Amazon.com Review

Problem solving is at the fore of Curious George Downtown Adventure, a game that pits the inquisitive monkey against his own clumsiness! George has caused a series of minor accidents while shopping downtown with the Man in the Yellow Hat. Among other faux pas, he has trapped a window washer halfway up a building and lost someone's fan in a dumpster. In order to put everything right, George will have to travel all over the city, putting together the gadgets he needs to get the job done!

There are about 60 puzzles in this game, each structured as a challenge of mechanics. George must put together a group of simple devices like trampolines, ladders, and conveyer belts to move him to his current goal. Heavy objects can be dropped onto crates in need of shattering, while ramps and trampolines can get the monkey up to the otherwise inaccessible levels of the puzzle. Completion of some tasks will earn the player more "curiosity tools"--gizmos designed to help with the harder challenges. Be warned, though--sometimes finishing a puzzle just causes George to have another mishap!

Mechanically based puzzle games are nothing new, teaching basic physical concepts like gravity and momentum to children while giving their creativity a workout. In fact, some of these other games are vastly more complex, inventive, and rigorously devoted to the chain of cause and effect than Curious George Downtown Adventure. Even so, this package is competently designed and makes an excellent choice for kids who are newer to this form of gameplay. Its graphic design and interface are appealing, while its challenges increase in difficulty at a gentle pace. The game also offers plenty of help and encouragement for players who get stuck, and most of its puzzles have more than one solution, giving children an opportunity to try out new strategies as George tries to rescue balloons, elephants, and electric fans by the score. --Alyx Dellamonica ... Read more

Features

• Help Curious George get out of predicaments by solving puzzles
• Over 60 different puzzle games for kids to solve again and again
• Curiosity Meter rewards kids with banana points
• Four unique locations allow for greater enjoyment and exploration
• Includes bonus Curious George book set

Reviews (8)

Great Game
My 5 year old son loves this game. He has played through it 11 times in the last 6 months. Very original game that requires some planning and thought on where to put different items in order to move George through each situation. Also a help key that gives the answer away if you get frustrated.

A great problem solving game!
I really like this game for my four year old, because it is different. It doesn't teach phonics, math or music, but the more abstract problem solving skills. And, he loves it because it's fun! He has to put together a sequence of events to get to the desired object. Very well designed!

Only one complaint
My 5-year-old son loves this program. However, he is frustrated that he cannot enter one area because we don't have the "booster code." How do you get a booster code? You have to buy another product from the same company. It upsets me that the company cannot rely on the fine quality of their products to sell more, but have to resort to ambushing parents with a marketing gimmick that a 5-year-old is too young to understand.

Once again, voted greatest Uncle of all time
My niece and I have a mutual understanding- monkeys are cool. It started with a monkey puppet "the tickle monkey" and evolved into Curious George toys. For her 3rd birthday I sent her very first software. She was very excited to get started on the computer (at long last since my sister has been fighting her off it) and loves it.
My sister feels this is a great introduction for her to the PC and she loves George's adventures. I'm looking forward to giving it a try myself, but until then I'll have to go on the assurance of a 3 year old that it is a great program.
(Well, her mom loves it too)

Too hard for a 3 year old
This is a well-designed game and my son really likes to watch us play it but he is light years away from being able to do it himself. Frankly, my husband and I had trouble with a lot of the puzzles ourselves and we are both engineers. I was surprised that the previous reviewer said her 4 year old could do it, since I thought it would be pretty hard even for a six year old. Maybe we just haven't had enough practice yet. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Join your favorite learning pals for hours of exciting game play in this fun-filled, three-in-one learning software collection. Adventure Workshop 1st-3rd Grade, 4th Edition features three award-winning educational titles for ages four to eight. Your child will love playing, learning, and just spending time with his or her favorite characters, and you'll love watching your child laugh and learn through colorful and clever activities that build valuable skills in reading, writing, aural and visual memory, problem solving, and creativity.

