Features

• In Garfield -It's All About Letters And Words they'll enjoy 15 different word and letter activities -- identifying letters, word sounds and more
• Garfield -It's All About Numbers & Counting brings your toddler 15 more activities that teach counting from 1 to 20, ordering and more
• With Garfield -It's All About Colors, Shapes & Time your little one will discover how to match colors, identify shapes and tell time
• For ages 3-4

Amazon.com Product Description

Pack a backpack and grab a flashlight--it's wilderness adventure time with Arthur, as he, his classmates, and Mr. Ratburn take to the trails of Mount Rockslide. In a twist of hiking fate, Mr. Ratburn twists his ankle and it's up to kids to help Arthur lead the class and Mr. Ratburn to safety. Explore forests, climb mountains, and search for 40 nature surprises. Kids ages 3 to 7 enjoy a different learning adventure each time they play. Plus, there are three different rescue devices to explore and a handy nature notebook filled with printable mammals, birds, insects, and wildflowers. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

bah, waste of my money
my 3 1/2 year old can play alot of games by himself. with this game he constantly needs my help. its hard to manuver the. and game is very laggy. don't waste your...buy putt putt instead. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Whether you've got a picky eater at home or you're just a fan of the irresistible aardvark family, this activity pack is sure to be a huge hit. The package starts off with an interactive storybook, featuring Miss D.W. herself as a picky eater who won't try anything new--until she has a big surprise at her Grandma's birthday dinner. The story has tons of funny clickables and graphics that look identical to Marc Brown's awesome illustrations from the book.

At the end of the book, kids can go hang out with D.W. in her bedroom, where there's five different learning activities waiting for them. One great activity is the Story Maker; users choose the themes, pictures, and phrases for their stories and then click the Print icon to save them for posterity! There's also a fun way to help build some early reading skills by replacing words from the storybook with 30 different picture stickers. It can be quite a challenge for prereaders, and a fun matching activity for those who've already mastered that skill.

Just for fun, there's a dollhouse to decorate, and it's got all the details to make a house a home. As with all of the activities here, kids can print pages with a monochrome printer for some great coloring opportunities! From hand-eye coordination and mouse skills to word recognition and nutrition, there's an amazing amount of learning packed into this program--and it's all an awful lot of fun. --Jill Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Very Disappointing
We were very disappointed with this game. Its basically a read-along story combined with a few games. My preschoolers were bored with this one right away. I wouldn't recommend it. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

The six activities in Arthur's Thinking Games encourage critical thinking and logic, and we had our problem-solving skills further tested by an inadvertent bonus activity: troubleshooting an audio problem that had characters dropping the ends of their sentences. Fortunately, this problem only occurred with one of the computers we tested on. The program's help function suggested making an adjustment to a default setting. We did that, yet the usually consistent Arthur characters still coyly refused to complete their sentences on a Pentium III system with an up-to-date sound card and more than the required 8 MB of RAM and 20 MB of hard disk space.

When we explored this CD-ROM on an older system that for some inexplicable reason gave us good audio, we found an affable little program. In one activity, kids use a catapult to launch water balloons at a castle in order to drench a dragon. As the dragon moves around, kids adjust the catapult's distance and angle of attack to hit their target and put out his fire. Another task involves helping a mummy work his way through a maze-like pyramid. In another deductive game, Arthur's dog Pal gets lost in what looks like the Roman Coliseum, and players can decipher Pal's whereabouts by clicking on windows and listening to hints. A musical jungle allows kids to compose then play short tunes with the help of some musically gifted animals. A game that's structured like a quiz show gives kids an opportunity to listen to clues and pick the correct answer from three choices. Finally, Arthur leads kids to a stage activity where they can use stamps and paints to customize a backdrop, then program Arthur to do a series of dance moves up in the footlights. Each of these activities, with the exception of the Dance Theater, can be adjusted to five different levels.

