Phonics Writing Desk is a toy introduced in 1999 by LeapFrog. It was rereleased in 2002.
It features an LCD screen, a magnetic writing slate with a magnetic pen (with an eraser), and buttons with all 26 letters of the alphabet.
This toy requires three AA batteries.
Modes[]
- Off: Turns the toy off. The Phonics Writing Desk has an automatic shut-off feature to help prolong battery life. After a brief period of inactivity, the toy prompts the player for a response. If the player doesn't respond by pressing a button, the prompt is repeated or asked again. If there is still no activity after a third prompt, the unit then automatically turns itself off, as the toy says, "Thanks for learning with Leapfrog! Bye for now!" and shows a frog waving goodbye and running away. Pressing any letter button or switching activities can then restart the toy.
- Letters/Learn Letters: Teaches letters and shows how to write them. Icon is "ABC."
- Quiz/Find a Letter: Asks the player to find a certain letter. (i.e. Can you find the letter A?) If the correct letter is pressed the unit responds with an enthusiastic congratulations such as "Fantastic!" If the incorrect letter is pressed, the unit plays a random sound effect and the player is given several attempts to correctly respond. If the player doesn't respond to a prompt with a button press, the frog will wait for a short period of time and then repeat the prompt. If there is still no action taken by the child, then the prompt will be repeated again.
- Phonics/Learn Phonics: Teaches letter sounds. It will also show how to write the letters. Icon is Leap talking.
- Phonics Quiz/Find a Phonetic Sound: Asks the player to find a letter (i.e. Can you find the letter A, that says "ah" as in ant). If the correct letter is pressed the unit responds with an enthusiastic congratulations such as "You did it!" If the incorrect letter is pressed, the unit plays a random sound effect and the player is given several attempts to correctly respond. If the player doesn't respond to a prompt with a button press, the frog will wait for a short period of time and then repeat the prompt. If there is still no action taken by the child, then the prompt will be repeated again.
- Spelling: Asks the player to spell a certain word with ??? on the screen. (i.e. Make the word "cat" by pressing the letters C, A, T.). If the correct letter is pressed the unit responds with an enthusiastic congratulations such as "Amazing!" If the incorrect letter is pressed, the unit plays a random sound effect and the player is given several attempts to correctly respond. After a few incorrect letters, the correct letter will briefly appear before the sound effect. If the player doesn't respond to a prompt with a button press, the frog will wait for a short period of time and then repeat the prompt. If there is still no action taken by the child, then the prompt will be repeated again.
- Create A Word: Players can write a word then can press three letters to make their own word. Over 500 words can be spelled. This toy will not accept curse words or "fox", "sax", or "axe", it will restart the activity. It will also give out a random sound effect if a nonsense word is put in after sounding out each letter. “Great sounds! Try again. Slide Leapfrog to erase/Press Leapfrog to rub out/Slide Leap to rub out.”
- Cursive (2002 version only): Just like "Letters", except it involves writing in cursive.
Trivia[]
- Every time the erase button is pushed, it will feature a frog erasing on the screen and say "Time to erase! / Time to rub out!"
- The toy has the same voice as Leap's Phonics Pond.
- Unlike Leap's Phonics Library, this toy will say names correctly.
- There is a HELP button beside the LCD screen, and when pressed in any mode, it will give a clue or repeat the phrase.
- When the toy is drawing a letter, it will slowly draw in short bursts with a ditty. When a letter is pressed, it will draw faster and not make any sound.
- This toy can say words that are longer or shorter than 3 letters as examples in Phonics, such as "quack" and "up" and "X-ray".