The software bundle contains Thinkin' Things: Toony the Loon's Lagoon (including 6 colorful and engaging locations, hundreds of problem-solving challenges, dozens of self-adjusting skill levels, and weekly challenges on the Internet), Kid Pix Studio Deluxe (offering powerful drawing and multimedia tools, text-to-speech functionality, Web graphics, and fully-editable text), and Curious George Reads, Writes, & Spells for Grades 1 & 2 (wherein Curious George sets out as a reporter for the local newspaper and builds skills in reading, vocabulary, phonics, proofreading and editing, writing, and spelling). ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

The Man with the Yellow Hat has promised Curious George a present, but George doesn't know where they are supposed to meet. What's worse, the note the man left for George has ended up in pieces! Putting it back together is going to take a little work... not to mention some help from a clever young friend.

Curious George Reading and Phonics is a five-part activity game designed to teach children ages 3 to 6 the basics of letter recognition, the principles behind sounding out words, and other fundamental reading techniques. As Curious George searches for the scattered pieces of his note, players practice simple spelling, work to distinguish between letter sounds, and sort out words that rhyme. Along the way, they earn bananas that take them, step by step, closer to their meeting with the Man with the Yellow Hat.

For children who are just beginning to learn the alphabet and venture into reading, Curious George Reading and Phonics provides a relatively easy route to skill enhancement. The drills are simple and can be set to one of three levels of difficulty. They are also broken up by low-key arcade sequences that reward success and allow children to take a breather, jumping George around in pursuit of bananas before he hits the next learning hurdle. The light expectations and gentle pace of the game make it a perfect choice for players who are resistant to learning, offering them lots of chances to get it right.

Kids who have already played more intense language games will polish off the drills in this package in short order, but Curious George Reading and Phonics is still a first-rate choice for those looking to introduce a child to educational play. With clean, easy-to-follow activities and familiar, engaging characters, this is a game that will get new readers off to a solid start. --Alyx Dellamonica ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Too hard for the suggested age range.
My son loves the Curious George stories, so we thought this game would be a natural for him. Unfortunately, mechanics of the game play are too difficult even for my 4 year old. If only simple key presses or just mouse movements were used, it would be fine. There are parts of the game where these simple mechanics are used, and these parts are easy and enjoyable for my son. Unfortunately, only the transitions between games when George rides his bicycle use these simple mechanics. (They don't even show George wearing a helmet during the bicycle riding!) The other parts of the game require coordinated key presses of two or more keys, primarily the arrow keys and the space bar. While this is simple for an adult, most 3 and 4 year olds don't have sufficient ability to coordinate these multiple key presses. My son often gets frustrated with this game. Another drawback is that the portions of the game must be done in sequence, so if your child gets stuck on one part, the following parts are inaccesible until the problem part is completed. Overall, the concept is good, but the game mechanics and the implementation of the game make it practically unplayable for most small children without direct parental supervision and guidance.

A mixed bag; some bits great, some not
I bought this for my daughter's 4th birthday, since she wanted a game of her own (her brother is 8 and loves computer games). She is also a big Curious George fan.

The adventures consist of five short phonics games punctuated by a little arcade-style game in which George must 'leap' (using the arrow keys) to capture bananas as he moves to the next location. My daughter had only the slightest difficulty learning to use the arrow keys and the space bar, and now she's got it conquered. I did not have any problems installing or operating the game (on our XP machine).

My problem lies in the widely varying difficulty of the games. The first one involves letter recognition; the second involves picking out the sounds of letters that START words; the third involves sorting 'packages' into those labeled with word that rhyme and words that do not; the fourth involves picking out the sounds of letters that END words; the fifth involves spelling actual words.

Even when set at the easiest level, the rhyming game (#3) and the spelling game (#5) were way over her head. The rhyming game is very speedy; the packages will fall off a conveyer belt if you do not pick them up fast enough, and manipulating the arrow keys in this case was way too complicated. The spelling game, even at the low level, involved silent letters in dipthongs like 'leaf.' She could sound out words like 'dog' just fine but the silent letters left her frustrated.

