Alphabet Apple

Beginning reader skills toy

This is a great tool to introduce your preschooler to letters and basic phonics. The adorable apple tree design and friendly worm make learning these Beginning Reader skills fun. Your child selects from one of five activities by sliding the bird left and right. Younger children enjoy learning to recognize each letter and its name. As children develop, they move on to learning the basic sounds of each letter, a critical step on the path to reading. Another activity helps children learn alphabet order by asking questions about which letter comes before another. Kids will love exploring music with the letter keys. The tree's trunk is actually a carrying handle so your busy Beginning Reader can take this learning toy everywhere! The Alphabet Apple by V-tech is designed to let preschoolers take a good bite out of learning their letters. Insert two AA batteries (not included) into the sturdy-plastic, portable unit, and youngsters can slide the worm in the apple to select one of five settings. The first four settings instruct kids in letter recognition and sounds, complete with letter-finding games using the push buttons. A fifth option offers nine different melodies that play (regrettably, at a nonadjustable volume) at the press of a key. With its colorful, kid-friendly design, the Alphabet Apple provides the seed for a solid core of learning.

In order to read, a child must first learn to recognize and identify the letters of the alphabet and then match the letters with their respective sounds. The Alphabet Apple can help with this challenging process. It has a keyboard made up of all 26 letters arranged in alphabetical order. A child simply touches any one of the keys to elicit the names and sounds of each letter (including short- and long-vowel sounds). Children can develop hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and letter-identification abilities by finding each letter on the keyboard. Each key has an uppercase letter and a picture of an object starting with that letter (for example, A for ant).