There are no strokes of genius in Arthur's Thinking Games, nor is anything particularly awful. We do think that the box is claiming a bit much by saying kids learn "history" and "geography" with this program. Apart from the game settings (a pyramid, a coliseum, a castle), we didn't find a scrap of history or geography unless those elements were lost in some of that missing audio. (Ages 3 to 7) --Anne Erickson ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Not for MacOS
We just purchased this and recived a version that is NOT compatible with the MacOS. Perhaps there are newer versions that work with the Mac, but be aware that some of the used ones may NOT be Mac compatible.

Extremely Disappointing from an Arthur Fan
Like other reviewers, I find this game to have very little educational content..or content period. My sons (2 and 3) tire quickly of its few games, and really just enjoy the regurgitating sound the garbage can makes in the painting section.

Save your money for better quality games.

Fun. My three year old likes it!
Two things are wrong with this CD which is why I gave it four stars instead of five.

1- There are only five activities on this CD. This is a problem when many of the other CD's you can buy have many more activities. I was a little bit dissapointed by this aspect.
2- The games a little too arcady for my taste. However having said that- I'm not the one playing it and my three year old son enjoys this CD.

I think that this would be too easy for a child that was five or six. I think this is really directed towards three to five year olds. For my three year old the games develop skills like problem solving, understanding directions and more. I was amazed at how quickly he caught on to the game of hot and cold to find something in one of the games on this CD. Now we play it around the house.

This is a fun CD that does develop thinking skills in younger kids. Be warned though that although the games can be leveled to higher and higher levels, there are only five games. That gets kind of old after a while, even if the level gets harder.

My Daughter loves this Game!
My Daughter is 4 and she loves this game! While there are only 5 different activities (the reason for only 4 stars), each does have 5 different levels of difficulty, unlike Reader Rabbit, which only has 3. As an Added bonus this box included another CD, Arther's Reading Race. These CDs combined are comparable to Clifford Reading and Clifford Thinking Games. (Sold seperately and thus twice the price.)

Another bonus is that this CD will run on a windows NT platform (normally used for business purposes) While some games will also run on this platform, most don't list the NT platform as being compatable. It was wonderful to have peace of mind when purchasing this game, I KNEW this game would run rather than having to guess that it might. I'm really impressed with the value this game provided.

A Little Thin on Content
Normally, the Arthur series of educational CDs for children are enjoyable, educational and engaging. It was for this reason that I purchased this CD for my 6 year old child. However, when we recived it, the "Thinking Games" turns out to have only 5 or 6 activities, and no automatic leveling (where the CD challenges the child when the child correctly completes an activity. Further, the games that are used seem more like arcade activities, with very little actual "thinking" necessary on the part of the child. While my child enjoys it, I would much rather have them playing with Arthur's First or Second Grade CDs which are challenging, interesting and multifacited. As both the "grade" CDs and the "Thinking Games" CDs are the same price, go for the grade ones -- you will get a lot more for your money! ... Read more

Reviews (21)

Lots of learning fun
My son started playing this game when he turned three. He loved it then, and still loves playing it at age four. I should say, however, that I believe the optimum age for this game to be between 2-4 years. Handily, there are different level settings, so children who are more advanced or less advanced in activities can still enjoy the fun. For example, my son does well in mathematics and reading, so the library and the play store are high level activities. On the other hand, hearing sounds and repeating them (the triangle goes 'ting', so you must then hit the triangle) is harder for him, so we use the easiest setting for the music store.

He has spent up to two hours playing in just the present store, picking out presents for friends within the money limit allowed. He loves choosing the wrapping paper and matching bows, as well.

As the game features many different activities (reading, mathematics, sound repetition, vocabulary, shape-sorting), it is a win for parents interested in educating their children in a fun way. I'm planning on purchasing it for my nephew, as well, and if I had more relatives with children, they'd be getting it for Christmas, too.

The main down side would be Joe, as compared to the beloved Steve, but he plays a very minor role, and is only seen when the child is switching between activity centers (library, grocery store, music store, bakery, present store). The other would be the lack of actual reading in the library. As my son can read, it would be more fun on the highest level if he could sort the books according to title, instead of just with the beginning letter. However, he still has a lot of fun with it, and the mathematics in the present store are great.

