Dora the Explorer Reviews

My daughter is only 2 & 1/2, but she has figured most of this out. She loves Dora and now she has an interactive Dora. The quality of the activites amazes me. The best feature is the music. The music is so good that my daughter prefers to dance then play the games when you hit the butterfly game features.

My daughter plays with this continously. It is a very good learning tool.

We bought this because our daughter loved playing with her uncle's when she went to visit him. She was ecstatic when she saw she had one too! she has a few other leap books, but she enjoys this one alot. it sings dora songs, teaches counting and abc's and other important things children should start learning about when they are 3. i would recommend this even if your child is not an avid dora fan.

We purchsed the L-Max for our son for Christmas 2005. He is in kindergarten and has enjoyed Numbers on the Loose and Letters on the Run. He just received the Sponge Bob game for his 6th birthday and really likes that. It is repetitive, but for his age, that is a good thing since they are learning about sequencing in school and I think it has helped with that. The only problem we have is that the "B" button has become jammed. Whether he has watched his older brother playing his gamecube and tries to push the buttons too fast or what, we are not sure. So far most of the games don't necessarily need the B button and we're not sure if it's worth another $100 to get him another one. It does give him a different way to review letters and numbers then just plain old practice which after a full day of kindergarten, they are not to thrilled on doing.

WE love this product for our 4 and 6 year old. We had the original leapster, but this makes it even better when they see it on the TV screen. Leapster now offers more games...they are great!

We purchased the LMax for our 4 year old for Christmas. It was an instant hit! Plus, it helped him to feel like a big boy like his older brother who enjoys other video games. Yes, the older model is cheaper, but my son loves to be able to plug it into the TV to "show off" what he knows and can accomplish. I particularly like Letters on the Loose and Numbers on the Run. I highly recommend this product. We also purchased the battery charger so we don't have to worry about dead batteries and ruining the environment.

Please note that my review is based on my daughter's experience from 18-21 months old. It was purchased for her as a gift. As a mother and an educator, I think that this product would be better suited for an older child as it is quite hard for a child younger than the age of 2 or even 2 1/2 to sustain the attention needed to interact with the games, etc. I would recommend waiting to purchase this for your 18 month old. I am an advocate for Fisher Price products as I feel Fisher Price is pretty accurate in guiding parents to age appropriate toys. However, with this one I feel they missed the mark. In addtion, the screen is simply too dull and dark in color to really see exactly what you are pushing. For this reason, I personally would not have bought this toy.

My son is an active two-year-old who loves to run around and I was surprised by how much he was captivated by this toy. He receives hours of enjoyment and has learned so much from his Learn Through Music Plus system. He has several of the software cartridges and he likes each one, especially Dora the Explorer and Blue's Clue's Singing Playdate. However, as much as he enjoys the software cartridges, his favorite aspect of this toy is the microphone. He records himself singing along with the cartridges, saying his name and reciting numbers and the alphabet.

When visiting her older cousins, my daughter got to play with this toy, which belonged to my 3 year old nephew. He is special needs, and can be VERY hard on toys. He would drop it, throw it and step on it on an hourly basis. The fact that it still worked like a champ after at least 6 months of him owning it was a miracle in itself.

They sent us one as a gift for my daughter, 13 months, after seeing how much she liked it, and she cannot get enough of this toy!

I love that it is durable, literally - she stands on it sometimes, and it's fallen I don't know how many times. It's not too big for her to carry around or manipulate, and she figured out how to work it immediately.

For now just listening to the songs, watching the screen rotate and making noises into the microphone keeps her happy. But her older cousins love the educational games on the cartridges they have, and really get a kick out of singing into the microphone.

The cartridges are big and sturdy, and easy for a child to put in himself if they are old enough.

It would be nice if the microphone cord were longer, but I'm guessing it would be a safety hazard to make it longer. Teh speaker is REALLY loud but some clear packing tape over it muffled it enough for our comfort. A lower volume control would be nice.

Overall, I've seen it work for a 13 month old, 3 year old and a 5 year old. If it broke I would replae it immediately, only one other toy we own gets more mileage.

this obviously works for some parents. i have been an educator in early childhood for ten years; and i have been on the early childhood education board for 4. our goal on that board is to try to get the schools, the publishing companies and the parents to all get on board about what is developmentally appropriate and what is not. in my opinion; this toy was made to push parents to get their children to read and write before they are ready. of course; some children will be able to do this. however, full reading in kindergarten is not developmentally appropriate. eye muscles havent even been fully developed at this age to go from left to right as one does when reading. i bought the leap pad for kindergarten level for someone for a birthday present; their daughter is quite bright, and thankfully in a school where proper lessons are taught on a developmentally appropriate level; she had difficulty with this so we took it back and got her the easier one. that one was a bit better but as i "played it with her" i noticed the durability quality of it was mediocre, the voices of the speakers were not always clear and we could not hear what they were saying, and when she used the pen to press on the correct answer it told her she was incorrect and to try again; this happened quite often. i also noticed that the book/games offered for the infant to 36 mo leappad were not developmentally appropriate. maurice sendak's "where the wild things are" would have been more appropriate if placed in the toddler or kindergarten one. it seems such a wide span for a toy such as that to go from birth to 36 months. if i had been able to use it at the store i wouldnt have purchased it and i wont be purchasing it for my 2 1/2 yr old daughter. it has a great concept but in my opinion; poorly put together.

