Amazon.com Product Description

Kids (ages 5 to 7) discover core learning skills in this delightful age-appropriate learning environment featuring Reader Rabbit and friends. Find and repair the Dreamship before pilfering pirates get their first. While traveling to and exploring Mount CheesEmore Island, kids adventure through seven fun activities full of discovery and gooey cheese. Along the way, Reader Rabbit and friends cover grammar, reading, science, fractions, telling time, and more. It's a thrilling and filling adventure.

Reader Rabbit 2nd Grad 2002 is part of the award-winning Reader Rabbit children's educational software series. Learning activities include Insect Builder Science, Fondue Falls Vocabulary, and Final Duel Fractions. Kids also enjoy this title's fun music, stories, movies, and characters, while the program's progress reports let parents see just where their child is advancing and where they might need some help.

So that you're never without Reader Rabbit, Reader Rabbit 2nd Grade 2002 comes with the bonus CD-ROM Reader Rabbit's Dreamship Tales. It's bursting with added activities, videos, tunes, and more than 100 printable games and activities--a great way to keep the fun going after you've turned the computer off. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

good for preschoolers if you want them using the computer!
This program doesn't teach anything special that is not easily taught outside of a computer game. Success at the game will be had most quickly if the child already knows the skills needed to play the game (see below, i.e. already knows their basic shapes). If you want your child using the computer during the preschool years then this is a safe and good bet. If your child doesn't know everything this program covers already then they are sure to learn it quickly if they like the game and are not discouraged. There is much more to phonics than this program covers, of course.

We held off introducing our son to the computer until he was almost 4.5 years old. We strictly limit what he can do on the computer and he does not use it much, sometimes going 2 months or so without using it. We purchased this program when our oldest just turned 5, at which time he already could start up the computer, open a program, change CDs and close the entire system down all by himself. I thought it best to buy an easier Reader Rabbit game and see how he likes it rather than start off with the Kindergarten or the phonics Reader Rabbit. If you have a 3 or a 4 year old (or even a 2 year old) that you want using a computer game then this one is great (see section on phonics for a possible difficult part though).

Being unfamiliar with children's computer games I was surprised that much of this is almost like a video on television, there are songs that seem to be about 3 minutes long and very graphic and long introductions to the program every time it is started and before each game. The characters on screen tell the user what to do. I was disappointed it did not come with written instructions, as when my son needed help there was nothing I could turn to. Goodness knows I am not sitting with him all the time watching him play, so I miss the already-spoken instructions for the overall game. Instructions for the mini-games that they play can be repeated by simply clicking on a certain character on the screen.

I sat down to play it as a new user and we played for over an hour. I was annoyed that the instructions are not clear. Specifically, the program has the user doing a little job to earn a gem called a brillite. They wanted 5 yellow brillites to start. We did all the jobs but there was a missing brillite. There was no instruction as to how to get this missing brillite so we re-explored every area on the program's map and began repeating jobs because we didn't know what else to do. That began earning us different colored brillites. It is a little unclear to me as to how to win this game, they say to gather brillites but we really don't know how many of each and how to exactly get them except play in a random manner repeating the games. I'd much prefer them to say "repeat all the games to earn the blue brillites in order to earn the missing yellow brillite" or some other such informative instruction.

This is truly geared for preschool age (3 or 4) or for any age that already knows the 6 colors of the rainbow, circle, square, oval, triangle, diamond shapes, if they can count to 10 and follow oral directions. The hardest part of the game, which may be difficult for preschool aged children and may cause frustration, is the phonics portion. An object comes along on a raft and there are 3 sparkle shakers above it and the user must choose which sparkle shaker (with a letter on it) represents the first letter of the object. The first go round has the word written under the object (i.e. violin) but after that round is won the object comes out without a word. Shame on them for showing a giraffe and giving both a g and a j as options! Bad choice for beginners to phonics! The user will be told if they make an incorrect choice and they can narrow it down by process of elimination. The game with the train and matching the object shape is more of a fast paced game to improve hand and eye coordination and fast mouse-usage than a true matching game-if they pick the match right after the fast changes they are doomed. On the box it says this does drawing and coloring but that is a stretch: the kids are told to paint a certain shape a certain color and they simply click once on the proper color and click once on top of the shape and it is instantly colored in. There is nothing about drawing going on there! The only math here is counting up to 10 (it is advertised as having math on it).

There is nothing offensive or questionable about this game, the language is clean, etc.

This is a fun game for preschoolers (I found it too easy for my just turned 5 year old). It is very entertaining in that it has interludes in between games and songs with a few minutes of on screen entertainment. The songs are catchy. The graphics are very good compared to the old days of Space Invaders and such!

Good Program
I purchased this program to help my 3 year old son sharpen and develop his basic preschool skills. I found this program to have a good theme and my son was very interested in the character's various actions, songs and dances used to accompany the instruction. Skill levels can be chosen to pace the progression dependeing on the need of the child. The program is very user friendly to an adults helping their children. Progrmas are easily exited out of and information can be saved to log the progress of the children users. I recommend this software to parents who want to help their preschoolers get a head start on Kindergarten education.

Skip this one
My son (now almost 4) is pretty academically bright and pretty good with a computer mouse. We bought this game for him just before he turned 3 last year. What a disappointment! Now, we are a big computer game family, and our son has played a few other titles which we have loved (Little People Discovery Airport, Ollo Saves the Fair, Putt-Putt, and a few others). We loved Reader Rabbit Toddler and Reader Rabbit Baby, which were designed very well. Unfortunately, Reader Rabbit Preschool did not stack up.

As usual, the game has a creative story behind it, and there is a goal that involves collecting things. These are wonderful motivators. However, the game skill levels seem either much to easy (matching bugs) or pretty advanced (counting out just the right number of bugs to fill a rocket, including addition and subtraction as the game increases in difficulty) for a "typical" preschooler. I should add that I used to teach preschool and kindergarten, so I have an idea of what is developmentally appropriate. This game ranges from boring to frustrating with very little in between. Some activities, such as the "painting" activity at the waterfall, require very very good mouse control, as the shapes tend to be very small, and the child must click in just the right areas.

I highly recommend skipping this game. Our son is now happily playing Reader Rabbit Kindergarten (the Summer Camp one)with very little trouble.

Too much advertisement and lacks parental controls
I had previously purchased Reader Rabbit for baby and toddler and was thrilled with the product. However, I cannot say the same of the Reader Rabbit Preschool. This CD launches with a page that gives my [child] 6 choices of where to go. Only one is the educational program. The others are advertisements for Star Flyers, Clue Finders, Zoombinis, the Oregan Trail, and Carmen Sandiego. Each of these plays a short movie and gives my [child] the option of launching the internet to download more. I certainly do not want my child on the internet, and I did not purchase the CD so that the Learning Company could target my ...child with advertisement. I wanted him to learn something. It quickly became a fight to keep him in the educational portion of the CD. I called Broderbund, and after waiting 25 minutes to speak with a technician, was told that there was nothing that could be done. There are no parental controls. I asked to speak with a supervisor to discuss my concerns, and was told I could go to the web site and e-mail them. I would not recommend this CD.

