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Toddler Fun 5.0

Toddler Fun 5.0

List Price:
Your Price: $14.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: good for learning but is not really toddler-friendly
Review: Here's what's GOOD about it:

1. Toddler fun is actually fun for some toddlers. Once your toddler knows how to use a mouse, he/she should have no trouble finding fun activities on the menu. Although there are only 10 activities, each time an activity is loaded, there is some change in the items presented so you're not 'done' after the first time as one reviewer suggested.

2. Every activity has two modes, (except the puzzle I think and the music): a learning mode and a testing mode. It's great for parents to see how well their toddler can do and if they are in fact learning and the toddler has fun when they hear the positive reinforcement after clicking on the correct answers.

3. In fact, the positive reinforcement when an activity is done correctly is one of the main attractions for my niece once she sticks around long enough to do them.

4. The variety of activities is sufficient to keep a toddler busy for a decent period. And if you play along with your toddler, they are likely to learn a lot and have fun too. The puzzle activity has cool sound effects as do most of the other activities; this is one of the major plusses.

Here's what's not so good:

1. It would have been better if there was an option within each activity to refresh/change the selections without having to press the 'stop' button and click on it again. In fact, the program lacks a lot of simple refinements that would have made it much more toddler-friendly.

2. Two-year olds may not be so interested in it except to listen to the music or click on a few letters to hear the alphabet and not for long, because as one reviewer mentioned, the menu does not respond to mouse-rollovers. There is little to do if your toddler does not know how to handle a mouse.

3. Most of the activities like the alphabet, numbers, shapes, peek-a-boo etc are good learning exercises but may be difficult to figure out because of the lack of instructions, e.g. I had to learn by trial and error how to use the testing tool by clicking the '?' button and how to revert to the learning mode by clicking 'L'
Some instructions would have been very helpful--even for me!
Another example is the doodle activity which at least should have come with some mouse over instructions. I can never remember which one is the 'save' and which is the 'retrieve' button!

4. At four, my niece is able to do most of the activities but it still does not hold her interest very long if she plays alone, not like the Reader Rabbit software does, in fact the only thing she uses now for any length of time is the doodle.

5. Supervision is definitely recommended. This software is not very safe to leave your toddler unattended because the screen can be moved by dragging from the top and then your toddler can get into your desktop profile and wreak havoc with all that's on there. I recommend a separate profile for your toddler just to get around that.

OS notes: I have observed it to work well in both Windows 2000 and Windows 98.
Other comments: I honestly don't know if I would buy it knowing all I know now, because there are other less expensive programs to be had that can do much of the same as well as or better than this one, one of them as I mentioned is the Reader Rabbit series from the Learning Company which I could get for about $6 s+h included. I'm still trying to decide if it was a worthwhile purchase by observing how much my niece uses and learns from it.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Terrible, terrible, terrible
Review: If you're looking for software to teach your toddler how to use the computer, this IS NOT IT. Don't waste your time or money. This program does not use mouse rollovers at all, only clicking. There is absolutely nothing to keep your toddler's attention for over a few seconds. Each activity, ten in all, contains a few things to click on and then the fun is done. If you doubt my words, the company offers a free trial download. I highly recommend you try this software before you buy it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great fun for young kids
Review: This program keeps my grandchildren enthralled when they visit. There are plenty of activities to keep them busy and interested. I too have Windows ME, but the program installed perfectly (unlike another reviewer).

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Terrible, terrible, terrible
Review: Unfortunately, I have purchased a computer with Win ME operating system. Despite the "system requirements" section of the advertisement saying ME is compatible, I was never able to get it up and running. At the same time, I purchased another software which ran fine. So, I can only judge the software by it's user unfriendliness to get it up and running. I tried loading it 4 times and gave up. May work just fine for the Win 95/98 crowd.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Probably a "system requirement problem"
Review: Unfortunately, I have purchased a computer with Win ME operating system. Despite the "system requirements" section of the advertisement saying ME is compatible, I was never able to get it up and running. At the same time, I purchased another software which ran fine. So, I can only judge the software by it's user unfriendliness to get it up and running. I tried loading it 4 times and gave up. May work just fine for the Win 95/98 crowd.


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