The LeapBand

(Make sure you check out the video review at the end)

You know, gone are the days when you regularly see kids playing outside kicking a soccer ball or even climbing a tree, instead you're more likely to find them inside watching cartoons or playing games. One company has decided to use games to get kids back outside. The company behind LeapPad has reinvented the adult fitness tracker for kids. Think of it as a crossover between the 90's Tamagotchi 

Pet and a fitness tracker, rewarding the kids with points for tasks completed.

At first glance it’s a bit bulky, but for kids, the bigger the better, right? They come in a variety of colours and there are personalized pets such as a monkey, panda, dragon or unicorn that "live" in the band to help guide the kids through activity challenges.

Games like Pet Chef (collect the healthy food items), Pet Boogie (a dancing game), and Pet Salon (teaching proper hygiene) provide fun ways for kids to interact with their pets and learn about healthy living, while 14 preloaded challenges command kids to "pop like popcorn," "walk like a crab," and "wiggle like a worm" with the accelerometer tracking their every move. Additional challenges can be downloaded from the company's LeapFrog Connect app. Parents can then track their kids' activity through an accompanying app.

Speaking of which, as a parent, you can lock the watch so that during school hours it’s just a digital watch and then back to it’s normal fun self afterwards.

Overall there is no doubt in my mind that at around R450, you can definitely afford to get one for your kids especially if gets them outside and let’s face it some kids need to lose some weight.