Imagination Desk is a toy introduced by LeapFrog Enterprises in 2002. It has colors, shapes, and letters. He or she learns while coloring and playing -- both at the same time. If he or she colors the pages, then the artist can bring them to life and learn everything in between - letters, fun facts, numbers and counting, phonics, music and more.
It takes four AA batteries.
Design
The toy itself is styled like a small desk, angled about 20-30 degrees instead of being completely flat.
Usage
To start playing with it, he or she must lift up the top frame of the desk and slide in a coloring page.
Similar to the LeapPad Learning System, the toy asks him or her to touch the green "GO circle" on each page before he or she starts coloring (but with a finger, unlike the pen). This is so the software knows which coloring page is in the desk and can customize the music and songs to the page.
Modes
This product includes 3 engaging teaching modes that use characters, games and music to turn learning into play.
- Off: This turns off the Imagination Desk. To preserve battery life, this toy will say "bye bye" or "Thanks for learning with LeapFrog. Bye bye!" and turn itself off after 3 minutes without input. If no button is pressed after turning the unit on, it will automatically turn off after 30 seconds. Its symbol is a circle with one half of it green. The unit can be turned on again by moving the tab to "OFF" on the far top, and then move the tab to the bottom.
- Learn / Free Play: As he or she colors, the artist hears characters pop up to life. Its symbol is an apple.
- Game: As the artist colors, he or she plays a fun learning game. Its symbol is an archery board with an arrow in it.
- Music: When he or she colors, he or che can color and listen to songs and music. Music or songs will play throughout; sometimes it will shift depending on the item that he or she is working on. Its symbol is a musical note.
Models
- Sea blue, red and green (The original model) - This is the original design. It has Leap holding a book and the letters A and Z on the left of the sea blue border, and a square, circle and triangle on the bottom right of the border. It even has a green handle and a mode switch on the side right.
- Deluxe: Lavender, mauve and white - This is the deluxe model that even includes more buttons. The mode switch is on the top right instead of the usual side right. On the left of the mauve border is Leap holding a purple square, Lily holding a green triangle, and Tad holding an orange star. The right side has the color buttons to hear the name.
Details and What's Included
- a library of 12 coloring books and cartridges
- crayons - these are supplied with the product, but the player can also buy the following:
- Crayola (best recommendation)
- RoseArt
- Faber-Castell
- volume control, at the top of the desk instead of on the pages
- storage for templates and supplies
- a carrying handle for coloring fun on the go
The Coloring Gallery
The Coloring Gallery is the library of Imagination Desk books. This is the list as follows:
| Title | Subject Matter | Level | Character/Show |
|---|---|---|---|
| Let's Learn Letters (in the reissue, Learn Letters with Leap) | Reading | Primer | Alphaville Learning Adventures |
| Learning Phonics with Leap | Reading | 1 | Alphaville Learning Adventures |
| Rhyme and Sing with Mother Goose | Reading / Music | 2 | Alphaville Learning Adventures |
| Reading Games | Reading | 3 | Alphaville Learning Adventures |
| Tad's Counting Day at the Farm | Math / Counting | 2 | Alphaville Learning Adventures |
| Lily's Birthday Party Takes Shape | Math / Shapes | 1 | Alphaville Learning Adventures |
| Pre-K Math Games | Math | 3 | Alphaville Learning Adventures |
| Thinking Games | Math | 4 | Alphaville Learning Adventures |
| A Day with Pooh | Life Lessons / Time Concepts | 1 | Disney's Winnie the Pooh |
| Tad Around Town | Life Lessons / Occupational Jobs | 2 | Alphaville Learning Adventures |
| Clifford The Big Red Dog Discovers the 4 Seasons | Life Lessons / The Four Seasons | 3 | Clifford the Big Red Dog |
| Discovering with Dora | Life Lessons | 4 | Dora the Explorer |
Characters
Colors
- red
- orange
- yellow
- green
- blue
- purple
- pink
Shapes
- square
- triangle
- circle
- star
Colors and Shapes
****Deluxe Model Only****
- purple square
- green triangle
- orange star
Letters of the Alphabet
These are seen in Let's Learn Letters (the original sample book) and Learn Letters with Leap (reissue of that book).
- Aa
- Bb
- Cc
- Dd
- Ee
- Ff
- Gg
- Hh
- Ii
- Jj
- Kk
- Ll
- Mm
- Nn
- Oo
- Pp
- Rr
- Ss
- Tt
- Uu
- Vv
- Ww
- Xx
- Yy
- Zz
Numbers
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
Count and Sing Express Template
He or she can snap in the Count & Sing Express template for loads of musical - and mathematical fun - that teach music and instruments, numbers and counting from 1-10.
Note that this appears in the deluxe model only. It follows the format like the page on Leap's Big Day and is also based off the 2000 toy of the same name.
Characters with Instruments
- Leap plays the saxophone.
- Della plays the flute.
- Casey plays the guitar.
Backseat Passenger
If he or she slides the window up or down, Dan sits in the backseat with his drum.
Trivia
- This is another product to use Leap-font musical soundbanks.
- For the Count and Sing Express template, there are a few instrument differences from My First LeapPad's version:
- You will hear each of the 3 instruments from the "LeapPad Mainstream Models/Leapster/Imagination Desk" and "Learning Screen Karaoke" instrument collections played, when you push the characters on the Learn mode, when the Count and Sing Express template is snapped into the platform.
- This toy also gives a low battery warning, except it just says "Time to change the batteries!" with no honk.