Pass, unless you really love shelves.
This Blue's Clues game looks like it was rushed through development. With the show's old host Steve gone, they now have to quickly replace Blue's old computer games so that the new host, Joe, is in them. Most of the simplistic activities have a recurring theme: taking and putting things off and on shelves. Here's a list of what to expect:

Activity 1: Go to the bakery and pick items off shelves.

Activity 2: Go to the library and put books where they're supposed to go, by matching the book with the letter on the shelf.

Activity 3: Go to the Toy Store and help customers buy presents by picking from a shelf full of items.

Activity 4: Go to the grocery store, and help Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper select groceries by taking food items off of ... you guessed it, shelves.

The only activity that is different, is a mediocre music activity, where you match what Purple Kangaroo does. Eh.

Sounds pretty exciting, doesn't it! Well, not really. The only reason this game will sell like crazy is because it has Blue in it. If it wasn't for that, no one would pay attention to it. The activities are simplistic and rapidly become boring due to the recurring and unimaginitive "shelf" theme. Worse, the program doesn't really explain anything to your child. It just jumps right in and says "Match the letter on the book, to the letter on the shelf." Your child may likely ask, "What's a letter?"

The show is good, but this game isn't. Pass, unless you really love shelves.

LALALALALALALALA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
La la land is a place I have been to many times in my life time. They have ponys you can sit on. And they dance! And sing! And poop! And giant slugs slither on you until you get really, really, really, really, really ,really ,really, really, really, really, really, really ,really ,really, really, really, really, sticky.And you can fly with dragons that speak Italian...And warrior bunnies attack with feathers made of soap.And Green Bay Packers fans wear cheese on there heads. Which bring flying monkeys that only eat cheese! And gwakamoli rains from the heavens.And you can grow a beard that climbs all the way around the earth and chokes zombies to death!!!(...) And sticky mummies walk around in circles until they burn holes in the floor!!! I JUST LOVE THIS BLUES CLUES GAME!!! IT'S THE BEST GAME I'VE EVER PLAYED!!!!!!!!!!!! THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END!

It was ok
I played with my almost four year old nephew with this and I found it very hard for him to follow. First of all, was he supposed to know when to click? I could hardly tell when the arrows were slighted changed.

Good, but not great
We've had this disc since my son was 3. Other reviewers have expressed the thought that the game is more suitable for toddlers. I don't entirely agree, particularly given that there are three distinct levels for each task.

The Grocery Store - level 1 directs children to put specific items in the basket. Higher levels direct children to items based on their relative position (e.g. the item below, or to the right of, bananas).

The Music Store - I admit that I find this one tiresome. The player repeats a pattern of beats on a variety of instruments. Each level increases the number of beats and instruments used.

The Bakery - Children choose items that are specific shapes. Level 1 uses only the most common shapes. Level 2 introduces lesser known shapes, like the crescent. Level 3 has the child look for objects that combine shapes - the task may be to find an item containing 1 circle, 1 triangle and 2 rectangles, which the child will find arranged as a cookie shaped like a little girl.

The Present Store - Here the child is asked to find one item that cost a specific number of "blue dollars". The number of dollars is displayed on the gift table and each item's price is displayed beneath it. The child places the item on the table and then counts out the appropriate number of dollars. In the higher levels, the child is given an amount, but they must find a combination of 2 or more objects that equal that total (probably the most complex activity in the game).

The Library - ok, I can't defend this one. It is ridiculously easy on any level.

All in all, it's not a bad game. It does move a little slowly and you do have to adjust the difficulty of each activity to the appropriate level for your child, but holds appeal for kids a variety of ages and gives them a chance to play with a favorite character. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

This CD-ROM contains everything your kids need to make their own Pokémon projects. The package includes instructions for more than 250 projects. Kids can insert graphics of their favorite Pokémon and even print their projects when they're done. The Blue collection features 81 of the 151 Pokémon; the Red collection features the remaining characters. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

unstable software
I actually have the "red" version of this software (which Amazon does not sell) but assume the basic platform is the same. The software crashed my daughter's machine repeatedly; I had to load it on my own computer for her to finish her project. Even then, it crashed my machine as well, several times, before I finally cut-and-pasted her work into PowerPoint to get it printed. I'm uninstalling both copies - she had some fun with it, but it's not worth the aggravation.

