Can screen time be educational? VTech Electronics, under their LeapFrog brand recently launched the LeapMove next-gen TV console game in Australia.
Designed for kids aged 4 to 11 years old, the LeapFrog LeapMove is designed to transform physical activity into educational adventures.
The LeapFrog name probably sounds familiar to most parents, all my kids have had a Baby Tad interactive frog to play with as babies. The big cuddly green frog with interactive buttons and very cheerful (but annoying after the thousandth time of hearing) voice.
If you are old enough, you may remember a cybersecurity incident involving VTech back in 2015. I am not bringing this up to poke VTech in the eye, there will be relevance later in my review of the LeapMove.
tl;dr
If you want screen time that’s actually good for your kids, the LeapFrog LeapMove is worth it. It’s easy to set up, gets kids moving, covers real learning skills and doesn’t need Wi-Fi. For A$129.95, it’s a solid “buy” if you value active, educational play.
What is the LeapMove?
Running with the blurb from Pamela Gourley-Delaney, Ph.D., Executive Learning Designer at LeapFrog.
“LeapMove makes learning an adventure, combining essential skills in math, reading and problem solving with full-body, active gameplay. From exploring math skills to building words, children can develop foundational knowledge for school success with games designed for playfulness and three levels of learning challenges.”
Introducing our tester and unboxing
At age 7, little Miss Arraiya (A-ray-ya, like a ray of sunshine. Not Ride-ya as in Raya and the Last Dragon.) debuts on the DRN junior tester panel, just like her brothers did at about the same age.
She is smack bang in the middle of the age range for the LeapMove. Rather than hearing her watch the thousandth rewatch of K-Pop Demon Hunters (she has been learning the songs) or some mindless YouTube, I wanted to see how the LeapMove will engage her.
To start, here is the unboxing video. I kept this one a surprise up to the moment she had the box in front of her.
Setting Up
It is child’s play, seriously. If you know how to plug in a HDMI and a USB-C cable, you are almost done.
LeapFrog has provided a 2m HDMI cable, and a 2m USB-C cable in the box – everything you need to get going that is within their control.
Out of their direct control is your TV remote, I know ours live a very adventurous life and likes to hide in random places *ahem*. And of course, the provision of a child is also out of scope for LeapFrog.
That is quite literally, everything you need, as long as you know how to switch the input on your TV to the correct HDMI port the LeapMove is plugged into.
My Sony Bravia’s USB port was sufficient to power the LeapMove. If yours does not, then you will need to provide your own USB-A adapter. The LeapMove has a very low power draw so you don’t need anything fancy.
It took less effort to have the LeapMove up and running, then it took for me to clear the space for safe playing. We are in transition with rejigging things around so it is extra messy right now.
For a safe playing space, the instructions call for 1.5m clearance on either side, and 1.8m back from the TV.
The LeapMove is recommended to be 0.6m to 1.8m from the floor for a child that is between 0.9m to 1.1m tall. This is a guideline and you can adjust to suit your child.
There is a large dial on the right side of the LeapMove to adjust the camera angle.
If you are intending to mount it at the top of the TV, the base of the LeapMove levers open to become a clip.
For optimal results, the green circle that the LeapMove displays on screen should be between 1.8m to 2.4m away from the TV screen.
Game On!
With the setup down, there is nothing else to do but to jump in to the game. Your child’s body, appendages and clever mind is the controller.
Children are harsh critics and they also speak their minds unfiltered.
Arraiya’s teacher has commented at the recent parent teacher interview that she is a great reader. In school, Maths and STEM are her strengths. And outside of school she loves her hip-hop lessons at dance.
It might sound like proud parent bragging, but I was really keen to see if the LeapMove can engage her in the gameplay, or would she not find it interesting enough.
At her ability, she successfully followed all the LeapMove instructions without assistance.
It is simple enough, you are guided to stand in the circle it turns green. The first instruction is learning how to exit the game, which is the cross your arms and touch the opposite shoulder so your arms form a X.
Further instructions are provided as you proceed through the LeapMove environment. There are lots of movements and gestures to drive the action on screen.
