My daughter is five and started school last year. When she started school she was only 4, but we thought she was ready. I am very proud to say we were right and she got through kindy with flying colours.

I know all children are different, some are ready for school sooner than others and some need to wait a little longer. My son and daughter were born in the middle of the year, so for both we had to make a decision as to put them in early or hold them back. With my oldest (my son) we waited that extra little bit before starting school but my daughter just seemed ready, especially after watching her older brother go off to school every day.

Over the school holidays my five year old daughter and seven year old son have been road testing some of the wonderful LeapFrog educational products.  Now lets not fool anyone, these products are sneaky devices that actually make kids think they are playing (ie having fun) when all the while they are also learning - BRILLIANT! Who would of thought - a toy that you actually want them to play with all the time. And that's just what both of them did.

My daughter can now always be found within a 2 metre radius of her Leapster Explorer. This little beauty is a hand held "gaming" device which I like to call the Nintendo DS for 4-9 year olds. Personally, the difference for me is that hand helds like the DS are focused on gaming, where as the Leapster has found that balance between fun, gaming and learning. The Leapster has games, e-books and a whole range of other features and add-ons. The games and software (purchased separately RRP $44.95) contain licensed characters such as Dora, Fairies, Scooby Doo and Ben 10. The Leapster comes with a preloaded game which my daughter loves - woo hoo (we all know that buying add-ons and games can get expensive so it's great when they actually like the pre-loaded one!).

Although he liked the Leapster (if he could ever pry it from his sister), my son took a shine to the LeapFrog Tag Reading System (RRP $59.99) and in particular the Interactive Map (RRP $29.99) we purchased for it. This was a surprise actually because at least 50 times a day my son requests a Nintendo DS..."you know what I want, I want a DS" over and over, he tells us. By the way he did have a DS until he learned the harsh lesson that when you "leave" your Nintendo DS somewhere not many people will hand it in or try and return it to it's (very distressed) owner. But back to the story...So I was shocked that he was more interested in the Tag and I can't really blame him, it's quite impressive. I would have a loved a pen that talked to me when I was a kid! And that is essentially what it is.

To be a little more technical, there is a small infrared camera at the tip of the stylus which 'reads' letters, words and symbols printed on the special dot-patterned pages of the books in the Tag library. Like the pre-loaded game on the Leapster, the Tag comes with a Disney book called 'Let's Play Tag' which teaches kids how it all works. The Tag will read an entire book out loud in character voices and as skill levels increase you can read word by word or just play activities. This is where it was great, totally suitable for both my children. For my four year old daughter, she enjoyed the reading aspect, where as this didn't challenge my seven year old son so much, and he enjoyed the activities.

Straight up - I don't get paid to do reviews, so when I say this I am totally honest...the Interactive World Map is fantastic. My son and I stayed up way too late one night trying to get to "Super Dooper Voyager" level playing the Map Racer game which is a timed quiz that tests your knowledge of the world's countries. I can tell you I was embarrassed at how bad my geography knowledge was. My son can now instantly point out any country on the globe within a nanosecond (well close to it). There are other great learning activities and I was quite amazed at how much fun we had with what seems like a map printed on a bit of cardboard. The Interactive World Map (pictured below) RRP $29.99 is sold separately to the Tag Reading System.

There are heaps of great books available for the Tag which include Dr Seuss' Cat In The Hat as well as activity storybooks with popular characters SpongeBob SquarePants (popular - my kids think this yellow guy is a god!), Disney Princess and Toy Story.

The other great feature of all the LeapFrog products is the free online LeapFrog Learning Path. The LeapFrog Connect Application is the gateway to all the online features for your LeapFrog products.

Via LeapFrog Connect you can:

- see what your child is up too, the skills they have engaged and their progress

- download learning apps (these aren't free and will set you back around $10)

- download books for the tag reader

- redeem rewards for completed activities and games (rewards include printable activity sheets).

The LeapFrog products are an investment (let's face it they are big ticket items and then there are the books and games etc etc) but I think they are a worthwhile investment in my children's education: short story - money well spent. Now whilst these products are great, the down side is they "chew the juice" and by that I mean get a battery charger or you will go broke replacing batteries. I suppose I could always see this as a positive that they are constantly using them and learning as they do!  If you want to find out more about LeapFrog products visit www.leapfrog.com

Thanks to LeapFrog we have a Tag Reading System (RRP $59.99) and a Tag Interactive Map (RRP $29.99) to give away.

To enter tell us in 25 words or less, in a comment below, which LeapFrog product would help your kids leap into the new school year and why.

Oh and don't forget to share this blog on Facebook so all your friends can find out all about LeapFrog and our fab giveaway!

Competition ends midnight 5 February 2012

It's not often that I find cooking under pressure this much fun.

Cooking Mama 4: Warning - this game is (highly) addictive.

So if your like me you have been too busy, cooking (real) food, raising children and running a (real) household to find the time to play many "computer games" lately - I leave that to the kids.

But when I got my hands on Cooking Mama 4 for the Nintendo 3DS I found it surprisingly entertaining.

The concept is simple - you basically cook recipes.

You recipes or dishes by completing various "mini-games". Mini games are based on different aspects of meal preparation - chopping, slicing, boiling etc or whatever the recipes call for. You are rated on how well you cooked the recipe based on your average performance in the meal preparation or "mini games".

Once you have successfully cooked some dishes you can start to combine them to make all new dishes.

It sounds pretty weird but this game is really entertaining and had that "just have to get to the next level (or finish this recipe, in this case)" effect on me.

But really I need to get back to the real cooking and stuff....so I let the kids try it out.They loved it (and I loved the few hours of peace and quiet while they were entranced...). The good thing about this game is it's G rated - it isn't violent or obscene. Harmless fun, and something I was happy for them to play.

This game it is entertaining for small kids and big kids like me!

Cooking Mama 4 for Nintendo 3DS will set you back $69.95 but will give the kids (and you) hours and hours of fun. Some of the new features in Cooking Mama 4 are:

- Master over 100 new recipes under Mama’s watchful eye plus the fun clean up and tidy away afterwards.

- Rewards for challenges completed include new recipes or mini-games

- Nintendo 3DS wireless function for up to 4 players

- Choose a new outfit or hair accessory for Mama! Customise your kitchen and your utensils.