Amazon.com Product Description

This two-disc set invites kids to join Arthur and the gang for learning and fun. It's packed with 15 educational activities covering math, reading, creativity, and more. Arthur's Kindergarten teaches a full year's worth of kindergarten skills, and entertains your child in the process. Kids can track their progress with the Goal Checker and enjoy the three new reward activities after successfully completing the learning activities. (Ages 4 to 6) ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Good product
Great software program for kids in kindergarten or maybe even a little younger.

No refunds from Learning Company
This product did not work. I returned it to The Learning Company months ago and haven't received a refund or any response. Buyer beware.

Good source for a starter
It was a good start for my son who moved from London to the US to learn the ways of the schools etc.Arthur has captured his fancy from the Pbskids and the books in schools.This does the same and I am sure will help him to get to speed here in the US. ... Read more

Features

• Winnie the Pooh Kindergarten w/French & Spanish brings parents and young children a fun set of educational games they can enjoy together
• Play eight games and 25 learning skills like Eeyore's Musical Mix & Match, Owl's Memory Challenge, and Rabbit's Shape Sorting
• Mickey Mouse Kindergarten introduces fundamental learning skills as they play with Mickey
• As children play, they'll develop critical thinking skills and problem-solving abilities
• Explore fun word games with Goofy and Tigger

Features

• Discover letters, numbers, sounds, and more in Caillou's playhouse
• 4 different playhouse themes; 8 interactive activities; 3 skill levels
• Hunt for hidden treasures, solve puzzles, sing, dance, and play
• Enjoy printable creations, clickable animations, and fun songs
• Includes creative crafts to print, color, cut, and paste

Features

• Dora and Boots need to return Dora's library books. When they set off, the fun begins!
• As they make their way to the library, they'll figure out puzzles, play fun games, and learn a little Spanish
• There's all kinds of great discovery as kids visit multiple locations and make clickable discoveries
• The onscreen sticker book gives kids a chance to become artistic
• Play with Dora's friends Benny the Bull, Isa the Iguana, and Tico the Squirrel, but watch out for Grumpy Old Troll and Swiper!

Features

• Fun learning software for kids ages 5 to 7
• Topics include animals, numbers, patterns, and more
• 8 interactive activities; real animal videos
• Search a wild and wacky world for hidden treasure
• Treasure hunter certificates and printable treasure maps included

Features

• Help Roz collect as many human items as you can before getting tagged
• Work as a member of the Child Detection Agency
• Jump really high and collect all the stuff you can, then land without missing the seesaw
• Lots of fun for younger fans of Monsters Inc.!

Reviews (1)

HERE IS THE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
(Windows)*Microsoft(r) Windows(r) 95/98/Me *Pentium 11 class processer 233 or faster *32MB RAM or greater *110MB free uncompressed hard drive space * 8x speed CD-ROM drive *16-bit DirectX-compatible 2mb video card * (Macintoch(r) Operating system 8.6 through OS X* IMAC OR G3, 233mhz or faster * 32mb RAM* 110MB free hard drive disk space* Thousands or Millions of color video display* 8x Speed CD-ROM drive* ... Read more

Features

• A fun learning adventure with Jay Jay the young jet plane
• Topics include nature, numbers, patterns, measuring, and math
• 6 activities; nature videos; Jay Jay songs; fun printables
• Help Jay Jay earn his wings; celebrate with a fleet of friends
• For kids ages 3 to 5

Amazon.com Product Description

Take a year-round romp through nature's magical playground with Caillou. From winter's snowy wonderland to summer at the seashore, this charming adventure delights kids' senses and tickles their imagination. Drawing on familiar themes and settings like weather and the playground, Caillou: Four Seasons of Fun inspires creative play, imaginative self-expression, and a love of learning. Kids ages 2 to 6 learn the alphabet, numbers, shapes, and more. Plus, kid's animations, fun songs, and printable activities extend the fun beyond the computer. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Rediculously slow on my new Macintosh
This title runs rediculously slow on my new Macintosh. Some of the mini-games take 10 minutes or more to complete (race-a-long, for example)!!! Stay away from this dog.