To begin you have to select one of three Guardian characters, which are colour based rather than name: blue, orange and green. Your child does have to remember what they selected in order to retrieve their save game in between sessions.
Out of the box, the LeapMove includes 25 games and adventured designed to cover more than twenty key learning areas, these include:
- Maths and logic
- Vocabulary, rhyming, and spelling
- Sound and letter recognition
- Dance and choreography
What the child sees are:
- Adventure
- Trophies
- Free play
- More games
Active Screen Time
The LeapMove offers three levels of difficulties, from preschool (two levels) to primary school up to age 11.
“Passive screen time isn’t great for kids, so instead LeapMove gets children moving, turning every jump, twist, and twirl into a chance to learn,” explains Maud Rocher, Marketing Director at VTech Electronics Australia. “It’s more than just play — it’s a fresh way to help kids grow and explore through movement.”
Just from watching Arraiya play, she was busting out dance moves, hiding behind crystals, doing some basic maths, breaking geodes to collect crystals. There was plenty of body movements and she was fully engaged with the LeapMove.
One thing I have noticed is that your character never “dies” in game. Much like the Lego series of games, if you missed something such as dropping a ball or missed a bubble, the game just encourages you to try again. After all, we all need a little encouragement rather than pressure to be perfect.
There is a built in competitiveness, like many games it has a star achievement per game. So you could aim to get the maximum of three stars.
Privacy questions, internet connectivity, parental controls
Circling back to the beginning about the 2015 VTech hack.
The LeapMove can function right out of the box, no internet connection required. In fact, the LeapMove has no internet connectivity built in. It can’t get an IP address because there is no wireless connectivity at all.
Taking this out of their FAQ.
“LeapMove is not connected to the internet during play. No internet connection is necessary to play the included games.
During play, LeapMove uses real-time shape detection to recognize the player’s motion. LeapMove does not record any video footage. When the camera is not in use, the camera is turned off automatically.”
There is a privacy lens cover built into the LeapMove to further enhance privacy. This is a manually operated mechanism.
Additionally there is a lot of information provided on the LeapFrog website.
To update the LeapMove, or to get new games, you need to download and install the LeapConnect software from their website. This does require a LeapFrog account, which only requires a country, email address and password.
The software will guide you through the process. At time of writing, there was:
- a firmware update
- two new bonus games – animal moves challenge and wacky sponge carnival
- the app center is coming soon for additional content.
The LeapMove has 3.2GB onboard storage, of which 1.6GB is consumed after downloading the two bonus games.
The bonus games are both under 100Mb in size, so I would assume that the space is used by the software and the games it came with.
Through LeapConnect, parents can set time restrictions on the LeapMove. This limits the active time to 30, 45 or 60 minutes intervals.
You can also set the rest time. How long does a child need to take a break before they can play again – 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes.
Gripes
Just a little one.
You can’t really sit in the background and watch your child play because the LeapMove will detect your presence and interfere with the controls. I don’t think you can do much about it though.
Accolades
LeapMove won the Jouet de l’année 2025 Award at the Grand Prix du Jouet 2025, the 42nd edition of the prestigious French toy industry awards, organised by La Revue du Jouet, the French Toy Industry Trade Magazine, and a panel of 14 retail buyers.
Final Verdict
You know it is a hit with Arraiya when she forgot about wanting to go on a playdate with her friend. She play on the LeapMove for a good 45 minutes before remembering what she was wanting to do earlier.
That evening she wanted a few more games with me before we get into her bedtime routine.
I think LeapFrog is onto a winner here. The only question I have is how long will it keep her interest? With new content to come, I think this will be ok, but more likely to keep a younger audience engaged for longer.
Aside from the educational content, the strong point is that you can take it with you on trips, or a stayover at grandparents. All you need is an HDMI connection and a USB power source, no internet required.
The LeapFrog LeapMove is available from August at Big W, Target, Myer, and good toy stores and online retailers, with a suggested retail price A$129.95. At time of publishing it is on Amazon and discounted down to A$107.48. School holidays is coming up again, the LeapMove can entertain the kids in a healthy way, especially if the weather is not the best.
DRN would like to thanks LeapFrog for providing the review unit.