Very good, some flaws in program.
Pokemon Project Studio Blue Version is definitely a good program to use for making a Pokemon project. When I used the program, it was very good, but had one or two flaws. If you install both versions, you can use all of the Pokemon. The only flaw is that when I tried to transfer Pokemon from one version to another, no good. It wouldn't be able to transfer. What that simply means is that you can't use different Pokemon from another version on the other version. That can be a major hassle at times. But otherwise, a very good program to use and the results are excellent. An overall 4 stars.

Good program - no support
Firstly, these programs (Red and Blue)are easy to use, and allow many creative projects as part of the Print Shop family.

However, having bought these last Christmas, I have found that Mattel (owner of The Learning Co.) no longers offers support for these programs.

Additionally, while they advertise that you must get both programs to "get all the pokemon" you can not share the graphics between the programs. This means that you must launch them separately and keep separate projects in order to use all the pokemon -- very unfriendly.

Powerful software, great for kids and others too
Very powerful software. Had all the key Pokemon my son wanted. Very easy to manipulate objects, including sizing and rotation. Easy to create from scratch, modify existing templates, or move motifs from templates to blanks. Can create many lovely items w/o Pokemon if you so wish. Easy, easy, easy to use by kids. I had trouble loading it and received excellent tech support from the publisher! A great experience overall.

Cool!
Wow! Nintendo has done it again! You can make sooo many things with this program! I own both of them, but this one is my fav. This is definately worth your money, and is the perfect gift for any Pokémon fan! ... Read more

Features

• Includes I Love Phonics!, My First Reading Adventure: I Want to Read!; My First Reading Adventure: Now I¿m Reading!
• CD 1: word recognition, fluency, vocabulary development, reading comprehension & more
• CD 2: understand letter sounds & phonics; learn alphabetical order; identify rhyming words
• CD 3: identify letter sounds & spell words; identify spelling patterns; read key sight words
• For kids ages 3-7

Amazon.com Product Description

Join Caillou and all his friends for a fun-filled birthday celebration! Kids get to help Caillou make it the best birthday ever! They start by choosing from four party themes, complete with their own unique learning activities, presents, games like musical chairs, and, of course, cake! Kids also get to print Caillou party accessories that can be used when their birthday comes along!

Designed to build children's preschool and kindergarten skills, Caillou: Birthday Party's eight fun-filled activities also include puzzles that encourage pattern and shape recognition as well as problem solving. Music and celebratory songs round out the fun with Caillou and friends. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Annoying game with a few positive points
This game could so easily have been better with the slightest bit of effort. Unlike most games this game doesn't remember any of the settings for a particular child. It's not clear to me why they even bother having them sign in. The instructions where played for every game, no matter how many times the game has been played. The next problem was that it doesn't remember what level of the game the child last played at and starts over at level one every time. This is bad for two reasons. One is that many children get comfortable at a level and don't want to move on to the next, more challenging level. The parent ought to be able to change it once and not have to keep changing it every time. Not only that, you have to go into the game to change the level and then it plays the instructions yet again for the next level. It's true that you can click through all that but it's very annoying. Also, what is the point of having the confirmation every time the child leaves a game? It's not like they're going to lose some valuable data. They can just get back in if they want. Being asked all the time is also annoying.

On the positive side, there are enough activities in the game. And there were a few sound-oriented games that I thought were pretty nice and unusual. However, the art project was totally lame. No creativity at all. Just picking things from a menu.

fun and stable software for little Caillou fans
Caillou's friends will be arriving soon for his birthday party, and your little one will enjoy wandering through the rooms of Caillou's house as he gets ready for the big event, finding clickable objects, 6 party hats and 8 activities. Before playing, you select a "theme" -- Sports, Music, Sun & Sand or Nature, which only minimally affects game play.

