The activities in the game are intended to prepare a child for preschool including number and letter recognition and sequencing, patterns, matching, sorting and basic phonic skills.

Difficulty in the game increases with every success made, although the focus is not about getting answers correct but rather learning from incorrect ones.

[7] Edutaining Kids thought the title was the best educational game for toddlers, and a "delightful introduction" into using computers.

[9] Allgame said the graphics were more sophisticated than other Reader Rabbit titles, due to having 3D backgrounds and shading on the 2D characters.

[17] Reader Rabbit Toddler was the 9th top-selling education video game in October[18] and November 1997,[19] and the week ended in February 1998.