What it is
The L-Max is an action-packed educational game system for kids. It is a handheld, portable unit that plays cartridges featuring the L-Max library.

It functions both as a complete handheld system and, when plugged into the television, it makes use of a dual-screen system that has different things happening on the TV than in the handheld. For example, a child may trace a letter on the handheld screen and watch the letter appear on the television monitor.

The L-MAX plays all of LeapFrog’s Leapster games, but the dual screen feature only works for software designed for the L-Max.

Why it’s fun
An educational toy has to be fun or else kids won’t want to play with it. The L-Max library of games features tons of fun titles from kid favorites like SpongeBob, Spiderman and Dora, that progress in skill levels to keep kids challenged, interested and having fun.

This is also fun for different styles of learning and the range of software titles ensures that it will stay relevant for a fairly long time - a good thing given the cost of the unit.

It’s great for play in front of the TV and for play on the go, which adds value by adding versatility.

Who’s going to love it
Kids emulate their older siblings and want to be just like them. The L-Max is a great toy for preschoolers who are still too young for an actual portable game system. It’s also a favorite toy of parents because they know that their kids are learning while having fun.

What to be aware of
The L-Max library of games helps kids to develop and reinforce skills in a wide range of subjects from reading and writing to math and science.

However, some of the youngest children had a difficult time at first learning to use the stylus. It has a button on it that has to be pressed while things are selected, and it took a while for them to get the hang of it. Parents should work with these youngsters. We found that with supervision and patience, children were willing to learn to use the device. Without supervision, they tended to get easily frustrated.