The games, most of which have three difficulty levels, are: (1) Sound identification. Caillou shakes a present and you determine what it is by choosing from three objects represented. Difficulty level varies whether you select from a set of pictures, words or pictures with words. (2) Melody Match. Create a free-form song or listen to a progressively longer song then recreate it by clicking on the appropriate characters and pictures. (3) Crafts. Design and print party hats, invitations, cards or placemats. (4) Bubble pop. As Caillou takes a bath, you are asked to pop specific bubbles. Difficulty determines whether the bubbles depict colors, shapes or numbers. (5) Rhyming. Grandpa reads a two-line poem with the last word missing, and you choose from among three words to make it rhyme. Words are highlighted as the story is read. (6) Make a cake. Use given layers and decorations to construct a cake, then identify who will get a piece of it. Difficulty varies the number of layers and how the recipient is identified -- by clicking on the full name, overlapping letters of the given name or constructing the name from a jumble of letters. (7) Musical Chairs. Caillou and his three friends are dancing. You click on the person that corresponds to a given color, shape or number. (8) Number Chase. This is a game that Caillou plays against a chosen character. Die are rolled and the difficulty level determines whether Caillou counts, no one counts or two dice are rolled.

I like that the game begins with the familiar song and introduction from the television series, that it is very stable and seamlessly incorporates animated and puppet sequences into gameplay. I also like that these scenes can be interrupted with a mouse click. Instruction screens precede each activity and are clear, though too lengthy for little kids to take in. From any screen you can access help or instructions, or easily back out of an activity, and it's simple to change difficulty levels.

I didn't like that the Number Chase game was confusing and that, during cake construction and name building, the pieces must be placed in order; in the former case, the order is not always intuitive. Also, it would be nice if there were a printed instruction booklet. Little ones will probably learn mouse and navigation skills more than they will learn math or reading from this game, but it is entertaining for Caillou fans. Because the instructions can be lengthy, it's important that you sit with your child and play through the game at first. This title is very similar to Caillou Magic Playhouse -- identical format, different activities.

Excellent!
Keeps the child busy for a long time. They learn but most of all they have fun - what a 3yr old should be doing!

confusing!
I was so very disappointed in this software! My 3 year old who enjoys many different types of software and loves Caillou was disappointed. The pathways from one activity to the next is confusing. In the middle of acitvities he would tap a wrong key and end up in some other activity. Don't buy it.

Eight fun activities and four fun themes
In the Birthday Party, young players join Cailou and all his friends for the perfect birthday celebration entertainingly enhanced with an engaging combination of animation, puppets, music, dance, and live action. The eight fun activities and four fun themes, along with printable "Family Time" projects make for a wonderfully self-directed, game-based, learning experience. The learning of preschool and kindergarten skills was never so much fun! This Calliou gaming CD-ROM package operates on either Windows or Macintosh platforms, and are based on the popular charecters of an award winning PBS KIDS series. Ideal for daycare center, kindergarten, and homeschooling curriculums for children ages 2 to 6. ... Read more

Features

• Barbie's an experienced marine biologist in this fun adventure
• Explore the ocean, fix coral reefs, and take underwater pictures
• Games and puzzles offer clues to help find a hidden treasure
• Amazing graphics; increased difficulty as the story progresses
• Single-player action for kids ages 5 and up

Reviews (2)

Perfect as a Pearl ...
I really like this game. It is a fun game with really fun games underwater and above. It takes place under water where Barbie must search for a theif who has hidden the diamonds all to himself/herself. Barbie must find it before it is too late. It is fun to see all the sea creatures pitch in... including you! It is a fun game that deserves 5 stars!

Buggy
The kids liked swimming around this underwater world until the animation would get stuck. There are places where the action hangs and you have to restart the program. Frustrating. We threw it out. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Hang out in the mall and get to know the Diva Starz. Alexa, Nikki,Summer, and Tia are all ready to chat and play; each of the Divas wants tobecome your friend--as long as you pay attention and learn what they're reallylike.