Season Sensation!
While there are some valid points to the earlier criticsm of Caillou Seasons this is really a fun program that offers kids tons of choices. I bought this for my neice and ended up being the hero of the birthday party. The game is really cute and held her attention as well as bringing about lots of discussion about the various seasons, her likes and dislikes about them and plans for the upcoming fall. It looks like it will be Caillou for Christmas if I want to keep my prefered uncle status going. Just hope my brother and his wife can cope with the theme song that gets stuck in your head.

Love the Seasons
I agree with the reviews that Four Seasons is a little tight, that you're not sure which clothes go with which season(coordinate by color), and when Caillou spins (in the racing game) it's suppose to be a bad thing; however, my son and I LOVE this CD. He is 5, and we love discussing the seasons of the year and learning the exciting characteristics of each. I haven't seen any other software that teaches this. See-saw, build a snowman, rake leaves, ice skate, and roller blade thru the year. As you work thru the activities you collect items for your "Nature Book." When you've completed a season you can print the nature book, staple, and color. My son loves Four Seasons, and I reminisce about going through the seasons in my own childhood. Educational, fun, sweet - you can't miss!

weakest of the three Caillou software titles
We own the other two Caillou software titles and have enjoyed them both, but we are disappointed with Four Seasons of Fun, to a great extent because the potential is here for a really fun game; that potential is not realized, however, due to rigid and sometimes confusing navigation, bugs and less interesting activities.

Whereas the two earlier Caillou games involved wandering around Caillou's house, this title starts inside but spends the rest of the game outside moving around the neighborhood. The look of the area and the activities change according to the season initially selected by the player. So far, so good. However, our iMac freezes about 25% of the time during the dressing segment and, like other reviewers, we find this section confusing -- it's not often apparent, for instance, what specific shirt or coat a child should choose.

Unlike the earlier titles, there is less freedom of navigation. Players proceed in a rigid, linear progression between activities, and game play is not always smooth. Some of the activities are: (1) Race-along, an obstacle course that Caillou must navigate on his skateboard. Your child has to decide whether Caillou should jump over, duck under, or go around various objects. This segment is compelling for preschoolers, but Caillou moves VERY slowly, and if the player doesn't press the appropriate key at precisely the right time, Caillou will have risen from his crouch or come down from his jump too early. At the same time, feedback is not really salient; our little one doesn't recognize that Caillou's "spinning" is a bad thing, and since the player must continue until 7 objects are successfully navigated, this can go on and on. (2) Caillou rakes his way through a letter maze. Tedious. (3) Bouncing ball rhyming. Unimaginative. (4) Snowman Builder, in which the player copies another snowman. First of all, why stifle creativity? Also, when we are in the "Fall" and click on the rake, the narrator still says "Snowman Builder" even though that's not the activity that will follow. Was this beta tested?

All-in-all, we were predisposed to enjoy this game but were ultimately disappointed with it. We will certainly not rush to buy another Caillou title. Better bets for your preschooler are Reader Rabbit, Little Bear, Franklin or Winnie the Pooh offerings. Interestingly, we have found the same inconsistent quality with Zoboomafoo software, another PBS franchise. What gives?

Pros: familiar, beloved characters; interesting premise in a promising setting; seamless cutscenes; multiple levels of difficulty; simple navigation

Cons: rigid, sometimes confusing, navigation; no written instructions; no keyboard volume control; fewer, and less interesting, activities; less stability

This game is fun.
I bought this game for my three and five year old, both of whom love Caillou, and they have not let me near the computer since. I have to limit their computer time because they want to play the game constantly.

My three year old had a little trouble with the interface at first, but the five year old was able to walk her through it. And now she's a pro.

The games are easy enough for the 3 year old to play at level 1 and challenging for the five year old at level 3. They really like the Run and Jump game and the Ball Bouncer rhyming game.