This is a great introduction to reading. I purchased this for Christmas '05 when my daughter was 2. She is now 3 and plays daily with the Alphabet Bus. She knows how to change the books and place the cartridge in. She also can follow the books directions of either playing or listening to the book. The voice is clear and the batteries are great (I just changed them after 6 months). This is a wonderful and durable product. She knows her ABC's, colors, shapes and numbers (we are working on addition and subtraction) and the Bus has been a great assistance to her learning at home and school.

We got this a few weeks ago for our 2 year old. She doesn't sit and read with it just yet but really loves pressing the different things on each page. She loves it and I can tell this will probably be a toy she plays with for a long time.

I bought this as a gift to give to my daughters friend, but now that we've gotten it and I see the packaging I won't be able to do that. It's in a plain black and white box with all the figures shoved in together. They're still good toys and my daughter will love them, but its not appropriate for giving as a gift unless its in combination with the doll house I guess.

I agree with a previous review that the packaging dosen't allow this product to be given as a gift for another child, but it was a wonderful gift for my own. There were so many pieces and they were all wonderful. It would have cost me double the amount easily if I were to by them individually in the store.

I am three years old and I received these characters for my birthday. I love them so much that they come to bed with me each night. I pretend play with them everyday. I love Dora so much and think these toys are awesome. It is nice that they come separate because my mommy and daddy can't afford the big Dora house.

I love that I could purchase all of the furniture for the house together. We gave the house with the furniture as a birthday gift. The furniture is all very durable and has nice surprises like the dining table place mats flip over with food on the plates and the sofa turns into a sleeper sofa. My three kids ages 5,7,8 all like it and keep discovering new things as they play. I just wish all the furniture stored in the house.

This set came as many sets together if sold separately would have cost quite a bit. My 6-year-old son is learning Spanish and loves the Dora items. This set helps him with his imagination and he tends to speak the Spanish he has learned while playing with the set and the Dora house, Since Dora speaks Spanish, he wants to speak Spanish while playing with the Dora toys!

After purchasing our two granddaughters the Dora Doll House, we knew they needed more furniture. This gift set was the perfect solution at a very affordable price. Our granddaughters love the versatility of the pieces and our grandsons even play with their sisters. Great toy, well made, great price.

What looks like a cute idea turns out to be a big headache. The binoculars are difficult to see through. You constantly struggle with double vision in both the binoculars and viewmaster. And it's hard for younger ones to keep it in one mode without accidentally hitting the switch.

My daughter loves this toy. it's a little hard for 3 year old hands to hold and pull the lever at the same time. You have to pull it until it clicks in order for the reel to turn. I like the binoculars, but you have to adjust the lenses just right in order for her to see out of them.

Bought this for our granddaughter's third birthday. She is into everything Dora, so this had quite a bit of positive emotional equity going for it. She loves it, but probably uses the View Master option more than the binoculars. That said, she has had a great time watching backyard squirrels with the binoculars.It is NOT a toy that you hand to small children and tell them to go play with it. It takes some instruction and supervision; given that, it combines the attraction that View Master has enjoyed for decades along with the wonder of binoculars. Great educational toy.

My girls recieved the Big sister Dora and Twins along with the swing and cradle set. The twins do not fit nicely in the swing and cradle like described. They can not lay down in the crib, just sit in it. They are too big. And they do not sit well in the swing. There bodies weren't made to where you can put them in a sitting position. There limbs do not move!!

They baby brother and sister don't fit in the items well at all. So I would have to agree with the first post. Fisher Price please redesign these items. My Daughter loves it otherwise. She carried them to sleep the first few nights.

This set was made for the babies that go with the Dora Talking Dollhouse, not the Dora Big Sister & Twins. My daughter loves these! They seem a little big for the dollhouse, but she makes it work.

My daughter and I just opened Dora, with her puppy and Backpack. Doras head is scratched very badly, and she barely stands on her own, put Backpack on her and forget it. I love Fisher Price toys, but I'm afraid to open the other two packages that I bought. My daughter is crying out of frustration right now. I wish we had chosen a different toy.

We had to buy this last year to accompany our daughter's new talking house we got her because its not dora without backpack (the dora that comes with the house is sans backpack)!She absolutly adores this set because of backpack being included! this toy would be hard to break, because it is(i dont know what you would call it)like a hard/ soft mold... it could easily become a dogs fave chewing toy, though! Anyway, this is a must even without the talking house. my daughter loves it!

P.S. this toy does not talk or interact with other figurines when inside the talking house like the loving family townhome..
i thought when i saw this T.V., that the charecters did interact!

dont belive the reviews saying its bad maybe you broke it or it fell on the florr it is very durable i am 14 (i no its weird) i love dora this toy rules for dora fanatics like me or others