Diva Starz has a simple premise: the better you understand your Diva pal,the more fun the two of you can have together. Players can go with a Diva to the Music Spot, where they'll learn to combine instruments with othermusical elements such as melody, beat, and sound effects to create differenttypes of tunes. When you mix one that your Diva friend absolutely loves, sherewards you with tokens you can use in the arcade.

If music isn't your thing, you can pick an outfit that matches your chosen Diva pal's tastes in the Fashion Spot, or whip her up a trendy new hair-do inStyle Spot. The key to each challenge is using the selected Diva's personalityto guide the choices you make; not all of the girls like dance music, longdresses, or having their hair pinned up. Fortunately, players can ask themquestions by using a miniature chat interface; the Diva's responses to variousquestions yield clues to help with the music mixer, fashion decisions, andhairstyle choices.

And though the game places an unfortunate emphasis on girls' appearance anddress, the chat sessions give the Divas a chance to reveal other, moresubstantial facts about their lives. Asked about career goals, Tia responds thatshe wants to be an Internet entrepreneur. The Divas also tell players, in briefbut positive terms, about their mothers' jobs.

After earning a handful of tokens, it's off to the arcade, where players can trythe games that await. With a range of activities intended to serve a variety ofages, Diva Starz's difficulty level is all over the map. Some of thechallenges are fairly tough; in contrast, the arcade games are extremelysimple--one of them is a version of tic-tac-toe.

Diva Starz has a pleasingly circular format. Winning the arcade gamesearns players even more information about the Divas, as well as more options forclothing, hairstyles, and music mixes. By making wise choices, you'll find outstill more about your Diva friends. The distinct personalities of the fourcharacters are emphasized, encouraging girls to consider the idea that differentpeople have vastly different personalities. In Diva Starz, they alsolearn that listening and understanding these personalities can be enormouslyrewarding. (Ages 6 and up) --Alyx Dellamonica ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Diva Starz Allikki
I made a Diva Star named Alikki on this game! She has purple eyes and blond hair. That's why I named her Allikki. She has Alexa's hair and Nikki's eyes. I made her from Nikki at the hair game. You can also go to a place where they just talk, a clothes place, a music place, and the arcade. You can play with Alexa, Nikki, Summer, and Tia, but not Miranda. You get money for the arcade after you give the Divas clothes, hair, and music they like. You can play three arcade games with it, then you'll get money to buy them new clothes, hairdoes, and music. But after a while when you get a bunch of money, you can buy everything and there's nothing else to buy. When you put the special red $50 clothes that make the mirrors light up on the Divas, they tell you secrets!

Ok
This game is not all that fun. I got this a few weeks ago. It was fun the first few days I played with it, but it gets boring really easily. In the game, you can pick a Diva to go off and play games with. The Diva will tell you about themselves, then you can interact with the Diva in a series of activities; make your Diva a cool tune, style your Diva's hair, or mix and match fashions. The Diva's are different though; Alexa will love it if you give her plaited hair, but give Nikki plaits and she will NOT like you! Every time you complete an activity, you earn some tokens. You can take the tokens to the arcade and play some games. Completing the games will you more hairstyle and clothes options, and a secret fact about the Diva. And that's it. You're finished. If you like, you can do it all again with a differen't Diva, but the clothes and things are very similar, and once you've got all the secrets and things, it's boring. Someone under 6 might enjoy it, but also may find the games fiddly unless she has help.

Ok...its fun for a while
This game is fun to mess with their hair and stuff... but after u get all the prizes and new stuff..it isnt fun any more

OK
This item is ok, and can use some work. Once you get all of the gifts for your Diva Starz, you can't get anything else, and it's not all that fun.

A really cool game!
My mom bough this game for my ... sister for Christmas. I loved it to even though i am .... I love the music. It is so awesome! The hair and clothes are so neat. I would recommend this game to anyone between the ages of 4-15! ... Read more

Features

• Create hairstyles by cutting, coloring, and even growing Barbie's hair
• Add makeup and accessories to match the special occasion
• Choose different lip colors and eye shadow
• Watch Barbie model the new look you just created
• Take pictures, frame your favorites with borders, and print them

Reviews (3)

Does not appear to work with XP
Tried 98 compatability settings, but still won't run under XP.
Upgraded the kid's computer, but this game won't run on the new one. Dual Boot OS's for a 9 year old is a little much.