They've got it almost right
This is the most educational of the programs I've found for the preschool set, but there are still disappointments. I wish they would do more with the alphabet - they need more variety of words, a combination of small letters and capitals. My three-year-old mastered the top level within a few weeks, simply because he memorized the words they were using, and then quickly grew bored. The musical numbers are cloying and irritating. But the rocket counting game is terrific -- a real help teaching small kids the meaning of numbers. Overall, I've yet to find better, but I hope the designers of the Reader Rabbit series keep trying. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Designed specifically for preschoolers, Elmo's Art Workshop provides hundreds of ways for children to create beautiful artwork and fun creative projects. Paint pictures and add your favorite Sesame Street characters. Create birthday cards, finger puppets, masks, posters, and more! Oversized buttons and helpful creative hints from Elmo ensure that every effort leads to a masterpiece. (Ages 2-6) ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Hours of fun!
This has been a great game for my 3 year old daughter--she loves to draw and color and this game seems to tickle her creative interests. It has been an exceptional, inexpensive purchase and one she can play over and over with new challenges. I guess I'm writing this review because we have purchased some duds and it is always nice to see a ringing endorsement of something that really works! Hope this helps you.

Elmo is a Winner
Of all the software, our five-year old likes this program the best. It's 'user friendly' and can entertain for a long period of time. Projects include Stickers (where the child can complete a picture using point and click), Costumes (dress up characters in outfits and outrageous accessories), and Coloring Book scenes with an 'automatic fill' feature. These can be painted or colored, rubber stamped, or personalized and can be printed out. Hours of fun. Wonderful graphics. The sticker pages include scenes for both boys and girls: outer space, picnics, birthday parties, snow scenes, beach, etc. I highly recommend this software.

SS Art Workshop enhances a child's creativity.
Sesame Street Art Workshop (SSAW)is one of the best loved CD-ROMs in our collection. SSAW enhances a child's artistic ability by having activities a mouse click away that would otherwise be limited by the child's fine motor coordination. The strengths of the program are that it is easy to use by a pre-reading child and offers numerous activities including coloring, stamping, and free drawing. Some of the more clever pages include finger puppets and birthday cards. The weakness of the program is that it does not allow color mixing as, for example, the Madeleine Classroom Companion does. This is a great starter program for ages 2 on up and one you will not regret buying. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Graced with the most adorable voice since the animated Linus, Mercer Mayer's Little Critter has become one of the most popular interactive storybook characters around. In this classic title, L.C. and his Dad head off on a multimedia camping trip that features dozens of clickable images, merry songs, and a 22-minute, Critter-made video.The staying power of this quiet, technically unremarkable CD-ROM lies in the consistent, reassuring message it delivers. On each page, there are both adorable clickables (dancing chipmunks, sunbathing mice) and surprising and/or spooky ones (volcanic eruptions, rearing sharks, burning logs that launch skyward like rockets). As well, Little Critter's own internal world is a mixture of eager joy (tents! hiking boots!) to huge, looming fear (of the legendary "Big Paw"). In the company of his dad for the weekend, however, Little Critter undergoes an important shift. By story's end, his fearfulness has been gently replaced by newfound confidence and acceptance. A must-have classic for all families. (Ages 3-8) --Jean Lenihan ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Just Me and My Dad
This item is rated for 3-7 years old. However with this age group it does not automatically run when placed in the CD Drive. This make it impossible for the younger this age group is to use on their own. It seems an auto run command should be used on software used for children to provide them with hassle free use of the product.
If it does't run what use is it no matter who the writer is. I have Windows 2000.

doesn't work on XP
Just me and my Dad is an excellent children's book, and this software version does an excellent job of reading it. I bought it mainly to help my 5 year old son learn to read, and I find it very useful. However, it gave me tremendous frustration at first when I couldn't get it to run at all on my one year old Windows XP machine. I own many children's software, such as the Magic school bus series, Jump Start, Reader Rabbit, DK software, and other Living Book series such as the Cat in the Hat, and they all run well or at least partially on my machine. This one doesn't open AT ALL, and every trick I used that worked in the past failed. Luckily, I was able to borrow a friend's computer with Windows 98, and it runs beautifully. My son particularly likes the little movie on it. It is surprisingly well done and captivates his attention. Highly recommended for those who can downgrade.

Grandma & Me at the Beach
Someone purchased this cd by Mercer Mayer for me. My grandson who is 3 years old today just loves this story. He also enjoys the stickers and playing in the sand. I have looked all over the place for other cds by Mercer Mayer along the same line. Everyone seems to have heard of them but do not know where to purchase them. Could you help me with this. How many cds does Mercer Mayer have besides Grandma & Me at the beach and Just me and my Dad.

Lots of fun!
My 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 year olds both love this one. A fun story with lots of funny hidden surprises. Only one complaint: the movie shows up too small. Otherwise it's perfect.

Terrific interactive story!
Little Critter is a sweet, sometimes mischevious, well behaved little critter. In this story, Little Critter and his dad go camping. The software is easy to play with and each page is loaded with fun things to click on. It also contains the hidden animated image then will have your child laughing when he or she pushes the button. All of the Mercer Mayer software, Me and My Mom and Me and My Grandmom plus the books and even movies are terrific. This is a great piece of software to read with your child. Girls will also enjoy it. Highly recommended! ... Read more

Features

• Gameplay combines racing and platform-type elements with an insane stunt system
• Choose from authentic Hot Wheels Highway 35 cars from the special 35th anniversary collection
• Race against your opponents through a volcano, across ice mountains, and bump them off the huge loops
• Original theme song performed by the multi-platinum selling band Smashmouth
• Challenge your friends to some of the most intense head-to-head Hot Wheels racing action

Reviews (7)

overall a good purchase, but could be better
pros:
1) Fantastic looking tracks and cars in awesome settings.
2) Good sound and music; intro video music worth playing just for itself.

cons:
1) It supports steering wheel, but I found steering wheel control to be more difficult than keyboard control. Perhaps it is the steering wheel that I have, but then again there is no way during setup to fine tune steering wheel control.

2) All tracks should be available without qualification. I will likely never get access to half the tracks which remain locked. If steering wheel control was better than keyboard control then I could win more races and unlock the additional tracks.

Great game. LOTS of fun for all ages!!
I just purchased this game for my sons who LOVE Hot Wheels, especially the Highway 35 series. They are crazy about this game. It's easy enough for kids to play, but with tracks that will challenge adults as well.

The previous reviewer was correct about how to solve a problem with this game. I'm running a high end machine with Windows XP, and could not initially get the game to work. However, if you are having trouble installing/running the game piece, close it down and then right-click on the game icon. Click on properties and then click on the compatibility tab on top. Choose run in compatibility mode.

I have XP and chose 98 compatibility mode and it worked fine.

Tip on installation
We don't know why, but THQ doesn't include this tip on installation issues in there little manual. If you are having trouble installing/running the game piece, close it down and then right-click on the game icon. Click on properties and then click on the compatibility tab on top. Choose run in compatibility mode ... we have XP and chose 98 compatibility mode and it worked fine. Also, using THQ's website for technical support was excellent, they responded within 24 hours via email with the correct answers to our problems. http://www.thq.com/support/

After we got the game up and running, our 5yr old was off and going with the game ... he loves it. We changed our keyboard controls to be all with the numbers pad on our keyboard. Much easier for little fingers!!

