful to share it nicely so that it would not end up in time out (toys that are fought over in our house instantly go into time out, usually for the rest of the day, although they can sometimes be earned back by doing chores).

My kids really like the art studio program that comes loaded on the device. They especially like that you can drive a car across the screen, leaving a trail of tracks. They also think the frog that hops across the screen (leaving footprints in its wake) is very cool! They also love the built-in rotating camera/video recorder, even though the photo quality is very poor.

As a parent, I love that the login screen has room for four kids’ names as well as that of a guest – perfect for my family of four. I like that kids can browse games and put them on a wish list, but that they don’t have any buying power. I’m happy for them to pick games they would like to own, and I appreciate that they can do this without accidentally purchasing them.

One thing that my kids and I LOVE is VTech University – a series of games and books that are designed to build your child’s reading, math, and science skills. You get special game and e-book downloads that go along with the course – all for free (you can purchase an additional honors curriculum, but we have not done this). I was able to sign three-year-old Lily up for the ages 3-6 curriculum, five-year-old Johnny up for the ages 4-7 curriculum, and six-year-old Emma up for the 5-8 curriculum – so they are all doing different things that are designed to challenge them based on where they are now. I can log into the Learning Lodge Navigator on the computer and see what my children have been playing, and how they are doing – and my kids are rewarded for playing learning games (as opposed to pure entertainment games).

If you’re buying this as a gift, you may want to open the box and set it up ahead of time – it takes quite a bit of time to get everything set up the first time. The box is designed so that you can do this and put the Innotab back inside – I don’t know if this was done intentionally, but I love it for a product that requires some set-up!

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for VTech and received a VTech InnoTab 2S to facilitate my review.

MaryAnne at Mama Smiles

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

13 thoughts on “Exploring the VTech Innotab 2S”

  1. Varya @ littleartists

    Great review! I haven’t seen them around here and we aren’t so familiar with vtech so we went for LeapPad for our daughter. But this one looks great! I think that would be our next choice!

  2. I bet my kids would love this and VTech University sounds like it might be a good supplement for homeschool.

  3. One thing I should have added: VTech has a bug on their site right now that says the VTech University is “coming soon” for the Innotab 2S. If you ignore that warning and just log in you should be able to register your kids without any problem.

  4. Great idea to set it up ahead of time. We didn’t think to do that when we got the Leapster and there was a lot of impatient, “Is it ready yet?” from our kids.

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