2 1/2 Year Old Laptop user

Ok I hate to be a baby bore here, but I just have to share this one. I put Leo to bed every night and after a Teletubbies story he simply has to play with his Thomas the Tank engine laptop or else !

But tonight I sat and observed him for a while, to see what he was doing, with this bog standard VTech electro-toy. The market is awash with 'push button = silly sound' toys for toddlers like him, yet this toy is a little different. It has a small LCD screen and has a built in keyboard and integrated mouse. There are a bank of games on simple phonics and number, along with the chance to play games. He has been using this toy for some time and is clearly motivated by the familiar Thomas the Tank engine images and music, even though the display resembles an Etch a Sketch.

One of the games is a maze, which involves navigating Thomas around a number of obstacles. And it was watching Leo play this tonight that struck me. He was actually using the built in mouse to successfully navigate around the maze. This involved clicking as well as manipulating the mouse up,down and left and right. I guess this just proves that motivation enables and prompts the learner to acquire the skill.