The game is progressive - you don't move onto the next one until you've finished with the one you're currently on, so getting stuck on #3 led to whimpering and sadness.

Nevertheless, she is constantly asking to play. It's a fine game but you'll have to plan on playing with your kid until he/she can manage the rhyming and spelling alone.

What a waste of money!
I bought this game as a Christmas gift for my twin grandsons, who are three years old and very adept at using a mouse. When we loaded the game, we were shocked to discover that it requires children to navigate using the arrow buttons and space bar, rather than the mouse! (Try to explain that to a mouse-savvy three-year old!)

If this were the game's only flaw, I could have lived with it, since they eventually would get the hang of keyboard navigation. However, once they started playing the game, I was unable to exit from it. Clicking on the exit button produced no results. When I tried to exit by navigating through the windows menu, rather than shutting down, the game instead continued to run -- in two separate versions -- the audio portion only. We had to remove the CD-rom and crash the computer to exit.

Needless to say, this did not make for a joyous Christmas morning! And since we opened the software, we cannot return it to Amazon.[com]

Save your money for a game that preschoolers can actually play, such as Blues Clues Learning Time! ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Some familiar and beloved storybook icons go electronic in Curious George Paint and Print Studio, an interactive sticker album aimed at children between the ages of 3 and 8. This easy-to-use program lets children create pictures featuring the Curious George characters and other graphics, all in the style of the originals, created by Margret and H.A. Rey.

Paint and Print Studio provides users with a number of ready-made backgrounds to decorate, everything from Curious George's home to a circus. Within these environments, users can choose from a wide palette of graphical stamps, placing Curious George and his friends on the page. The user has total control over the scene; with toys, tools, and cartoon-style special effects, children can fill out any possible tableau. And, after illustrating your own Curious George epic on the computer screen, it is also easy to save favorite pictures or to output them on a color printer.

A simple program with one or two relatively sophisticated options, Paint and Print Studio allows users to alter the angle and size of the prepackaged images before inserting them into the scene. If you want a tiny George on a massive pile of blocks (or an enormous George balanced on tiny blocks), you can have it. This little bit of flexibility allows for the creation of some enjoyably surreal images. There are also preset borders and some paint-program basics that permit further tweaking, such as the addition of lines, circles, and other shapes--even chunks of text. The archive of graphic stamps, while not exhaustive, is large and varied. What's more, some of the stamps are animated--when users set him onto a page, Curious George might dance, fall down, or fly a kite. These random animations will delight young players.

Too strictly dedicated to Curious George to be useful as a more general paint program, Paint and Print Studio is nevertheless an excellent introduction to graphics-design software and the creative potential such programs can unlock. --Alyx Dellamonica ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Super-easy fun with art
This is the first CDRom I have purchased for my 12 month old. I popped in the CD with him on my lap and immediately began creating fun pictures. ALthough it will be awhile before my son can actually navigate it himself, he laughed and laughed as I stamped George and his friends on various backdrops. It is a very imaginative, colorful program with fun music and oodles of options. Great value for the money. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Curious George as a cub reporter--a professional match made in heaven! And this story-within-a-story approach goes beyond teaching reading, writing, and spelling skills. Kids who master this CD-ROM are well on their way to understanding structure and storytelling as they help write articles and watch Curious George's (mis)adventures unfold with each of the 12 activities.

Whereas most CD-ROMs have a reference-book approach, where you open up to a table of contents and click straight to the good parts, Curious George Reads, Writes, and Spells opens up and envelops the player like a good storybook. If you get impatient and try to skip activities, the flow of the story becomes disjointed. The "book" begins with Curious George and his friend bringing Lola, the talking parrot, to The Curious Times; they think Lola would make a great story for the newspaper. Ace reporter Hildy Hawkins agrees, but has to scurry away to cover another big story. Curious George can't resist letting Lola out of her cage, and the parrot escapes. As George and his friend chase Lola around town, they disrupt sign painters, distract construction workers, and even manage to get some stories assigned to them by a beleaguered-looking newspaper editor.

