They are not the same. The leapster is like a small hand held game and the leap pad is like an iPad for kids. The leap pad ultra has wireless Internet access. My daughter has a leap pad. She loves it and it has many fun educational activities. It's a touch screen so has things like letter tracing to practice printing etc.

To the original poster....I would not provide these in my daycare. Personally, most kids I know spend plenty of time with electronics at home.