Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Peek-a-Boo Cuckoo Review
Bananagrams Review
Elmers Paintastics Paint By Numbers Kit-Eat, Sleep, Shop Review
Candy Land - The World of Sweets Board Game Review
Playing cards thoughtfully designed for non-readers are coded with colorful squares matching the jeweled stepping-stone path or an occasional token matching one of the characters' symbols: draw a blue card, move to the nearest blue stepping-stone; draw a snowflake and earn a visit to Queen Frostine's iceberg. There are occasional pitfalls, too: land on the wrong square and you might be stuck in Molasses Swamp until a red card is drawn. With all these enticing, sugarcoated images (and King Kandy plainly visible at path's end), children can't help but be delighted by Candy Land. It's delicious! Instructions are in both Spanish and English. Candy Land is for two to four players) --Julie Ubben This is the classic "child's first game", and preschoolers will love it. Children draw colored cards, and move their plastic gingerbread playing tokens to the next square of the same color. Passing the peppermint forest and the ice cream sea on the way, the first one to reach the candy castle wins. No need to read to play this game.2 to 4 players can play this game. This board game includes a game board, four plastic playing pieces, 64 cards, "Legend of the Lost Candy Castle", and instructions in English and Spanish.
Fisher-Price Little People Happy Sounds Home Review
 A dream house complete with life-like telephone, washer/dryer, and toilet flushing sounds |
 Pretend play with Little People family members |
The World of Little People
From one generation to the next, Little People friends and playsets continue to captivate little ones’ hearts and imaginations. Often the first role-play toys a child is introduced to, the Little People friends inhabit a sweet world filled with wonderful adventures and great friends to make along the way. The Little People Happy Sounds Home is the only house playset that encourages toddlers to discover the world around them with toddler appropriate activities & the charm of Little People characters. Hooray for Little People friends!
Everything Stores Inside!
Little People and accessories feature a great chunky design perfect for little hands to grab! When the play is done, the design of the Happy Sounds Home makes it easy to fold up and store everything inside. Entertaining for little girls and easy to clean-up!
What's In The Box?
Little People Happy Sounds Home, 3 cute, chunky figures (mom, dad, baby) bed, table and 2 chairs.
 When house play is finished, store everything inside and fold up |
LeapFrog LeapPad Explorer Carrying Case Review
Use this case to protect your LeapPad Explorer learning tablet and take learning fun on the go.
Features include:
•Use this case to protect your LeapPad Explorer learning tablet and take learning fun on the go
•Use this stylish case to hold LeapPad Explorer and 6 game cartridges (cartridges work with LeapPad Explorer and Leapster Explorer systems)
•Appropriate for children ages 4 to 9 years
•Systems and games sold separately
Melissa & Doug Sticker Collection - Pink Review
Perplexus Maze Game by PlaSmart, Inc. Review
Flip, twist, and spin your way through the Perplexus Maze Game from PlaSmart. This Perplexus Original is a bendy, trendy, can't-put-it-down challenge! With plenty of twists, turns, and barriers between start and finish, it will leave you perplexed. Once you try it, you won't be able to put it down!
The Perplexus Original Maze Game is a clear sphere filled with multicolored pathways covering different areas of the sphere's interior. A small metal ball rolls around on the inside, and it's your job to guide that ball through the maze to its end. Once the ball is balanced in its starting position, it's easy to start rolling it around the tracks. By the time you've learned the different passageways, you'll realize that even though it's easy to play, all the different ways of moving around are hard to master!
Moving through the different pathways is a wacky exercise in spatial reasoning and stimulates your cognitive reasoning. As you move the ball along one track, you find that it's never long before you reach a different colored track that requires you to flip, twist, and spin the sphere 90 degrees one way or another to keep the ball rolling. Twist around corners, flip from the yellow to the orange ramp, spin around the various curves--if you fall off the track, just get back on and try again!
If you work hard enough and make it to the end of the maze, congratulate yourself, and then turn it into a racetrack! Keep track of your personal best times and race against the clock. You can also race against your friends' times, or stage races with multiple Perplexus Mazes!
The Perplexus Maze Game includes a super spiral, a tightrope, and a swing arm to form 3 different puzzles and 100 challenging barriers to discover and overcome. Share it with your friends and family as you try to uncover all the patterns and obstacles, but be careful--Perplexus Original is so addicting that once you let it go, you might not get it back!
Perplexus maze and stand.
Perplexus is a can't-put-down challenge!! Flip, Twist and spin the transparent sphere to move the ball along the numbered path working with and against gravity. Be careful, faster than the blink of an eye your ball can fall off course and you'll have to begin again. Fun for the whole family with over 100 barriers to master.
Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Stack & Roll Cups Review
Endless combinations give baby plenty of ways to play. Ten colorful cups stack vertically, nest inside each other, and pair up to create easy-to-grasp balls. Each cup is numbered to introduce counting. Top the stack with the smiley jingle ball or place it inside one of the balls that baby puts together for a fun surprise. Easy to pack, this take-along toy keeps your little one engaged on the go.
For Ages: 6 months & up.
Intex Floating Recliner Lounge Review
Fisher-Price Fun-2-Learn Computer Cool School Review
 Children will learning using a real full QWERTY keyboard. View larger. |
 Kids can write and draw using the tablet and stylus. View larger. |
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Computer Cool School requires that you connect the Computer Cool School keyboard to your computer with a USB cable and install the game's software on your computer via a CD-ROM. The installation is fast and easy; the software's set-up wizard walks you through the process. Before letting your child play, you can use the parental controls to set things like volume and number of copies that can be printed. Parents can also create a password that protects their hard drive and prevents their child from going on the Internet. These parental controls are easy to find and set. The helpful instructions thoroughly describe the setup process and all the different options for play.
