On the weekend we headed over to London Zoo to take part in a special sporting activity for the launch of the new LeapBand from LeapFrog. Mr Z was so excited. He loved taking part in his school sports day at the end of term, so when I told him he could do another sports day but with real Olympic champions there too he couldn’t believe it!
LeapFrog had invited golden athletes Greg Rutherford and Beth Tweddle to come along to the event to help coach the kids and give them some inspiration about what the future could hold if kids are passionate about sport.
Greg Rutherford, fresh from winning Gold for England at the Commonwealth Games said: “As an athlete and, more importantly as a future dad, I know how vital it is to inspire kids to get active and a big part of that is making physical activity fun and rewarding, which LeapBand is perfect for.”
Three-time World Champion and Olympic bronze medalist, Beth Tweddle MBE said: “It’s important to give all children the opportunity to try new and different ways of being active. LeapBand is a great, fun way to get kids moving and learning healthy habits. It would be amazing if more little ones were inspired to be future champions after learning that being active is loads of fun!”
It was lovely to see all the children so excited about taking part in the races. They all seemed to be having a brilliant time, and were already getting motivated by their LeapBand. Mr Z and his new friends would run around and check how many points they had on their LeapBand, then keep racing around some more to try and gain the most points! During the day they took part in relay races, running races, bean bag throwing races, tug of war and the crab race. Mr Z was so pleased to get two medals with his team – gold for relay and silver for tug of war.
Unfortunately though, a lot of children these days have some misconceptions about healthy food and healthy choices. A recent survey by LeapFrog revealed the following:
The survey revealed that children themselves are unaware of what healthy treats and activities really are, as the following top five misconceptions about healthy lifestyles show:
1. A lettuce leaf in a burger counts as one of your five a day (24 per cent)
2. There isn’t any sugar in cereal (16 per cent)
3. Fruit flavoured sweets are good for you (15 per cent)
4. Chocolate is healthy (10 per cent)
5. All round foods are healthy (5 per cent)
Sally Plumridge, Marketing Director at LeapFrog said: “We understand not all parents have the time to make active plans for their children and, as the research has shown, a lot find information overwhelming and confusing. LeapBand is a great way to get kids active of their own accord and will help them develop a strong foundation for a healthy lifestyle. With LeapBand, kids will have so much fun playing that they won’t think about all of the physical exercise they are getting and the healthy habits they are learning!”
To see all the fun of the LeapFrog LeapBand launch day, check out this video. Look out for Mr Z in there!
Mr Z is already very attached to his LeapBand. He finds it so cool and loves all the different features and games that are included, with the timer and the activity tracker being some of his favourite as he can use them while practising his running. Mr Z is just turned 6 years old so right in the middle of the recommended age range for the LeapBand, and I can definitely see most kids of 4-7 years old loving it!
LeapBand has an aspirational fit-band style designed with kids in mind. High-tech features include a built-in accelerometer, high-resolution colour screen, rechargeable battery and water-resistant design, making it the ultimate activity wearable for kids. The device also doubles up as both a digital and analogue watch.
In addition to the active play on LeapBand, the fun is extended with a free downloadable companion app called the Petathlon™ Games. In the app, kids can compete as their virtual pet in six mini-games like archery, surfing and bobsledding to win extras including medals and new tracksuits for their virtual pet. The Petathlon Games app is available for download to Wi-Fi enabled LeapPad tablets from LeapFrog as well as an iOS or Android smartphone or tablet.**
The LeapBand activity tracker (RRP £29.99, for children 4 to 7 years old) comes in green, pink, blue and orange, online and is available major UK retail locations. Additional activities and challenges are free and available for download via LeapFrog Connect for LeapBand.
You can see a couple more photos from our day at the LeapBand launch event here
For more information, visit www.leapfrog.com/en/
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
Looks & sounds like it was a great day. My son loves running around and being active. I hope he stays like that. The LeapBand sounds like a brilliant way to keep kids motivated xx
What a wonderful idea. I have five grandchildren who all love being active. This is a good way to channel their energy.
This looks like a really fun event!
This sounds like a great event and I love the idea of the Leap Band, I think my son would love it!
I love the idea of the LeapBand, anything that encourages kids to get active gets my vote. What an amazing event to attend! I’d love to meet Beth Tweddle and Greg Rutherford and it’s great to see them acting as role models for children. Thanks for linking up to #WHWH
looks like a good day out. I’d have loved to have met Beth Tweddle i think she’s ace
That looks like you had a greatday! My 5 year old wouldn’t like it I don’t think, but my 4 year old would – he’d love it 🙂
It’s an interesting concept. I’m sure my youngest son would like it because it’s a fun gadget, but I really don’t think it would encourage him to be any more active than he already is – because he never stops moving! Glad you had a lovely day, it does seem that you had a lot of fun! (good weather too!) #WHWH