Fun For Everyone!
We have had this game now for about three years. We purchased it for our oldest daughter, who is now eight years old. This has always been one of her favorites. Now we have a two-year-old girl, and she loves to play with it too. She does need a little help, but not much. I have to admit, even at 30, I love playing with it too. It has lots of options for makeup, hair styles, and jewelry. The only problem we have had is that it gets stuck once in a while; however, we do have a dinosaur for a computer, so that may be the cause. It has definitely been worth the money!

pretty kool game for kids!
Barbie magic hair styler is a cool game you can pick a barbie and pick wait she she will be and do u can make it a date wedding carrer and other stuff. i have hade this for a cuple of years now but it is still fun. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

best for foreigners
Game using voice recognition and correction of pronunciation are very helpful for many foreign kids including adults. It gives pleasure and educational effects at the same time. Today There are lots of native speaker teachers everywhere. but Everyone cannot have opportunity to learn english from them and also decicde their english is good or not. That is why this will be the best english teacher for foreign kids. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

An exciting new set of learning games featuring the ever-playful Reader Rabbit and friends, Thinking Adventures provides tons of activities designed to get kindergartners mastering all kinds of important skills. The goal is to throw a party for Sam the Lion, and there's a lot to do to get ready--matching, sorting, patterning, memorizing, and problem solving all play a role here.

As always with this series, the difficulty level adjusts automatically, and there's lots of printable worksheets and certificates. Reader Rabbit is always ready with helpful hints, which is great for kids who like to play without parental assistance. This is a great accompaniment for other Reader Rabbit titles--kids love the characters, and this title is more about general learning and entertainment than other programs that focus exclusively on math or reading. Younger kids will have a great time exploring with the easier skill levels--nearly every scene has lots of fun clickables, and many games can be easily handled by preschoolers. Reading isn't necessary, but good listening skills are--more easily distracted kids may need some assistance in understanding game instructions. You'll appreciate the progress reports--and knowing in which areas your child excels or needs some extra help. --Jill Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Quite Engaging for Any Youngster
This software immediately caught my 4 year old's attention. The animation is great, and Reader Rabbit even addresses your child by their name (which you supply the program).

Many wonderful games for children to learn sequencing, matching, similarities & differences, and many more things. A second disk is even included that allows you to print helpful worksheets so that you may work away from the computer.

This software is money well spent.

Excellent educational games require advanced mouse skills
As with all of the Reader Rabbit titles, this one has excellent education activities and an engaging storyline. My daughter loves it. Parents should be aware, however, that this title requires more advanced mouse skills that other software for this age group: two activities require the user to "click and drag". In another game the child must click in very small areas and in the "present wrapping" activity it is very easy to accidentally exit the game.

Too confusing for 4 years olds!
I had always heard great things about Reader Rabbit software but I was very disappointed in this one! My four year old got frustrated after 5 minutes and gave up. She found the instructions to be too difficult to understand because they were very detailed and spoken too quickly. The premise is that you're supposed to gather items for a surprise party. You need to obtain a specific amount of each item and it goes into an empty room once you gather enough for the party. You need to go to different areas to make cookies, wrapping paper etc. I don't know how a four year old could do this without adult supervision. This software will sit on the shelf until my daughter gets older. Hopefully then she'll enjoy it.

Uninspired and dull with clunky interface
There is one part of this game where the main character enters a room that is entirely empty except for a carpet, a few drapes, and blank walls. It's like someone forgot to work on the scene. There are other parts where the animated characters do the same things over and over and over, and the tasks are extremely repetitive. Other scenes are equally dense or unimaginative. The artwork is awkward and ugly. The interface is non-intuitive, as is the flow of the story. There's also this Blob thing that lays on the ground to help you with navigation, and he's a depressing little thing.

So, this title is not recommended. Try Freddi Fish or Puttputt or SpyFox. Avoid this turkey in disguise.