Enjoy.

Absolutely no Tech Support
I bought this game for my nephew for Xmas. My PC meets and exceeds the minimum requirements listed on the box for this game. Yet it will not intall on my sytem as it claims the Athlon cpu is not supported. The box states clearly that Athlon processors are supported.

The website www.thq.com is worthless. There is no tech support. There isn't even a forum where you can post a complaint.

This is unforgiveable.

Will not run on my computers
I have 3 computers at home, this game will not run on any of them. I have a high end Dell laptop, desktop, and an older dell desktop. Program crashes on all three. Buyer beware! ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Gentle jungle murmurings overlaid with Robert Guillaume's gleeful voice give this solid, well-conceived typing program an unusual degree of appeal and staying power. While smacking bugs, catching grubs, and tearing away from dangerous enemies, kids are actually practicing the same fundamental skill-based keyboard activities as covered by such adult titles as Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing.Some terrific components of this program include shadows that display which finger should be used to hit each key, a clock ticker that counts the seconds in each two-minute game, and the blissful fact that hitting the space bar will fast-forward you past the opening and closing credits. The mysterious, leafy jungle setting is delightfully alive, yet you'll likely need to turn the brightness on your monitor way up to see all the vital buttons hidden in the dark corners of the scene.Be forewarned: to truly conquer touch-typing, you need to drive those keyboard strokes deep into the body's muscular memory. Endless repetition is the only proven method for this. That means that while this program boasts five unique activities (for example, Rafiki gives "lessons" while Timon and Pumbaa play "games"), it is all keyboard practice, again and again. Kids receive encouragement with an enticing visual environment, progress reports, certificates, and frequent enthusiastic comments from Guillaume, but it is ultimately going to fall upon the parents to see that their children continue with this when the going gets, well, boring. Don't expect your child to see this through without your support. Stay involved, and they will. (Ages 6-10) --Jean Lenihan ... Read more

Reviews (22)

Good Game... Parts of it are a bit monotonous for young kids
This game was purchased for my six year old. She is a pretty active kid...not a lot of computer experience yet. When she first began to play, she was very tempted to look at her fingers...I sat beside her and held a lg. piece of paper over her hands, which solved the problem. The first night she learned to type f,d,j and k. She liked to "shoot bugs" (by typing the correct letter) but mandatory pages of just letters was a bit frustrating for her. I think that this game should go a little slower and therefore be more of a game and less work. I rate this game a solid B. It seems that it would be perfect for an 8 or 9 year old.

Time to give Mavis her walking papers!
This is not one of those cutesy titles that only pretends to be about education. This is an extremely well-designed, well-thought-out program that effectively teaches typing (i.e., keyboarding). Anything even remotely associated with The Lion King may trigger the gag reflex in survivors of the whole Lion King blitzkrieg, but rest assured: Timon and Pumba do not have center stage here; the lessons do. Never sacrificing the functional for the cute or gimmicky, this program is structured, yet adaptive, and uses a gradual progression of exercises to provide just the right degree of challenge as the user progresses. In other words, the program captivates by providing variation (to keep things from getting dull) and by making the goal seem easy while maintaining just the right level of difficulty. Both my wife and nine-year-old were instantly hooked and have progressed dramatically. I do have a few minor complaints (for example, icons for navigating through the program could be more intuitive or--Heaven forbid--identified with actual words), but overall, this is a finely crafted tool that condenses a one-semester high school typing class (of yore) onto a single CD-ROM--but without the boring teacher.

Unhappy
I have had a terrible time getting this program to run. It constantly shuts down or comes up with errors. It was a total waste of money as far as I am concerned.

Great game, tons of fun!!!!!!
This game includes four fun-filled levels. It's great for kids of all ages. But I am sorry that it is SO difficult to find in stores. I recomend this item to anyone who is looking for a very, very fun learn to type game for children.

Boring! Boring! Boring!
While this program appears to be cute and engaging at the onset, it quickly becomes very boring. My daughter likes the ONE game, but can't get past the first row of typing because it's so monotanous. There is nothing to challenge her to keep going and improving - no incentive. Just more boring repetition like we had to do in high-school. ... Read more

Reviews (26)

mediocre software for avid Rescue Heroes fans only
Meteors have hit the planet, resulting in a series of widely scattered emergencies that require the Rescue Heroes to intervene -- and they need your help!!

The graphics are good, the intro is exciting .... but after that the game is totally mediocre. Four activities have three levels of difficulty, but they are quite tedious no matter what level you play. (1) Move around a water maze to rescue people in a flooded movie studio, and shoot a life preserver over a moving line of floating objects. (2) Navigate a maze on a rock face as you rescue stranded climbers while avoiding vicious eagles and snakes. (3) Aim a hose at brush fires so you can find and rescue animals on an African preserve. (4) Snowboard down a ski slope without hitting the shrubbery so you can dig people out from under an avalanche.

The hype is here, but the games are very boring. Your child has little flexibility or independence when performing tasks, and those tasks probably use only 2% of your child's brain power. For example, in order to dig people out of the avalanche, you click on the snow cave over and over, it doesn't matter where, until the person trapped within tells you how great you are -- and every time it's the same person in the snow cave. Each game is rather mindless in this way. There is little reasoning required and no skills acquired.

This is lame software that has neither educational value nor excitement. When there are so many worthwhile children's software titles out there, don't waste your money or your child's time on this lazy stuff. It may be worthwhile for the truly avid Rescue Heroes fan, but even that is doubtful. This was our first Rescue Heroes title. It is also our last.

Lava Landslide
I gave this game to my son as an early birthday present. He's almost four and loves the Rescue Heroes. The reviews I read were mixed so I decided to buy it anyway. I'm really glad I did. Sure it's challenging, but it's a good excuse for the parents to get involved. First I did the hard parts for him, to show him what needed to be done. Then I guided him through them and finally he ended up doing it all by himself. He was so proud when he accomplished the hard tasks that he couldn't do at first!

Unlike most computer games this one requires the use of the arrow keys instead of the mouse. Well, it's always nice to learn new skills.
I can't wait to give my son the two other RH games I baught for his birthday. I have no doubt he'll love them too.

Inaginext Pirate Raider
I gave it a 1 because they did not have a 0, to give. I bought this game for my son and I try to install it and it tells me that it has encountered an error. I go to the web site and it tells me what to do with that error, but after I do what it told me it does the same error thing again. My son and I both got so frustrated and finally gave up. I am returning it to the place where I purchased it for a full refund. Good luck for those of you that also bought this Horrible Game.

Frustrating game for my almost 5 yr. old
I agree with other reviews that the mouse clicking is very difficult. It's difficult to maneuver the men around. My son tried for a few minutes, became so frustrated, I finished the one mission, but couldn't get him to do any more. Would recommend the I Spy software - ages 6-10, but he loves it! Don't have to know how to read.

