Playskool Sesame Street Steps to School Ernie's Alphabet Notepad Review

Customer Ratings:

I had to overcome a personal bias (not a big fan of Ernie in general) to come to really like this product. The negatives: the toy is pretty LOUD (and no volume options). Because of this, l recommend saving it for a time when the volume can be a benefit (use in a jog stroller, or if your toddler is keeping you company in the bathroom when you shower and the loud sound is needed over the water, etc.). Also, Elmo sounds quite robotic/unnatural. And he's like "come on, press another letter already!" (ha, not really just a little). However, the strengths of the toy do compensate, and for an Ernie-lover (or someone more tolerant than I), I think this would be a big hit and very educational. The illustrations for each letter are very cute and some of them are more creative/unusual than other similar products. The first time you press a letter, you'll see a picture (Z is for Zebra). The second time you press the letter, it will tell you the sound the letter makes (Z makes the sound zzzz!). The third time you press it, it will have a little animated clip (very short). The "story" feature is actually very cute. It asks the child to pick three letters, and then Ernie will make up a story using those letters. The animations (although old school/not in color) are cute too and this "pick a letter for a story" feature is something I haven't seen in similar products. The toy is a nice size (a little smaller than I thought, which is good). And it plays nice melodies in the music section with cute animations of Sesame Street characters. I think there is a different song for each letter, as well as the ABC song. Shoot, as I'm writing this I realize I was too harsh on it in the beginning of my review...but come on, Ernie -simmer down a little! :) I would recommend LeapFrog's Story Time Pad or Text & Learn (by LeapFrog not sure if I have the name of the toy right, but it's definitely the LeapFrog one, not VTech) over this...but if you have those and your child loves these electronic games like mine does, this will be a welcome change and overall, is really very cute and has some special features. I prefer this to similar VTech toys, which seem annoying and not quite as educational -but still, LeapFrog is better than them all (to me!). But I think my baby might like this best of all because there are many more songs than the LeapFrog equivalent. I've added a more detailed review which you can access here: I think the twenty two dollar price is a bit high, but if the price comes down to fifteen or so, I would absolutely buy it.

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My two year old just received this for his birthday. I love that it is Ernie (too much Elmo these days) and is narrated completely in his voice. While it performs the similar functions as many of those little laptops on the market, it is small and portable and fits nicely into a child's hands. There is no volume adjustment, but I didn't find the volume to be a problem until you enter Music Mode. When not actively using it, the toy shuts off in about 10 seconds fairly quick compared to other toys.

Here are the different modes of play:

-Letter Mode: The first time you press a letter Ernie says the letter and the name of an object that begins with the letter. For example: D like Dinosaur. The second time you press the same letter Ernie says what sound the letter makes. The third time you press that letter Ernie says the object again, but this time there is a cute animation and sound.

-Story Mode: You pick three different letters (cannot pick the same one twice) and Ernie makes up a story using objects that beging with those letters. Here's an example using the letters L, B, and Q: "I was walking to Sesame Street with a Lion. All of a sudden we heard a loud noise, but it was just Bert. When we finally got there, a Queen did a super silly dance." This is a really fun play mode and there are lots of different combinations.

-Letter Search Mode: Ernie asks you to find a specific letter. He also flashes that letter on the screen briefly. If you pick wrong, he tells you the name of the letter you actually picked and then gives you a hint, such as the letter is in between letters F and H. If you pick right he gives the child some nice praise.

-Music Mode: When you turn on music mode, Ernie first sings the alphabet song. After that, any letter you press will play a different instrumental song. The songs vary in length from 10 seconds all the way to 30 seconds. This is the only mode that I thought was too loud.

Overall, this is a really great toy and my two year old loves it. It really is educational and I love that it's so portable. I never found Ernie to get on my nerves, but then Ernie was always my favorite.

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I bought this for my 2-year-old for his second birthday and the buttons stopped working after a month of normal use. I bought a replacement because it was his favorite toy and the buttons stopped working after 2 months of regular use. Would not buy again and the toy should not cost any more than $9.99.

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This is a great toy for car rides. There are many functions and modes of play. I highly recommend it.

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The item was received timely and in good condition, description was accurate and everything worked. However, after two weeks, my grandson tried to operate it and it would not work. The initial greeting comes on and that is all that works. Tried a number of alternatives to no avail. So much for the product.