This plot has 12 twists in all, and each of these plot elements is accompanied by a reading, writing, or spelling game. One of our favorites was a sly reference to Donkey Kong, where George must scale steel girders and avoid I-beams to pluck letters hanging from a construction site and use them to spell words. As the story builds to a chaotic climax and then wraps up with a final activity, there's a nice feeling of completeness. This wonderful CD-ROM won't just teach kids how to write--it may teach them how to write well. (Ages 5 to 8) --Anne Erickson ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Curious George Learns Phonics may be in a digital format, but it has the same gently rendered pastel artwork and whimsical characters that made H.A. Rey's classic children's books so popular. This CD-ROM takes kids under the big top, where they can master letter sounds, word parts, and reading comprehension with clowns, musical seals, and acrobatic elephants. Phonics is the focus here, so most of the six activities have to do with matching word parts. Match a clown holding a picture of a log with another clown holding a picture of the letter L, and the clowns team up and tell a joke of the "Why do hummingbirds hum? Because they don't know the words!" variety. Match the right pictures with the vowels under Sammy the Musical Seal's horns, and he will honk out a little tune. Build words in the fun house by grabbing the correct letter when a clown dangles it out the window.

One of the most entertaining activities is Thea's Story Theater. Thea is a redhead in a purple dress with a flair for storytelling. Kids can read along with each of Thea's 10 stories, watch actors perform them, and answer the questions about the text that Thea occasionally asks. This activity shines because it works on so many different levels: kids learn how words behave in context, strengthen reading comprehension skills, and are entertained by some great stories that surpass the generic dross that occasionally gets banged out by software developers.Since this program's only focus is phonics, it isn't as multilayered as some other Curious George titles. And we were curious about what the heck happened to Curious George: We didn't see enough of him under the big top. Also, we think the lower end of the recommended age range is either the product of a delusional parent, or one that has a genius preschooler on his or her hands. (Ages 3 to 7) --Anne Erickson ... Read more

Reviews (4)

poorly designed, teaches nothing, difficult to play
This game is very poor compared to Reader Rabbit's Learn to read with Phonics or I can read with Phonics. I already had those two games but I read the following comments and thought I should get this one too. Not so! The games in here are ridiculous, teach very little phonics or reading, are difficult to master, and are all a waste. For those who like curious George, this game hardly ever shows George at all. I think the Reader Rabbits games are 1000% superior in every area in teaching kids phonics and reading. Skip this product, stick with Reader Rabbit, and you won't be stuck with it like I am.

Very good game, lower case letters and phonics!!
George is great for both boys and girls and the circus is a huge hit so there you have their attention!! The secret is to keep this as your one and only game at least for a good couple of months before you start buying the easy, fun entertainment-only games like Blues Clues etc.. That will give them a chance to love this game because it does make them think and you have to be there to help when they first start off. I don't think it is slow at all, the narration is just right and there is plenty of help from the ringmaster of the circus, kids just need to be told to click on his icon to get clues. Great for my 4 yr old that learns phonics in her Montessori pre-school. Tons of sweet stories about circus animals for them to just listen to when they are tired of the phonics. I love this!!

More 'work' than 'game' -- but still a valuable CD
This CD lacks the color and the adventure of the Reader Rabbit CDs, but it makes up for thru it's phonics drills. It's one after another with little talking which is why my children burn out on it fast. I don't see that as a bad thing, tho, as children learn in quick bursts and then like a break from the drill-like phonic questions. Which is probably why they can play Reader Rabbit games for hours because it's less ceribral and more game-orientated.

I love Reader Rabbit, and thank god for it, but I like this CD, too. I 'make' my 4 and 5 year old play it a little bit every day and it improves their phonics and then they can play Reader Rabbit afterward as a reward. *G*

Worth the money. Helpful. Not a CD you regret buying if better reading and phonics is your goal. But not a CD the kids will be begging to play 24/7.

