In my 12 years of parenting, I thought I had pretty much seen it all. When I was asked to review a new product which may help children to read, I was sure it wouldn’t
In my 12 years of parenting, I thought I had pretty much seen it all. When I was asked to review a new product which may help children to read, I was sure it wouldn’t be that amazing or different from anything else I have seen before. Well, I was wrong.
Opening up the box, I read the few instructions there were, and got started. It came with a test book, which was awesome for going through the beginning. Turning on Spark Up, I realised I didn’t need to read the instructions as it talks you through everything.
Now I have to say, I was most impressed by the voice, finally, a toy that has a UK accent! Woo! To use Spark Up, you literally put a book on the clip. You make sure the camera is facing the front cover, and then you start. It talks you through it, but it’s literally one button to record, you turn the pages and read the story. When your child then puts the book onto the device, it recognises which page you are on, and it reads your recording out loud. If you skip a few pages, it knows and it will read the page it is on, it really does recognise which page is which. Clever stuff huh?
So why use Spark Up rather read your child a story? Obviously it does not replace those beautiful moments where you and your child are reading together, but you can read with Spark Up together, and even your child could record their voice instead. It’s something you can use together, or something that your child can use alone. I think it’s amazing for helping my 4 year old learn to read. He knows some words, and I cannot always be there to read his stories all day long. Spark Up gives him a little help, and the sound of my voice is a comfort to him too. His big sister has also taken to recording stories, which are great for one year old Emma to listen to in the car, she is a real book worm. I love that it can remember loads of books, upto 250 minutes! It recognises whatever the book it is, as if by magic!
Spark Up is compatible with all books, but you can also download books from the website, which has added sound effects and music too. So there is always that extra option.
Spark Up comes complete with batteries (yay, always a winner for me), a USB connection lead, sample book and instructions. The RRP is £49.99.
Spark Up is available from leading retailers from July 2014. For more information visit www.vividtoysandgames.co.uk