Kids play using the sturdy plastic Computer Cool School keyboard. It has big, colorful buttons that your child will learn to use quickly, along with a drawing "tablet" and attached stylus they can draw with. The layout of the QWERTY keyboard is clever yet simple, with buttons along the top and side that let your young ones navigate to different parts of the game. They'll not only have fun, but they'll also feel "adult" because the keyboard looks so much like yours!
Learning Equals Fun!
Each time your child starts to play Computer Cool School, they go to the home classroom where Leo the leopard greets them. From there they can visit one of the four learning "centers," including reading/writing, math, science, music, and art. There is also a "field trip" they can go on, which takes them on a fun-filled visit to a farm.
Each of these centers is unique and filled with great information and stimulating activities. Kids can choose to click on different things and learn about them or participate in a more interactive way, with quizzes, games, or writing and art projects. In the art center, for example, they can create original drawings with a range of tools and colors, and then print or save them. In the science center, they learn about different kinds of environments and the plants and animals that live in them. But they can also choose to play games that test their knowledge and help them learn more.
The graphics in Computer Cool School are crisp, clear, and fun to watch. The colorful creatures, buildings, objects, and environments are beautifully rendered and the animation moves at a good pace -- fast enough to keep your child's interest and let them participate, but not so fast as to be dizzying. The audio is equally clear, and in fact can be very loud -- so be sure to set the volume low to start with. Though kids will be learning constantly throughout the game, they'll also be having fun, which is how learning should be!
Your Child Will Feel Like a Star
We really liked how the software uses your child's sign-in name in the classroom in various ways. For example, there's a sign in the classroom that says "Star of the Day" and your child's name is on it. We also especially liked the art and music centers, which will inspire your children to creative heights. In the art center, you have a huge variety of colors and virtual art implements to use, as well as "stamps" and backgrounds that your child is sure to love. In the music center, children will learn about different instruments and play them in combination with all (or none) of the other included instruments. The clear and colorful (but not cloying) graphics are another high point of this game.
In general, Computer Cool School is very thoughtfully designed, enabling kids to navigate a wide range of play options with a few simple touches of a button. Our only complaint was that we couldn't find a way to change the volume settings once we'd entered the game. In order to change the volume, we had to back out of the game and reset the parental controls.
There is a short learning curve for figuring out how to navigate through the centers, but once you know how, it's easy to do. Your child will be up and running in no time, having fun and learning at the same time.
What's in the Box
Computer Cool School keyboard with USB cable; templates for practicing writing numbers and letters; software; instructions.
This kid-safe, kinder-friendly laptop builds confidence in young ones by teaching important school skills. It plugs into your computer via an easy-to-use keyboard (QWERTY) to provide learning fun throughout five learning centers and one field trip activity. The centers are: Reading, Writing, Math, Art, Music and Science. Activities in each center can be accessed by the simple push of a button. Children can also print out reward certificates and supplemental worksheet-type activities for further encouragement. Plus, parental controls keep kids away from Mom and Dad's desktop, prohibit internet access, and limit the number of prints your child can create. Expandable system includes keyboard, writing tablet with stylus and CD Rom software. Measures 20.25" x 4.25" x 11".
Baby Spring Float Sun Canopy, Colors May Vary Review
Qwirkle Board Game Review
An addictive strategy game in the tradition of Sequence, Scrabble, and Othello, the Qwirkle Board Game from MindWare has a simple, straightforward premise: match tiles and win points. But the real joy of the game lies in plotting and scheming your way to victory. Winner of the Parent's Choice Gold Award and a Mensa Select National Competition Winner, Qwirkle is destined to be a family game night favorite. This game is designed for ages six and up and for two to four players.
Qwirkle consists of 108 wooden blocks with six different shapes in six colors. Using the blocks, players attempt to score the most points by building lines that share the same shape or color. The simple setup makes this an instant winner for younger kids, while adults will enjoy strategizing to win.
A typical game of Qwirkle lasts about 45 minutes--longer when you're first learning how to play--and players will likely catch on to the rules in no time at all. The game can be set up anywhere, although a large tabletop is best to accommodate the generous number of tiles. The only other thing you'll need is a pencil and paper to keep track of everyone's point count.
Each tile has an illustration on the back (circle, eight-point star, four-point star, square, clover, or diamond). Each of these symbols appears in six different colors (red, yellow, orange, green, blue, and purple). In total, the game has three tiles each of the 36 possible color-symbol combinations. To help make sure you don't lose any tiles in between games, Qwirkle comes with a drawstring storage pouch.
As in Scrabble, the game starts with players drawing their own "hand" of six tiles. The player with the most tiles that share something in common (color or symbol) plays their pieces and wins points. And so it goes until the pieces make up a giant grid. One rule adults will likely need to reiterate to little ones is that duplicate tiles don't count. For instance, if someone has three diamonds, and two of them are green, they can only count one of those diamonds for points.
As play continues and the stakes get higher, younger kids may need some help deciding where to build to maximize their points. Our testers found that the length of the game may make younger kids squirmy halfway through. To keep them engaged, parents can always distribute half the number of tiles to start. The game is over when all the tiles have been played and all the points have been tallied.
108 wooden tiles, cloth drawstring bag, and instruction booklet.