It works and works well!
3/16/2001:
I wanted to teach my just turned five-year-old daughter how to read, but her current selection of books and educational software was just not meeting the challenge. Sure, the Winnie the Pooh, Blue's Clues, My Personal Tutor software, etc did an excellent job of motivating her and teaching her the alphabet. She really enjoyed all the Dr. Seuss and Winnie the Pooh books, but all these resources were just not cutting it in regards to getting her to read by herself. After extensive trial and error this is what I found work for my daughter.

I found Reader Rabbit's Complete Learn to Read System and Curious George Learns Phonics invaluable at teaching her to sound out her words all by herself. One small note on Curious George Learns Phonics, my daughter did not like the software. It actually made her work for once, so I usually had to be nearby to answer any questions. I would recommend using Reader Rabbit for a few days before introducing Curious George.

After about a week or so I began using the flash cards included in Reader Rabbit to have my daughter memorize beginning words. I would also have her write the words in her notebook. I particularly found helpful the list with Reader Rabbit on which order I should have her learn her words.

When I felt she should probably be ready to read very easy sentences I had her start out with Bob Books First! Level A, Set 1, although I would highly, highly recommend the entire set. Bob Books seemed to be the only books easy enough for my daughter to read by herself and progress at a reasonable rate. She loves the books!...

I have some final thoughts. Firstly, the Reader Rabbit and Bob Books are fine quality products but are a bit overpriced in my estimation. They are STILL well worth the investment. Secondly, you would think there would be some product or resource out there to help teach your child to read. I needed not generalities but a highly specific course of actions. I was quite disappointed in that respect, but I would be interested if such a product or resource exists.

Updated 11/28/2002:
It's been two years now and it is time to teach my son to read. Apparently, Reader Rabbit Complete Learn to Read System is no longer in production. That is too bad. It is very good educational software.

Still, Curious George Learns Phonics is the sleeper education software in existence. It's not perfect and the kiddies tend not to like it. However, it is challenging and teaches them phonemic awareness very well.

I have tried "Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" due to several recommendations from individuals reading my reviews. I used it with my son and I didn't like it. Subsequently I was informed from first grade teachers (my daughter's included) and my education courses that apparently research shows that coded words (Distar conventions, e.g. e with a line over it, double oo, like the pronunciation key of a dictionary) teaches kiddies to read best. I discovered this first hand when my daughter brought home her homework to code some words. I didn't have a clue how to help her. Maybe it's just a case that daddy isn't smart enough to help his daughter.

I found myself already using some of the techniques from "Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" that I had discovered by trial and error worked with my kiddies. In any case, I still haven't used the book.

I have finally found a set of books to use after the Bob Books are all used up. I found the kiddies needed a little more structured practice before they where off reading whatever we have around the house. It is the "Now I'm Reading" series by Nora Gaydos. ... ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Curious George stops getting into trouble in his Preschool LearningGames to direct young children in their own discoveries. This CD-ROM teacheskids shapes, colors, pattern recognition, rhyming, and more, while offering funanimation consistent with the beloved storybooks. Games such as star patrol, piefight, and jingles jukebox help up to eight different users develop new skills,and extras like the progress report help parents track their child'slearning.

This program stresses many of the same skills that other preschool softwareprograms cover, but with an additional element of challenge: the different skilllevels offer basic to advanced lessons that support continued learning and addto the longevity of the program. For example, star patrol not only supportsearly-learning concepts like shape and color recognition but also introducesgeometry--trapezoids and the like--a subject not ordinarily introduced topreschoolers. And, to keep the program fun, the games are smartly animated withhumorous, pie-in-the-face antics.

This CD-ROM may not cast George in his traditional mischievous role, but hedefiantly adds to standard educational-software fare with his fun and playfullearning activities. The animation is extremely entertaining--we see everythingfrom George getting sent into space to pies flying not only at onscreencharacters but also at players! The necessity of reading the directions alouddictates parental involvement, as do the parental controls, which include theability to track a child's performance. --Madeleine J. Miller ... Read more

Reviews (7)

curious george ..laughing while learning!!
I bought this and my 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 boys they love it!!! the puzzles are great, star shooting game of shapes is great for hand eye coordination and the pie game is awesome they are learing letters, matching, size differentation, all the while laughing!