Not very impressed
My kids did not find the games very interesting and neither did I. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

With Kid Pix Deluxe Third Edition, your child can use his or hermouse, voice, and wildest imagination to create masterpieces on the computer.They'll go beyond mere virtual painting to smear, gloop, and smudge colors on acanvas that can be smooth, rough, or lizard-skinned. They'll use animated clipart, find psychedelic backgrounds, and even add music or sound effects to theircreations. Then you'll send your kid to bed and start playingwith Kid Pix yourself. It's that good.

The program can feel a bit incomprehensible at first. After a quickinstallation, users encounter a screen with the usual icons--paintbrush, paintcan, pencil. But there's also a cake mixer, a stick of dynamite, and a bald guy.All of this oddness is explained in the user's guide, but it's better to justjump into the right-brain spirit of this program and start clicking. Explorationreveals that the bald guy erases, while providing a running commentary, themixer mixes colors, and the dynamite ignites, splutters, and then blows up thewhole picture. Every tool here clanks, splooshes, orkerplunks, which makes Kid Pix Deluxe as close to tactile as acomputer-painting program is ever going to get.

On the practical side, there are templates for maps, charts, and reports thatcould be useful for school projects. Kids can also import their own photographsinto the program, and tweak them as they see fit. Finished works of art can beput in a "slideshow," where auteurs can mess around with dissolves, fades, andmore sound effects to complete their creations.

One of the program's most unique features allows users to "paint" with theirvoices. Clicking and dragging while whispering and hollering into amicrophone (not included) adds an interesting "performance art" element to the onscreensquigglings. Just be careful. We woke up our kids when we decided to see whatour shouts looked like. (Ages 4 and older) --Anne Erickson ... Read more

Reviews (37)

My son couldn't stop talking about this!
My 6-yr-old son mentioned Kid Pix every day for about a week after using it at school. I had seen this software many times but just thought it was another one of those coloring book kind of things that just about every kid web site has - for free. So I broke down and bought it. Now I can't wait for my son to go to bed at night so I can "play" with this software. It's wonderful! It has elements of Powerpoint (slideshows - even the frame timing and sounds), Photoshop (filters like blur, noixe, pixelate, render, adjustments like brightness, contrast and even color filters!), word processors (adding text in installed fonts, sizing), vector programs (like Illustrator that allow you to place a vector image (clipart) and resize), and even hundreds of music selections/genres, clipart, scenery, artwork, textures, patterns, maps, and it will even read the text he types in. I obviously highly recommend this product.

Family Fun
I just bought Kid Pix Deluxe 3rd Edition. I bought it for my 3 year old son and he loves it. It is simple enough for him to use. We have only had it for 2 days now and he already knows how to change the brushes,colors, etc. This product also keeps his attention. There are amazing sound effects to go with every action. My husband and I have fun with the more advanced features, paper texture,adding sounds and personal pictures,etc. The best part of the product is the e-mail component. It let's you send your creations to friends and family. This product is a great entertainment for the whole family, from the littlest to the oldest. I highly recommend it.

I spend all day with this product!
I almost stayed all day with this product when I did not have XP yet.I have XP now but I like to remember the good times on Windows 98!Soime people say that it is not very good on XP.I wonder if it's true?Can somebody tell me?Anyway you can make your own pictures that comes with sounds that are,so,so,Funky that you'll laugh and enjoy!Plus,Much much much more to do!In only the day I bought this CD I knew how to do it all!

Very good Cd game!

Melisaa

Not for XP!
Please, if you have a XP computer, DO NOT GET THIS!! it runs horrible! slow! glitchey!nothing you would want to buy! even my 20 year-old brother could not fix that!!

XP COMPATIBILITY
Not really compatible. Will work with Win Xp cmpatability wizard set to Win 98 and visual themes disabled. BUT, the desktop will not return to original settings upon closing and Kid Pix 3 leaves programs running in the background which must be manually closed through Win Task Manager. A sad situation in a K-12 education setting attempting to use up to date Windows and preserve their software investment. ... Read more