​Leapfrog LeapBand: Virtual pet meets fitness band for kids

Guess who’s entered the world of wearable fitness tech? Leapfrog, makers of tablets and other learning toys for young children, have unveiled the LeapBand, an attempt at creating a fitness toy for kids. Coming to the US in August for $39.99, it looks more like a toy than a tool. Not surprising, considering the company’s other products.

Leapfrog LeapBand: Activity tracker for kids (pictures)
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So, what is it? It’s a wrist-worn, chunky plastic pedometer-equipped device, with its own color screen and buttons. The LeapBand recharges and is water-resistant, but the basic idea is that it has its own on-board set of eight virtual pets that can be fed and played with via mini-games. Those games are fueled by physical activities tracked by the band.

The eight different Pet Pals are a cat, dog, dragon, monkey, panda, penguin, robot and unicorn, based on characters in LeapFrog’s existing character franchises. They’re unlocked as points get earned through movement, like a Leapfrog-style variant of Nike Fuel. There are 10 preloaded games on the LeapBand itself, and there are 40 additional free challenges. Games listed by Leapfrog in their press release include Pet Boogie, Pet Chef and Pet Salon, but the challenges involve specific actions that kids are supposed to do to earn extra points.

The LeapBand has a companion app, too, called Petathlon, that has the virtual pets competing in extra mini-games. It runs on iOS, Android, and Leapfrog’s own LeapPad Ultra tablet.

The band lasts between 4 and 6 days on a charge, has 4MB of onboard storage, and has a 1.44-inch 128×128-pixel screen. There’s an onboard speaker, too, but no Bluetooth.

Is LeapBand silly? Sure, in a sense, because why should little kids need a gadget to be active? But there are little kids that aren’t active enough, and the idea of using games to motivate fitness is smart: in fact, I wish more fitness trackers worked with games. I could see a lot of little kids liking LeapBand just because it’s a virtual pet on a wrist, and looks a little like a watch. Stay tuned to see if it becomes the ultimate classroom distraction once kids start playing with it all day long, or if parents find a way to encourage responsible use.

If LeapBand proves nothing else, it’s that fitness bands have truly reached peak levels.