Buggy
I bought this because my son liked another Curious George game, Downtown Adventure (which I highly recommend but the age range should be 4-8, not 3-6). This game is from a different company and is of very poor quality. The pie fight game crashes in the middle every single time we play, on two different computers. The jukebox game is incredibly slow to load, way too slow for a 3 year old to tolerate.

navigation problems
We used this a few times. It has a design flaw, which is that you have to exit the game to get back to a place where you can make choices about what you want to do next.

Encourages New Skills, Reinforces Others!
My just-turned-four-year-old *loved* this CD! We checked it out from the library, and after playing it with him, and seeing how much he learned & how much he loved it, we bought it. The Jukebox game encouraged the emerging skill of rhyming. The Star Patrol reinforced shapes, and encourged learning some new ones (hexagon, etc.). The Pie game was his favorite. This game encourged sorting (same, different, slightly different). We've played many a CD-rom, and this one, by far, is the easiest on parents. No annoying sounds or voices. And the animation looks just like the book, so it's familiar and soothing.

Lot's of fun
My 3 year old enjoys this game, except for the jukebox thing. The puzzles are fun, with 3 levels of difficulty and some added animation when the puzzle is finished. The fruit catch is a little bit difficult, but a great way to get a feel for using a mouse. I definitely recommend this game! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

well organized, poor voice talent
I bought this for my 8 year old to improve his spelling in English. The spelling skills sections are well organized and levels can be changed, the program allows time for reactions...BUT...the character voice talent also used for some of the spelling cannot clearly pronounce the "s" sound, and to a lesser extent the "t" sound. I can't see the point of using a voice saying "shtay" or "ath" and expecting children to know that this means "stay or "at".

Curious George is a hit!
I use this CD in my second grade classroom. Students love the familiar "Curious George" character, which keeps them entertained. The skills taught on this CD are perfect for first graders or weak second graders. The skills are all age-appropriate. The CD also contains many printable worksheets for additional student practice, as well as short, printable stories that can be laminated and used for years to come. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Discovering the alphabet is one charming accident after another with Curious George as your guide. The tiny brown monkey with the wide smile sneaks onto a skywriting plane, upsets the post card stand at the zoo, and topples a boy's toys into the lake, but the always-resourceful Man in the Yellow Hat turns each mishap into an alphabet adventure. The prevailing plucky optimism of the Curious George books reigns supreme here.

In a light blue and bright yellow world that's stylistically true to the Curious George books, kids can visit four different spots for five activities that will eventually have them deftly negotiating their ABC's. The most engaging place to visit is the zoo, which is packed with everything from alligators to zebras. Kids must lead George and the Man in the Yellow Hat down a labyrinth of paths to find the proper animals or things to put in the alphabetized Zoo Picture Book. The spot has so much going on that it took us a good four minutes to "find something that begins with the letter J." Wandering the zoo's paths as monkeys hoot and elephants trumpet in the background will keep young letter seekers interested in the hunt for quite some time.

Skills such as hand/eye coordination come into play as kids help Curious George recover the alphabet blocks he accidentally dumped in the lake. Memory is honed as George messes with bread dough, falls in a heap on the floor, and discovers a letter-matching game in the bakery. Kids don't just learn the alphabet here; they learn that honest mistakes aren't that bad. This CD-ROM is at its best whenever Curious George sticks his finger in his mouth, considers the possibilities, then wanders off to live up to his name. (Ages 3 to 6) --Anne Erickson ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Very Dissapointing
This is one of the few CDs that I have bought that I wish I had not spent my money on. Very dissapointing.

There are basically four games on the cd. I found the games to be slow in loading and the graphics to be cheap looking many times. The games are not very fun.

One is fishing- you have to fish for the letters, but you have to have everything just right to get the letters. Hard. Another one is sky writing, my son loved this game but I don't know how much he really 'got it'. The third one is at the zoo and you have to find things that begin with letters that are given to you- however, you have to go through several screens to find the correct letter and with the loading time being longer than ever, by the time you get to the thing you are looking for, you forgot what you were looking for. Not Fun. The Match game is fun but you can get this on other CDs.