Yeah Pirate Raider!
My 7-year-old LOVES this game. He'd play from sun up to sun down if I let him. I hear him cheering and clapping in the other room and he's having so much fun!
I'm VERY anti-violence, so when he got this game I was concerned. I was pleased to discover that although the ships sometimes fire on each other, no people are ever involved. This makes it so much more abstract and less about killing. When you capture forts, you fire on canons only and never see people. When you capture other ships, your knife is used only to chop up fruit that's thrown at you by skeletons. Once you capture their gold, you're on your way to fulfill another mission.
Frankly, this game is so much fun I have to admit to playing it myself! ... Read more

Features

• Before Clifford's birthday celebration can start, Emily Elizabeth has to plan out 18 different activities -- everything from taking Clifford to the Dog Groomers to going to the Post Office
• They'll have fun helping Emily find her missing jewelry while sorting, counting and matching
• They'll also get to bake a cake, play a soccer game, and much more
• Adjustable skill levels
• Ages 4-8

Reviews (5)

LOVE it!
This is the best of the games I've recently purchased for my 4 year old. It's an adventure game in which the player must search various locations for specific items, people or tasks. Within most locations, there are little games the child must play to find the item in question.

The thing I really like about this game compared to some others: There are only a handful of locations and there is a map the child can access at any time to jump to the desired location. This makes game play soooooo much faster. As soon as I got the package open, my son took off with it and required no intervention from me to complete the game. He really enjoys playing it even now that he knows all of the "answers".

Clifford entertains!
My 4 & 5 year old daughters have been playing this one for a year now. It has never hit the bottom of the CD game pile! It is fun, while it teaches - which is the best part! You search for 4 jewels while you try to get things done for Clifford's party. There are games along the way as well as thinking adventures. One game involves sorting grocery items into their correct places on the shelves - which helps teach counting and spatial skills. There are plenty of activities to keep your child busy, and teach them something too! I highly recommend this one! Who doesn't love Clifford! "Woof!"

Play, play, and play again
My three year old daughter loves to play this game over and over again. She plays by herself now, only needing help the first couple of times she played. It has a lot of activities to keep her busy and she has a blast playing. It's definitely one of the best computer games she has.

Watch your child learn
Our son started playing this game when he was three and loved every minute of it. The game "teaches" logic and computer skills in the context of a story rather than with the curriculum of games like Reader Rabbit and Jump Start (nothing against those products, this is just different). Even though he has finished the game many times and understands the order in which you need to do things, our son likes to play the game over and over. I particularly liked a sorting game that requires the child to clean up the grocery shelves and put matching items on the shelf that has the correct number of spaces. We have given this game as a gift and would do so again.

Good for hours and hours
This is a little-kid adventure game which is similar in nature to big-people adventure games like Myst, but obviously much more simplified.
My 3 year old daughter loves this game. She needed some help when she first started playing, but now she can go to the computer, start the program, and play all by herself. She has solved the adventure many times and she still has fun with it. We have gotten many hours of enjoyment out of this game. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Stuart Little, that lovable, little mouse with a big personality, is back for more adventure, fun, and learning. This double CD-ROM set offers kids, ages 3 to 7, two amazingly fun titles: Stuart Little: His Adventures in Numberland, and Stuart Little: His Adventures in Wordland. Filled with 29 learning activities covering math, language arts, and critical-thinking skills as well as award-winning content designed by educators, kids will revel in a range of adventures and heroics with Stuart and friends. And for parents, progress-tracking tools and reports let you celebrate your child's learning victories. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Wonderful!! Real learning in a fun environment.
Of all the educational software my girls (currently in kindergarten) have played, this is easily my favorite - and theirs too. Much more engaging than similar titles in the JumpStart and Reader Rabbit series.

First, there is more variety in the two CDs in this package than in similar educational software for this age. And the activities are more compelling and less repetitive. My girls are sticking with each activity for a long time rather than always moving on to the next one because the current one gets boring quickly.

Also, this software has competitive games that can be played with the computer or with another player (a child or a parent.) So I get to play. And some of these games actually involve some strategy. For example, in one game, each player controls two pieces that have to move from the start to the finish. The player has to determine which piece should be moved since different actions will result after the move is made. Also, this game uses two dice, so the child gets used to quickly adding two numbers (shown as dots) instead of relying on a spinner pointing to a single number.

Next, the production quality is very high. The games and activities use a 3D environment, and are always interesting to look at. My kids frequently say "Cool" when they see the special effects.

One more item: This game uses the metaphor of Stuart Little's "brainpower" (visually filling in areas of his 'brain') to keep track of what activities have been played and how much more is needed to get a special reward. My kinds understand this, and it motivates them.

I think this is a great kids title. My kids do too.

this IS the best ever-- and no wonder why
I got Stuarts Adventures for my three grand daughters and what a success. This game is amazing and like nothing we have ever seen before. There is a scale model of an ancient sailing ship where the children can play, and a scale model of an old steam engine the children ride to a mining town. The adventures are fun for young kids and must have been tested with lots and lots of young children. There is pretty music from different countries, and games with a lot of refreshing variety, cute rewards, and great content. In one game the child learns the letters that begin the names of beautiful children from many cultures. As the game progresses these children whose letters and names are being learned are seen in their own cultures. The game culminates with the child learning famous landmarks on each continent and seeing where these different cultures are located on a world map....an amazing example of the way gifted kindergarten teachers can teach language in a cultural context. The highest level rewards are meaningful because as the child moves through the games they accumulate "brain power" that lets them create toys on one CD, and on the other that lets they decode a mystery note so Stuart can follow his aunt Polly on an adventure. Its SO addictive, and the kids learn SO easily and don't get tired of it, that I became curious about who could have created such a masterpiece. I went to the website on the box (and also the interactive manual on the CD)and read all about it. These games were made by a research and development team at a top university. The team was a cognitive psychologist, two developmental psychologists, a linguist, an art teacher, a prize winning composer, an experienced kindergarten teacher, and several computer scientists and graphic artists. This is why the games keep the attention of kids and actually teach them things that coordinate with school. It must be why it all appears so hand crafted and beautiful. This is a really great achievement and I agree with the other review I read here. Its the best value to date -- and its no wonder why!

It never ends! A great learning tool, but a game for kids
This is the best value in computer software to date. The games never end and are incredibly educational. But your kid will never know it! The games include board games, dot to dot, matching, tetris-like adding game, crosswords and more. My daughter can't get enough of it. We read the reviews and yes, I'll agree it is advanced for a 3 yr old. My daughter is 4 and recognizes her letter (but doesn't yet know their sounds) and knows numbers by sight up to 10. If your child doesnt know their numbers or letters you'll have to play with them. But isn't that fun, too?! Really, this is a great game.

A Little hard for 3 year olds
My three year old enjoys seeing Stewart on the computer, but I think she doesn't understand the concept of most of this game.She likes doing the dot-to-dots and then coloring them but it was to hard for her.I found no setting to make it easier for her to play.

If there were academy awards for educational software...
If there were academy awards for children's educational software, Stuart's Learning Adventures would win all the Oscars -- for best educational content, for best graphics, for cleverest characters, for best motivation for kids, for best music. This was a spectacular surprise. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

If You Want To Disappoint Your Child Buy This Game
Being the purchasing parent, I got to play the Waste Your Money game with Disney. I like The Wiggles, I have no problem sitting through hours of Wiggley fun, but goodness gracious Disney Interactive! How could you allow this to be put on the market - for 20 dollars no less? My son actually said to me, "Daddy, it's not doing nothing?" (I'll work on his use of double-negatives later) Uhh, Merry Christmas Son?!? It offers NO stimulation for the childs mind and has NO entertainment value. Basically, it's the PC game equivalent of a cardboard cut-out.

