LeapFrog’s Match and Learn Cookies Make the ABC’s Simple and Sweet

Nothing’s better than a sweet treat, unless it’s a (fake) sweet treat that serves an educational purpose!

LeapFrog‘s Match and Learn Cookies will teach your kid several lessons — all while cultivating an interest in baking and trying new flavors! When playing with this toy, your kid can learn about (or start to understand) letter shapes, letter sounds, patience, colors, and flavors while refining their fine motor skills. 

The toy looks like a baking sheet with handles to grip and includes 26 cookie-themed plastic letters. Each letter has an assigned “frosting” color, and the corresponding outline on the tray has an image of a flavor. For example, the “V” cookie has white frosting and an image of vanilla on the tray, while the “P” letter has pink frosting and a peach icon on the tray. The cookies are orange, purple, green, pink, yellow, and white; each cookie also has sprinkles in different shapes and designs, so your kid won’t get tired of looking at the same few items. 

There are four different play options, each assigned to a colored button at the top of the tray for educational fun. They can learn to associate letters with its sound and shape; learn about each cookie’s flavor and sound; play matching games with the letter, icing colors, and flavors; and practicing being patient as they place letters within the timing of a song.

The play patterns inspire a lot of educational playtime, and might even spark an interest in different flavors (like coconut), help your kid match and recognize colors, and understand letter sounds. The different play modes also help kids build different skills like recognizing letters, spelling, or following instructions. As an added benefit adults will love, all of this learning is screen free!

There are several sounds, songs, and affirmations that play during the directions and when kids put the appropriate cookie in the cut out. They can jam along to the music and hear “You’re a smart cookie!” when they’re successful in identifying the requested icing color, sound, letter, or flavor. If your kid makes a mistake, the audio will kindly mention why the letter they chose does not fit; whether it’s the wrong color or makes the wrong sound. Your kid will feel comfortable making a mistake and have direction on why it wasn’t right. 

While the tray might be too large to bring into a restaurant or waiting room, it could easily serve as a car-ride toy. Once pressed in, the cookies are pretty sturdy and can survive some serious shaking without falling out. There’s no way to store the pieces, however, so make sure you have a designated bag or box for the fake cookies when they aren’t in the tray. 

While the toy is advertised for kids ages 2 and up, younger kids can still benefit from playtime with Match and Learn Cookies. They might not understand what the recordings say or mean, but they can practice placing items in the proper cut out, engage with the music, and recognize matching colors. When the cookies are placed in the tray, your young one can utilize their growing fine motor skills to press on the cookies and listen to the sounds that follow. 

If the music and the word “cookie” becomes too much for you, there are three volume modes: off, loud, and louder. Your kids can match the letters, shapes, and colors quietly, or make their own games and sound out each letter without the aid of sound. Challenge yourself and your kid by asking them to spell different words on the tray without the audio guide! 

If your kid doesn’t like trying new things, maybe these fake banana, apple, and coconut cookies will persuade them! If they aren’t too keen on learning something new, this is also a great way to teach them different things while still having fun.