Review of Leap Frog's Sing & Spin Alphabet Zoo Educational Toy

I found this toy at our local thrift store and I snatched it up. It was one of the toys the kids loved in the Special Education room at the school I subbed for.

This wheel is a lot of fun to spin. There are 3 different modes of play. One mode sings the alphabet song as it spins. When the wheel stops, it plays the animal sound of the space it lands on. I like that each letter has an animal with its corresponding letter. They even have an Xray fish and an umbrella bird! 

The next mode is animals. It sings “The animals have something to say. They hoot and hollar and chirp away. The animals have something to say. They push and play and sing all day.” Then when the wheel stops, it says the animal name and plays the animal sound twice. This is fun because young kids can learn the animal sounds! 

Finally, the last mode is the spin a letter mode. “Spin spin a letter, search high and low. Spin spin a letter, how many do you know? Spin spin a letter, Look all around, spin spin a letter what letter have you found?” It gets a little annoying after awhile, but when the wheel stops, it says the letter, plays a sound, and says the letter again, which is perfect for learning those letters. 

This is a fun way to learn letters and animals and animal sounds. Thankfully, there is a volume switch that allows it to be played quietly, but the louder volume is very loud. The other annoying thing is that after a few seconds of it not being played with, it plays a noise on its own. 

The colors on the wheel are pretty bright, and there is a nice black and white design on the sides that plays “peek a boo” through the green or orange slats. That is a good thing for babies to look at. The rest of the toy is white or blue. It works. 

I think the design could be updated a little bit, and maybe it will be (much like the Mozart Magic Cube, but it’s still not bad at all. The babies certainly don’t care. 

Since I bought this secondhand, I can’t comment on the battery life. I have only put one set of batteries in since I bought it though. 

It’s a lot of fun, and only mildly annoying. It is also another toy that grows with your kids. Babies and toddlers and even preschoolers could play and learn with it. It would be a great tool for ESL and Special Education classrooms and households as well. 

Cocoa Puff plays with this for several minutes at a time. It doesn’t hold his attention for much longer than that, but he does really enjoy spinning it. It has a good spin on it and he can really get it going! 

So overall, this is a good toy to introduce the alphabet and animals to little minds. I’m lucky to have found it second hand and super cheap, but I would have put it on the kids’ wishlists anyway! 

What's your favorite letter?