Let me give you an example of how bad it is: You can choose to watch three little Wiggles video clips, well, the problem is when The Wiggles sing their mouths don't match-up to the song being played - none of the three videos are in sync! I mean seriously people?!?

The one good thing about Wiggle Bay is that it gets my son off the computer. Now THAT'S worth 20 dollars.

Don't Waste Your Money!
Trust me when I say, don't waste your money, this game is not worth it no matter how much of a Wiggle fan your child is. My son is a huge fan so I got this for him thinking it would be the perfect thing to introduce him to the computer. After we played each game just one time he was bored and wanted to get down to go play and that isn't like him when it comes to anything dealing with The Wiggles, he eats, breathes, and sleeps The Wiggles.

Should have been called "Dorothy's Cheap Mini-Games"
The voice of Dorothy the Dinosaur provides instructions as you navigate around an island-shaped menu of 8 mini-games. Unfortunately, the games themselves (Tic-Tac-Toe, simple jigsaw puzzles and mazes, etc.) are very short, unimaginative and look cheap. They are of the quality that you can easily find for free on websites like Nick Jr., Playhouse Disney, or PBS Kids.

One of menu options isn't even a game at all - it's just 3 short clips from the "Wiggle Bay" video. Another game where you water four of Dorothy's flowers, is actually quite frustrating -- each plant starts dying if you remove the water for more than a split-second, so the only way to get them all to bloom is to be in a ridiculous constant motion.

And besides those three video clips, the Wiggles themselves are barely present at all in the game. Comic-book-style renderings of their faces appear on the screen, and you'll hear an occasional "Hi I'm Jeff" or "You're very good at this game", but Dorothy is the voice who provides all the instructions.

Overall, a very disappointing product.

NOT WHAT I EXPECTED
This is not high quality software.The program is slow and to simple even for my 18 month old daughter.I have a top of the line Gateway computer,and I have never seen anything move as slow as this.She loves the Wiggles so I feel we got are moneys worth she can look at the one of the three videos included in the software ( they are only small pieces). I thought we would get a better program with Disney names on the product.

Better for Older Kids and No Wiggle Music
No Wiggles music is incorporated in the game. The computer games are better designed for older kids. Games include Tic, Tac, Toe and maze games. Not the best children's computer game out there. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Power up your army of supercharged dinosaurs to save Jurassic Park. An evil scientist with an army of equally evil dinosaurs has taken control of Jurassic Park. Battle them back with your customizable team of specialized dinosaurs--each with its own awesome fighting moves and cool combinations. Build your dinosaur army and dominate opponents to become dinosaur fighting champion. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Highly recommend this game for kids
I am basing my positive review of this game Dinosaur Battles on the following: 1) I am a parent of a 9-year old boy who loves dinosaurs 2) I want him to play games that are fun for him yet don't contain violent content or inappropriate situations. With regard to both of the above, Dinosaur Battles is a winner and I strongly recommend the game. The game is a 3D real-time action fighting game, on par in terms of graphics with console titles, yet available for the PC. The dinosaurs are very realistic(true to the Jurassic Park brand on the game) and they fight other dinosaurs on Jurassic Park Island. Even when the dinosaurs are defeated, they just slink off with their tails between their legs--there is no real violence and certainly no blood or gore that I see in other dinosar-fighting games on the market.

Another reviewer gave Dinosaur Battles a negative review, recommending some X-Box dinosaur fighting game instead. While everyone's entitled to their opinion, please keep in mind what's really important when deciding what software to buy for your kids. I don't know this X-Box game, but I'm almost certain that it is probably not designed to be fun and non-violent for my 9-year-old like Dinosaur Battles is. So make up your own mind--just know that I am glad I bought this game, it works great for me, my kid loves it, and I will be looking for other games like it in the future.

This Game is Really Fun but Hard
My twin 5 year boys love this game. They can do everything except activiate the DNA in each skill. I have to do that for them. However, they can handle all of the battles and they have completely solved the game. I really enjoy playing it too! For those of you stuck on the aklosaurus, the online help of this game will get you through it. There is NO WAY we would have figured out how to complete this whole game without the online help. I strongly suggest printing it off and keeping it on hand. Anyway, the only way to defeat any armoured dinosaur is to use the piercing skills. They are usually the yellow skills with the word pierce or piercing in their name.

hours of fun
I gave my eight year old son this game, and he has been playing it with enjoyment for the past six months. He has played it with each of his friends on playdates, and several of them have purchased it and play it at home now. It is essentially an exercise in optimization -- how to configure the dinosaurs so they will battle most effectively. It takes patience, strategy, and skill to create winning dinosaurs. I believe my son is learning while he plays. Fortunately, the battles are realistic enough to be satisfying but not gory or upsetting -- the defeated dinosaurs don't die, they just moan and slink off. An additional plus: some of the key human players, including the evil scientist, are smart girls and women. My only problem with the game is that it is so fascinating that I have to limit my son's time at the computer!

Jurassic Park Dinosaur Battles: reveiw
I think this game is great in many differet ways because there is no gore or violence, the game has 3D graphics which is the best, you gain dinosaurs like T-rex, Spinosaurus, Velociraptor and much more, you also gain attacks along the way, and it doen't need a scanner like scan command does because Dinosaur Battles already has 500 or more peices. So I rate Dinosaur Battles a 5 is because almost anyone can play it and it's fun!

Fun, but....
This game is fun, going around collecting dino's and teaching them moves with DNA. I suggest this for children 10-15. It lacks in interest after you beat the game once (and believe me, will take you less than an hour), even if you are the biggest jurassic park fan on earth. Buy this if it's under $10.00. Just in case your curious, you gain control over (in order) a velociraptor, stegosaurus, tricerotops, pteronodon (which flies away), maybe an ankylosaurus (i'm not sure), a t-rex, and a spinosaurus. I hope this helped! ... Read more

Features

• When Mia's grandmother is about to win the art competition, the lights suddenly go out. When they come back on, Mimi is gone, and so are the sparklies she had won. Help Mia find out who did this and why!
• Children will get to practice their Spanish & French while tracking down clues
• Kids will have a fun time learning as they explore and use their detective skills to help Mia!

Features

• Story-based math games for grades K-2
• Explore the city using real-life math skills
• Do fun activities to earn money to play arcade games
• Colorful graphics and fun sounds
• For one player

Reviews (3)

Highly Motivating Learning Tool!
I was impressed with the animation and graphics for this game and even more so the storyline and tasks that motivate kids to want to reach the goal - doing every task in the "city" (to help the merchants with math) so the arcade can open and the player can spend the money he or she has "earned" to play games. My daughter(5 yrs.)is so hooked and her math skills really improved. You can even track your child's progress. My only criticism is that it was a tad bit hard to navigate and figure out how close to the goal she was.

Engaging and makes practical math fun.
My four year old daughter loves this game and would play it every day for hours if I let her. She has really developed some advanced skills just by having a good time. Some of the games require more support from me than others, but overall she is able to do more and more by herself and is definitely learning. I usually type in a new name each time we play so she has to start over with all the math games before she can use the arcade. She loves it so that's no problem. One extra is that there are girl characters on the program, which I appreciate for my daughter.