Get this game for your preschoolers! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Much Too Complex for 3 year olds
Although my daughter asks to play with this a lot (cute characters) she gets frustrated immediately with the navigation. Perhaps I'll hold on to it until she is 4+, but the material is too mature for her at 3 & 1/2.

terrific introduction to time and geography for little ones
This is our first Edmark product, but it won't be our last. This is a fine program with easy controls, a user-friendly interface, and fun educational activities. Kids can work on five tasks in one of two modes. For example, in Jellybean Hunt, your perspective is as an ant on a grid-patterned tablecloth. Jellybeans are scattered at various locations. In exploration mode, you can use arrows designated as relative directions (forward, left or right) or absolute directions (labelled N, S, E and W), to find jelly beans; in task mode, you are asked to get a particular jellybean using a specific arrow set.

Other tasks include: (1) a world map that asks you to identify large land masses or bodies of water and take pictures of them (and clicking on specific places brings up pictures and facts about that place); (2) analog and digital time telling; (3) a scene with dials for seconds, minutes, hours, days and months -- when you click on a dial, the scene is sped up in those increments; (4) a proto-Sim City where kids can place design elements (towns, hills, rivers, roads, etc) on a grid that maps to a sandbox, where the elements take shape.

These activities are well designed and educational as well as fun. As someone who has used Reader Rabbit, Jumpstart and many other children's software titles, I think this compares favorably, and heartily recommend it for your child. Very nice!

Trudy's Time and PLace
Once again Edmark keeps our kids happy with another outstanding product. I've seen kids from 3+ to 7 play this. Several different activities with both Q/A mode or explore mode keeps kids with varied levels of skills busy, entertained and learning. The games "grow" with the kids. Both educational and loads of fun, it's a must for all homes.

We have enjoyed it so much, we continue to buy it for gifts. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Travel through time with Putt-Putt and use your quick wits to help him find his buddy Pep in Putt-Putt Travels Through Time. Mr. Firebird's techno time machine has malfunctioned and sucked in Pep the dog, Putt-Putt's history paper, lunchbox, and calculator, and flung them through time. Players join Putt-Putt on an adventure-of-the-centuries that visits four different time periods.

Along the way, meet Ms. Brachiosaurus--she holds the key to unlocking the secrets of the dinosaurs--and see what pans out when you visit Silverado Sam, the prospector from the Old West. Don't forget to feed the dragon in King Chariot's medieval castle, and be sure to check out Darien the librarian from the future--he just may have the book you need. These are a few of the delightful friends who help players reunite Putt-Putt with his pal while encouraging critical thinking, listening, and memory skills, and reinforcing good social skills. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Confusing - Nonsense
We've played other Putt-Putt games, but for some reason, Travels Through Time is not only confusing to my 5-yr old child, but he has no interest in it. This is the kid who plays Freddi Fish over and over and over, same with Pajama Sam. Maybe it's for an older child, but I'd still not recommend it. I think the whole game is nonsense.

fun software for older little kids
If your child has played beginning software like JumpStart and is ready to move on to more advanced gameplay, Humongous Entertainment's Putt-Putt series (and Freddi Fish and Pajama Sam, as well) are an excellent choice. These titles take the cognitive tasks up a notch as children must accumulate specific items, navigate a number of locations, and use their problem-solving skills to help their friends and achieve larger goals. Along the way, kind and gentle Putt-Putt and his dog Pep will meet a number of nice characters, visit a variety of interesting locations and play games as they complete the larger tasks.

In Putt-Putt Travels in Time, the overarching goal is to collect the items that have been sucked into a malfunctioning time machine, but along the way he will perform a variety of smaller tasks. I would rate this specific game a little lower than the other Putt-Putt titles because it is more complex and harder to follow, as the events take place in different tunnels -- prehistory, the Old West, a medieval castle and the future. This title may be more appropriate for the older kids in the suggested age range of 3-8 years old.

This is a still a fun game in a great series. We have 5 Putt-Putt titles and enjoy them all.

Great Game
Its amazing how creative this game and all other Putt Putt games are. Don't hesitate to get this for a child of any computer skill level. All the controls are purely intuitive.

