LeapFrog My Pal Scout

I would like to introduce you to the only toy my daughter asks for by name, the My Pal Scout interactive puppy (This is of course assuming that his name is, in fact, "Woof Woof" as she insists that it is). When I got to meet the LeapFrog rep at the Time to Play Holiday Showcase and he showed me the different interactive features on the My Pal, I knew instantly it would be a hit with my 16 month old.

But I didn't realize what a huge hit he would be at the time. From the moment she opened the box, she snuggled him like an old friend and didn't let him go. She even carried it right off to bed with her, with My Pal Scout singing her 10 minutes of bedtime music so she could fall asleep.

This actually caused a bit of a problem because I had to try and sneak him away from her to sync it with the Leap Frog connect. Amazingly, only two hours after they were introduced she couldn't imagine life without him, so I had to wait until she fell asleep to connect him to the computer to personalize his interactions.

The My Pal Scout and the My Pal Violet are unique interactive toys that can be programmed to remember your child's name as well as a few of their favorite things. As is the case with anything personalized, we were incredibly excited to use the customized name feature. We connected Scout (sorry, “Woof Woof”) to the computer and got to choose between hundreds of preset names and spellings until we found her name and the correct pronunciation. Once we set it, we then got to choose from a huge list of items to set her favorite food, color, and animal. After those were all set I got to choose the music Scout plays for daytime music as well as his nighttime lullabies.

Yes, that's right, you get to preview and choose your own songs for the Scout My Pal to play! For every parent out there who has had to hear their least favorite song played over and over and over again on their child’s favorite toy, the folks at Leap Frog have heard your screams. I actually thought the selection was quite good and had a hard time narrowing down my top choices. Even better than being able to customize the Leap Frog® My Pal is that you can change your mind at any time and choose new favorites, new music, or even a new name for him to say.

The next day, baby was so excited to find that Scout hadn't left her after all and was even more so when she heard him say her name for the first time. Hubby and I thought it was hilarious when Scout will pause slightly before inserting baby’s name in a song or salutation, but mostly we just thought the whole thing was adorable. Seeing baby’s eyes light up when he calls her and hearing her name spoken by his super cute voice cannot be described as anything but sweet.

Baby loves the LeapFrog® My Pal Scout so much that she insists on taking him with her when she goes to bed at night and he sits and sings to her until she falls asleep almost every evening. But, far cooler than her new bedtime routine is Scout’s soothing capabilities in the middle of the night. Numerous times now I have heard her wake up after midnight and reach over to start Scout’s bedtime music again. Just as I’m about to get up to check on her, I will hear his instrumental music start up and I will see her cuddle into him on the video baby monitor. Thank you, Scout!!

My Pal Scout touches on some really important learning aspects like first words, introduction to numbers, and learning through song that really captivates baby when she’s playing with him. When he is singing his daytime music, she likes to dance along to him and bob her head. She also really likes that Scout makes animal sounds, which are one of her very favorite new things, hence the name “Woof Woof”.

The only issue we have had with the My Pal Scout actually had more to do with my computer than with Scout himself. I didn’t have the Adobe Flash Player 10 installed on my laptop and was trying to run the Leap Frog My Pal software with the previous Adobe version as the instructions specified, but it turns out that version 10 is required in order to fully customize your My Pal Scout or Violet. At first I didn’t think my computer was fast enough to load the customize screen, but was incredibly relieved when tech support at Leap Frog diagnosed the problem within seconds of my call. Just a few minutes later and Scout was singing baby’s favorite tunes.

Price: $19.99

Overall: I absolutely love the My Pal Scout and My Pal Violet and think this is one of the coolest baby and toddler toys this Holiday Season.

This Giveaway is closed. Thank you to all who entered and congratulations to Karen who has won the Scout My Pal!

A big thank you to LeapFrog for creating a best friend for baby and sending Scout to be adored. No type of monetary compensation was received for this Rave Review.