Amazing software.
Excellent, challenging, fun software for kids! Get this for your first or second grader, and only if your kindergarten child is pretty advanced in math. Offers lots of practice and contains bright and fun graphics that draw kids in. The "mission" also helps keep them playing. ... Read more

Features

• Practice new skills with 18 charming interactive storybooks
• Sing along with 10 irresistible songs that play on your computer or on any CD player
• Track your child's success with progress reports
• Practice pronunciation and improve phonics skills with record and playback features
• Gain exposure to real-world reading materials like poems, journals, and newspapers

Amazon.com Review

The devious M&M Minis have taken over the candy factory, and it's up toyou to help Yellow get a grip on this candy-coated calamity. Bubbling vats ofchocolate, messed-up machinery, and revved-up robots are only some of the manyobstacles you'll face in this wild driving, surfing, running, and flyingadventure game.

The Lost Formulas puts kids in the driver's seat as they engage in threelevels of play per game, but it's not all fun. There's an "edutainment"component that allows players to practice multilevel math drills (coveringtopics ranging from basic number recognition to addition, subtraction,multiplication and division), all the while going bonkers searching for the lostformulas hidden by the mischievous Minis. "I could play this forever," raved our8-year-old tester as he expertly manned the up-, down-, left-, and right-arrowkeys for the ride of his life. To turbocharge the fun, our tester suggestspressing the ALT key (Command or Apple key on the Mac) to help Yellow "do hisspin attack."

Players can earn extra lives in bonus rounds and play eight zany levels,including:

Get Out of Town: The best arcade driving game we've seen. Here, kids raceYellow and his car through superbly animated cities and suburbs to arrive at thecandy factory. This game makes demolition derbies seem tame.

Milk Chocolate: Vats of bubbling chocolate and crazy robots could spelltrouble for Yellow. Be sure to jump the chasms and land on the platforms withthe correct math answers that match the clues.

Oh, Chute!: Cleverly named, this behind-the-scenes look at the chocolatefactory has kids negotiating conveyor belts, moving machinery, and openingchutes as they boost their math sequencing skills.

Candy Colors: Watch out for the flying color blobs while you fly your waythrough this colorful mess.

Stampin' and Sortin': Dodge the stamping and sorting machines as you run for your sweet life in this cool down round of game play.

Pack It In: Jump on the right candy boxes or else you could be indangerous trouble. This part is what disaster management is all about.

Warehouse Woes: Who says driving a forklift is work? What a hoot!

The Shocking Truth: Get the skinny when you go behind the factory's powercircuits. But don't get zapped in the electrifying final round of game play.

In a nutshell, this fast-paced, cutting-edge CD-ROM plays like a video game, butincludes math drills as an added incentive. Grab this software and a bag ofM&M's for some yummy fun for the whole family. (Ages 5 to 10) --TinaVelgos ... Read more

Reviews (17)

GREAT GAME
I think this game is great for kids 7-13 its a very fun game that builds math skills and helps you learn your addition subtraction and multiplication i recommend this for kids its great

Excellent, Creative Game ****************
I bought this for my son's 4th birthday because he loves the M&M's characters. This is such a cool imaginative game. The graphics are excellent, it's challenging without being too tough, and the music is nicely put together with the different levels. Very entertaining. My son is now 4 1/2 and he has taught me a few things about the game that I even missed. The math levels are also a great thing to get kids to learn without knowing they are. Also, it's very refreshing from some other games that are too violent or serious that are marketed to children.

THE BEST GAME EVER!!
I do not have a copy of this game for myself, but I have played it a lot before. It has great graphics. It's also an awesome game. Explore the M&M's Factory with Yellow as you try to catch all the mini M&M's you can. Run on conveyor belts, hop on crates, dodge evil robots and machines and try your best to beat all eight exiting and fun-filled levels of the game!!!

One of the best!
This is one of the best computer games I have ever played. It isn't easy - that's for sure - but it is so much fun. My 7 year old son is the only one in the family who has gotten through all of the levels - including the bonus levels - but we all enjoy the game. The driving in "Get Out of Town" is a blast!! Well worth the money. This game is a lot of fun. The whole family will enjoy playing it again and again.

DO NOT PURCHASE if you have WIN 2000
I love this game! It's worked wonders for my daughter in speeding up basic math facts. Reccomended for Grade 2+
It IS fast, work with flash cards with your child or else they will be discouraged in not playing this game with the math. Make sure your Graphics/Video Card is UPDATED with drivers, max-out on your memory too really helped.
This game works great on Windows 98 - it does require some tweaking - PLEASE read the Read Me file for solving them.
Now the downside - my husband had to upgrade our system to Win 2000 for his software, and Simon & Schuster does not have any patches for this game.
I emailed them and this was their reply:
Thank you for contacting Simon and Schuster Interactive Technical Support

Unfortunately, this program is not supported on NT or Windows 2000 which is an NT platform. Because of the driver structure of NT, very few programs that use video compression programs such as this one are even rated on NT. I think you would find that the problems would be solved if you installed the program on a 95/98/ME system.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to e-mail us or call the technical support number listed in the documents that came with our product.

Sincerely,
D. L. Monson
S&SI Tech Support ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

It's Clifford the Big Red Dog's birthday, and Emily Elizabeth has a longlist of tasks to accomplish before she can throw a party for her colossal caninepal. As the original "big dog" wreaks havoc--then comes to the rescue--throughout this program, it's easy to see why the affable Clifford has been ahit with early readers for nearly four decades. Kids strengthen recall,problem-solving, and creativity skills as they travel through town with Emily Elizabethand Clifford, getting ready for the party.

The program begins with the efficient Emily Elizabeth explaining all that needsto be done to prepare for the party: groom Clifford, decorate a birthday cake,pick up a present from the post office, build a birthday-dog collar, and cleanup the backyard. As the duo sets out to accomplish these tasks, guided by yourchild, unplanned events and Clifford-caused accidents throw them off task,giving them additional problems to solve. A knocked-over grocery display casemust be put back together before decorating the birthday cake, the neededpackage isn't at the post office, and the only dog groomer in town refuses toservice the gigantic specimen. This program does a great job of encouraging thenonlinear thinking that's sometimes necessary to get through real life.

There are seven places to visit and explore in town, ranging from the beach tothe home of the crotchety Bleakmans, elderly neighbors with a large swimmingpool (hint, hint). In addition to the overall task of figuring out how to getready for the big bash, there are also eight activities that can be played usingthree difficulty levels. One of the standouts is a game in which Clifford mustdeliver cars safely home after causing a traffic jam; it teaches spatialreasoning and how to follow directions, and there's just something delightfulabout seeing Clifford with a minivan in his mouth. Other activities range frompurely creative (decorating the cake, grooming Clifford) to the game-like(helping Clifford dodge seaweed and refuel by eating fish sticks as he swims outto sea to rescue a doggy pal). The overall concept of the program is strongerthan the individual games--a 6-year-old game whiz may find that Cliffordmoves a bit too slowly. We think disciples of the Big Red Dog will love it, asit features everything from Clifford's helpful heroism to Emily Elizabeth's oddcircular kneecaps. (Ages 4 to 6) --Anne Erickson ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Favorite of the kids
Our kids have used many products. This became their favorite because of it's content as well as having Clifford which they knew from the books we have. This CD is pretty much what the title suggests - it's a thinking game. It gets them to remember items they saw on other screens and bring them to other screens to solve problems. I was pretty impressed at the success it had getting the kids to think - without our help. They sometimes play for hours till we tear them away. Both our 2 1/2 year old and 4 year old love it. I'd say that 3 year olds can probably start using it on their own if they are familiar with using programs of this type & the mouse. 2 year olds will need help solving some problems but love the graphics, painting and games. The box says ages 4-6.