A happy customer
When my daughter played this game her eyes lighted up. She was laughing really hard. This game is I think the best that I have ever seen in this putt putt series. It defenitly is worth the money and time.

Over many preschoolers' heads...
Of course, I am the odd one out here, but I was very disappointed in this game. After reading the reviews here and at Children's Software Review, we bought this game for our 3 yr. old (now almost 4). Although he finds parts of this game enjoyable, it has a very complex storyline and subject matter for young children. The activities are interesting, some more challenging than others, which is probably what keeps the children so interested.

Children are expected to help Putt Putt the car travel throughout different time periods (Medieval, Old West, Futuristic City). Along the way, they will encounter different "puzzles." Children must explore the game and find different hidden items in order to solve the puzzles and advance in the game. Some of the puzzles are wonderful thinking activities, while others are simply puzzling, even to grownups.

Because of the advanced storyline (dealing with time travel through past, present, and future), I would not give this game my highest recommendations. There are too many references to particular years and ages that just won't compute with the little guys. Also, this is not an easy game for the youngest preschoolers to use without a lot of guidance and suggestions from a gownup, so be prepared to sit alongside your child while s/he plays (which is what we should be doing anyway, right?). If you are looking for a similar game that is more developmentally appropriate, I highly recommend Ollo and the Sunny Valley Fair, a very well put-together game. ... Read more

Features

• Fun puzzle activities and artistic games introduce nouns, verbs, adjectives, vowel sounds and more
• Progress is always checked to see how well the kids are doing and exciting arcade-style games provide a break to keep them motivated
• Print out specialized reports to reward performance
• Special bonus workbook keeps the learning fun going!
• Ages 5-6

Features

• 4 full-version titles combine learning and fun
• Exciting games and activities teach important skills
• Pattern recognition; classifying and sorting; adding and subtracting
• Experience the creativity of 3D coloring with Crayola crayons
• Easy-to-use interface for endless hours of fun

Amazon.com Review

ClueFinders 5th Grade Adventures is designed to make learning funby presenting a series of educational activities wrapped up in an adventuregame. Suitable for ages 9 to 11 years, this adventure finds the heroes washedashore on an uncharted volcanic island by a tsunami. When they awaken on theisland, they find that two of the ClueFinders have disappeared along withGrandpa. You have to help the remaining ClueFinders unravel the mysteries of theisland and rescue their lost friends before a volcano blows.

The mysteries are very varied, and getting to the bottom of them requires skillsin math, language, science, and problem solving. There are more than 86 skillscovered in all, across 16 interactive activities. You are plunged in right awayby the need to devise a way across a river using variously marked stones tocreate a bridge. Thinking caps definitely need to be on to solve this, and theother puzzles in the game.

There are four difficulty levels, and parents can use these to ensure the gamematches the abilities of their children. ClueFinders 5th Grade Adventuresis a challenging but fun game, and you'll learn without even knowing it. As abonus, there is an Adventure Kit CD offering various fun activities, such as acode maker for sharing secret messages. --Sandra Vogel ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Don't buy from this company
If you have to order this software, don't buy it through cyberdeals. The software arrived in a flimsy bubblewrap envelope. The box is damaged. What a nice thing to do one week before Christmas. I'm not sure what I paid to have this item shipped, but I was ripped off big time. Thanks for making them one of your dealers.

Perfect computer game for kids.
.... Cluefinders is a wonderful, mysterious computer game kids can do while learning. There's little bit of everything: Maths, English, Science, Basic Logic etc etc etc. There's a big mystery for every CD-ROM fan, and I'm sure everybody will like it alot. Cluefinders is a wonderful guide to every kid's education, and has proved very beneficial program as a fun learning method...

The ClueFinder's adventure
The ClueFinder's always produce exellent computer games that help you learn. I recommend any ClueFinders' game that there is. Some of the other games are ClueFinder's 6th grade adventure, ClueFinders' Math and Reading, and the ClueFinders' 5th grade adventure. All the games are fun, intresting, and they are easy. They teach different games and help you learn. ... Read more