I'd give this one a skip. Stick with Reader Rabbit, Jump Start and others like that. One we got a lot of use out of while learning the letters (not the sounds) was the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom CD. That one was well worth the money.

More about hand/eye coordination than learning ABCs
I bought this program based largely on the editorial review. My 2 year old knows his ABCs and I bought the program thinking it would focus on letter sounds. The four games that are included in the package are 1) an airplane skywriting letter match which quickly advances to identifying the first letter of a object and then selecting that letter from four choices. This sounded good, but in practice is not working out -- when the selection is incorrect the airplane very cutely writes a frowny face in the sky. It is difficult to get my airplane-loving son to understand that the frowny face is not a "prize." 2) The second game is set in a zoo where George is to find an object that begins with a particular letter dictated by the Man in the Yellow Hat. Sounds like a good game, except that you have to use multiple screens in order to find the object. By the time one gets to multiple screens one has completely forgotten what letter was requested or what screens have already been viewed. The objects are animated and are cute, making the game fun, but again, the learning factor is lost in the details of the exercise. 3) The third game features a lake in which George is required to fish for ABC blocks. Sounds like it might be fun and educational -- except that the task of positioning the boat above the requested letter, then timing the click of the mouse just right in order to "catch" the block can be frustrating. The exercise of letter identification is not the point of the game -- it is a hand-eye coordination exercise and that is all. 4) The fourth game is a memory match game, which is the only one that my son truly understands and achieves the desired lesson. However, many of the preschool software packages contain memory match exercises which are more interesting and more educational.

All in all, I am disappointed in this software. I have not yet found the right package for my child's skill and learning level. He has long tired of Reader Rabbit Toddler, is playing RR Preschool (but I have some complaints there as well), LOVES Dr. Seuss's ABC program which I also think is well written, LOVES Miss Spider's Tea Party which is especially good for developing listening to directions skills but is lacking on the ABC skills, and we are awaiting Richard Scarry software in hopes that it will fit the bill.

Limited value in this product
My 3 1/2 yr old is recognizing many of her letters and the sounds they make, I thought this program would help reinforce. Some of the activities are more hand-eye coordination than recognizing letters and matching them with their sounds. Some games use sound recognition, but don't match the sound with what the letter looks like, which is too difficult for young learners.
Some of the activities are more valuable than others, and she enjoys some of them, but they are limited in what they are going to teach her.

My Two-Year old LOVES this cd-rom!
I've given this game 4 stars simply because my daughter is a year younger than the lowest recommended age. I'm sure I would give it 5 if she was three. We bought it anyway, as she LOVES letters, and thought we'd have fun with it. As it is, she really enjoys the various scenarios. She adores the animals in the zoo, and there is certainly a lot to look at. At the air field, she is able to choose the correct letter for the pilot to write in the sky, and is really proud that she can accomplish this. While we help with with the retrieval of the blocks at the lake (a little tricky to manipulate the timing and positioning for a 2 year) she enjoys sitting on my lap and pointing at the proper block to pick up. The scenario at the the bakery is again, a little beyond her abilities at this point, but she loves to watch me play it. Despite the fact that some of the game is a little advanced, we have lots of fun with it. I highly recommend it. ... Read more

Features

• This pack of 4 educational games are sure to entertain kids for hours, while developing their skills with reading, counting, vocabulary and creative thinking
• In Putt-Putt Enters the Race, children will explore the world of Putt-Putt as they prepare for the big race
• 102 Dalmations Activity Center lets kids become heroes, as they save the puppies from becoming Pup-cakes in the Dog-o-matic machine
• Dr. Seuss Preschool brings popular Dr. Seuss characters like Horton, Yertle the Turtle and Hop on Pop to life, for fun lessons
• Curious George Preschool Learning Games lets users join Curious George as he plays exciting arcade games!