Woof Woof!! Excellent For Kids, Fun For Adults, Too!
Although Clifford's Thinking Adventures is rated for children ages 4-6, my 3 1/2 has been playing with it, loving it, and learning (without knowing it!) since we received it from Amazon a week ago. There are three difficulty levels, and even on the Easy setting I have been impressed with the level of thinking my daughter has shown in figuring out the puzzles and also in the long term goal of getting Clifford to his birthday party.

When you play, you first choose 4 jewels for Clifford's collar, which show up along the way as you explore the game and work on the more difficult, multi-part tasks which must be completed before Clifford's birthday party may begin. These tasks involve your putting together various items you find in the game to solve problems. For instance, one of the tasks is for Clifford to get a bath and brush so he will look spiffy for the party. Fair enough, but this task cannot simply be accomplished by going to the dog groomer's shop (Clifford is too big to get through the door!). Later, as the game is played, you will find that the groomer, who previously closed his shop at the mere sight of the humongous Clifford, is taking a balloon ride in the park. What do you do when his balloon gets stuck in the tree and he can't get down? Think think think...how about using that rope ladder we saw earlier by the fire station? When the groomer gets down, he is so greatful that he gives Clifford a grooming kit he can use, if he can find enough water to bathe in. Where is there enough water? Think think think...was that a swimming pool I saw on the map??

There are plenty of games and puzzles along the way to the party as well. For instance, when Clifford accidentally knocks over the stand in front of the grocery store, you have to piece the broken sign back together (puzzle - spacial relationships) and put the grocery items back on the proper shelves in a certain order (following directions, counting).

I have noticed that the games and item locations can change from game to game for repeat playability. The game is also automatically saved wherever you happen to be, even if you do not close out of the game properly. This is a nice feature for small kids.

I have very few criticisms of the game. Actually moving Clifford around on the map in the game where you take people (and their cars) home according to their directions ("I live in the yellow house next to the three apple trees") can be a little bit tricky to master. Also, I first thought that it was a little annoying that the game does not give you a cursor to click until the characters in the scenes stop talking. I now think that this is a good idea, because it forces you to listen and to think about what the characters are saying instead of just clicking away as on an arcade game.

I changed my sound card a few nights ago, and went into Clifford to test it after my daughter had gone to bed. I ended up playing an entire game myself using one of the more difficult modes. About halfway through my wife walked in and started giving her suggestions over my shoulder. Yes, we really enjoyed Clifford too!

Surprised and very pleased.
This is my very first childs software game. I was quite amazed with it. Our 4 yr had never touched a mouse before, yet she (faked) a cry when she had to stop playing after her first 40 minutes. She needed only occasional help learning the game and of course it's even more fun if your nearby to share her excitment at the many surprises presented.

Really Great!
Our children, 2, 3 & 4, are just getting to know the computer. We've tried a couple different programs and this is by FAR the best. Our 4 year old is enthralled. He loves it, and I don't mind playing with him. The younger kids play it, but not as independently as the oldest. I think this means its a program we'll be playing a year from now. Can't say that about any of the other programs we have.

Motivational and a Positive Influence
My four-year-old plays more than 30 educational software games on a monthly basis (sometimes three a day before school in the morning and before bed at night). This one is a favorite of hers and so it is at the front of the CD-ROM Album. She started at the easy level more than a year ago and now she always does the hard levels. I (father) like the music and the navigation is much simpler than most programs provide. It still surprises me that she chooses to play it even though she mastered it long ago, but I can see that it teaches her good manners and sensitivity to others so I am happy to have the "Clifford influence" in her upbringing. ... Read more

Features

• Brings the classic fairy tale to life in an interactive adventure
• 10 different games and activities
• Two gameplay modes
• Interactive and child-directed
• For one player

Reviews (1)

Very Simple game good for 4 and under
This is a cute game. This version and graphics are old but still work good. The bad thing about it was my 5 year old finished this game in 20 minutes. I would recommend this for children under 4 and under. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Is the fiercely competitive world of female gymnastics ready for the perkiness of Team Barbie? Once we got over those impossible bodies, we grudgingly realized that Barbie Team Gymnastics would probably be a dream come true for any girl who loves both gymnastics and Barbie. However, don't rely on this game to teach any lessons about sportsmanship: either Team Barbie cheats, or the judges in this program all work for Mattel.

Play begins in the lounge, where Barbie and her lithesome yet curvy teammates, Christie and Teresa, await practice orders. Players must guide the girls through practice routines on the vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor. Moves are executed by hitting the arrow keys and space bar in a sequence that suddenly appears on the left side of the screen. If a player hits the wrong keys, or doesn't hit the right keys soon enough, their gymnast will bobble or (gasp!) fall off their apparatus, and the coach, Kira, will chirp "Don't give up!" as the program churns relentlessly onward. Maintaining composure after knocking Barbie off the beam is difficult, but just like an actual competition, the good players shake it off and keep going.

Young gymnasts will probably enjoy sweating out their mistakes, the realism of the sounds (that hollow thud as hands and feet contact the balance beam), and the 3-D images of gymnasts performing their moves as the "camera" swoops in for different angles. Another nice touch is a replay component that allows players to watch their routines once completed. It's hard to watch the routine as it's being executed, because you must instead keep your eyes on the "Power Bar" that orders the keystrokes for each move.

When players master enough walkovers and handsprings to earn a high score, they're allowed to attend local, sectional, regional, and national competitions where prizes are trophies, new moves to add to their repertoire, and of course, new team outfits. Here's where the cheating came in: at a local competition, we ran our Team Barbie members through their paces and scored 9.2s and 9.3s, while our competitors consistently scored 9.5s and 9.6s. Despite this, come trophy time, Team Barbie got the gold with a score average that was mysteriously boosted to 9.4! For this blatant disregard for the lessons of losing and accurate math, we'll give Barbie Team Gymnastics an 8.3 for style, and a 7.0 for execution. (Ages 6 and older) --Anne Erickson ... Read more

Reviews (16)

We love this game!
I like this game as much as my 5 1/2 year old daughter. She is a computer game veteran and this one is much different than the others. It took her about 1/2 hour to get the hang of it and now we have so much fun playing. I even like to play it! Hard to tell what it is like from the box description. You use the arrow keys to get barbie and two friends to do gymnastics routines. If you do not move the arrow keys as indicated fast enough you lose points. And you want a perfect 10!! Geared for age 5 and up I would think, I think 5 1/2 or older is best.

Barbie Team Gymnastics
This game rocks! I'm in gymnastics, and I just love it. You start off in the lounge, where you choose the girl(s) you want to practice with, and you can choose one, two, or all three. Next you go to the roster and choose the gymnast and apparatus you want to work on. You can also look at each gymnast's notebook, which illustrates all the moves they know. You can choose the moves you want, then put together a routine. Once you have finished, you get either a red check, which means you have to practice again, or a green check, which means you have done your routine well. When you are done, you can go to compitition! After each compitition if you win you get new leotards and cooler, harder moves to put in your routines. (Hint: if you find that you have finished all the compititions and there are still blank spots in your notebook, then go to barbie.com/gymnastics, and you can download new moves to fill your notebook with!)

Doesn't work on Pentium 4 chips!
My husband brought this game home for our daughter who loves gymnastics. They installed it and ran all the intro stuff, she was getting very excited by the way-cool graphics.

Then we got a message, "CPU Not Supported." A quick trip to the Vivendi Universal website confirms that our processor, the P4, is not supported by this game and that there is no patch available to fix this.

Reading the box would not have told us this. The system requirements were Windows 95/98/2000/ME and "Pentiun II processor or higher." Well, P4 is higher than P2, and that chip wasn't released yesterday. I think that's simply unacceptable.

My daughter was disappointed, the product is going back to the store, and it's getting one star for not supporting a widely distributed processor. We can't run it on our laptap either because Windows XP isn't supported. Ridiculous!

Reviewed 13 April 2004 by mad-haus.

All I can say is wow!
Barbie Team Gymnastics is an excellent game for anyone who is a gymnastics fan or loves Barbie. I have always loved watching gymnastics on television and wondered how they performed those big skills, so I went out and bought this game. Your mission is to help Barbie, Christie, and Teresa work their way up to the Nationals and win the team trophy!

To play, you start off by choosing the gymnast that you want to practice with, which can be Barbie, Christie, Teresa, or all three of them. You are then taken to the team roster, where you can choose the event you want to go to, or look at the gymnasts' notebooks, which show all of the skills that they have learned. When you are in the practice room, you can create your routine using the skills you know and then practice them with the gymnast to get them correct. If you score on or above the target score that Kyra, your coach, has for you, Kyra will tell you that this routine is ready and you will then do another event. There are four events, vault, beam, floor, and bars, and after you finish practicing the routines and getting them down, you can go to competition!

If the team places first in the competition (there are four total), all the gymnasts will recieve new, more difficult and spectacular skills to put in their routines and new leotards to wear in practice and competition, too! The game is so much fun and really helps time to fly by. It is fantastic for any Barbie or gymnastics fan and is quite easy to play, too.

Great game for anyone who loves gymnastics
This game is awesome. It's fun to get the new moves and the new outfits. It seems a bit complicated at first but after a few minutes it's easy to understand. The girls can do full twisting double backs and double layouts and loads of other things. I highly recommend this game! ... Read more

Features

• Children must help Mia get through hidden passages, scale incredible heights, lift heavy objects and more -- using their knowledge of basic scientific principles
• Film-quality animation and interactive gameplay educates and amuses children while they play
• Topics covered include -Plants, Animals and their habitats, weather, the Solar System, heat & energy, electricity, magnetism & more

Amazon.com Product Description

Teachers agree: learning is easy when you're having fun. That's the spark behind Numbers and Letters Excelerator Ages 2-5, a four-CD-ROM set of premium software titles combining amusement and education in one motivationally interactive package.

Stuffed with more than 20 individual lessons and more than 50 activities, this educational suite for children delivers endless hours of exciting learning adventure, while promising the acquisition and retention of fundamental spelling and counting skills. Whether on sing-along safari with the gang from the PBS hit "Zoboomafoo" or honing their number recognition and phonics ability, first-time readers will grow with confidence as they immerse themselves in these challenging activities, which adjust to a child's rising proficiency level.

Included in the bundle are: Chatter Buddies Ready for Speech: Making the R, S, and L Sounds (in which the Chatter Buddies cast focuses on three of the most commonly erred sounds that affect reading readiness in preschoolers and toddlers: R, S, and L), Letters & Numbers (featuring 11 sing-along karaoke songs and 15 interactive games and activities), Zoboomafoo Animal Kids (help Zoboomafoo collect googleberries while playing 10 different games at three skill levels), and Buddy Brush and the Painted Circus (a disc filled with zany activities, magical matching games, and imaginative coloring exercises). ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A good value for the money
My daughter enjoyed this program. She learned a lot of different words. The animations are clever and she enjoyed completing the spaceship to get Quixel home.
This is a good program to build a foreign language vocabulary.

Beware!
I thought this would be good for my students until I tried it out myself. First I tried the Italian. When I discovered that they translated "potato chips" as "microchips", I was surprised. In telling time, they expressed the correct feminine plural but displayed the incorrect masculine singular "il due" for 2:00. Now for the French...I learned that "potato chips" were "eclats" as in "paint chips". Wrong chips both times folks - and good luck in a restaurant! I stopped there. It's a shame they never got a native speaker to check it before releasing this as an educational item. They did get native speakers to read aloud the vocab lists however. That's the one-star part. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Blast through time with the Power Rangers. A new crew of superteens fast-forwards to tackle time and space in Power Rangers Time Force. Leap forward and then back again in time, fighting evil wherever it occurs. Equipped with futuristic gadgets and vehicles, you'll play as your favorite Power Ranger. Adventure through five different arcade-style games, including Cyclobot round-up, time jet rescue, Roman tile match, laser showdown, and more. Test your skills as you play through multiple difficulty levels. Artwork based on the TV show and authentic music and voice work intensifies gameplay. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Go Go Power Rangers!
We just received this game for my son's 6th birthday. He loves the Power Rangers and is a pretty savvy computer user for his age. Right away I can see that this game keeps his attention with exciting graphics and different crime fighting activities for each Power Ranger to triumph over evil. My son gives it a thumbs up and mom recommends it too (yes, I've even played it today :o)

kids did not enjoy it!
My kids, daughter 8 & son 5, both Power Ranger & video game fanatics, did not like the PR Time Force game! They have the PR Light Speed Rescue, which is the first play station PR game, which they loved. They were able to fight as a team, two players against the villains. This one does not allow you to play together but against each other. Two players can fight each other as Zords, they say that's boring! They liked it for maybe 5 minutes, that's it. The whole idea is to fight bad guys right? It's even better having another PR to help. They'll play it alone but very seldom. They game itself, I thought it was pretty good, challenging and it had good graphics. But again, I think they should have included a two player game fighting against the bad guys instead of just a single player game

super awsome!
I bought this game the first day it came out,i was so excited when i got home and popped it in,this is what i thought of it- super cool!I am 18 and this game was action even enough for me. I recommend this game to my age group because the power rangers are still cool and they fight crime in a good lessoned way.Go go power rangers!

Power Rangers Time Force
My daughter asked for this game. She is a Power Rangers fanatic. She finds this game challenging and exciting. Plays it constantly. She loves the colors, graphics and activities. I love the fact that it teaches coordination and attention skills. I'd buy more Ranger games for her if I could find them. I'd like to see a CD-ROM for each of the different Power Ranger series.

OUT OF THIS WORLD
THIS GAME IS AN OUTSTANDING WAY FOR YOU TO ENJOY THE WORLD OF THE POWER RANGERS. FIGHTING EVIL IS AND STOMPING IT OUT IS THE NUMBER ONE GOAL. ... Read more