I Spy Junior: Puppet Playhouse

Rating:
Summary: The best children's software I've seen yet
Review: I have never taken the time to review a product, but I love this CD so much I felt I had to. It is the best software that I have bought for my kids so far. The colors, the characters and the graphics are terrific and even manage to hold mom's attention!! Never mind, that my daughter really loves it too. Another thing that was good about it is that it's teaching my daughter basic mouse skills and there are quite a few different activities to play so kids won't get bored easily. I'll be looking for more software from this company as I find that most of the stuff out there for kids is a big waste of money.

Rating:
Summary: The best children's software I've seen yet
Review: I have never taken the time to review a product, but I love this CD so much I felt I had to. It is the best software that I have bought for my kids so far. The colors, the characters and the graphics are terrific and even manage to hold mom's attention!! Never mind, that my daughter really loves it too. Another thing that was good about it is that it's teaching my daughter basic mouse skills and there are quite a few different activities to play so kids won't get bored easily. I'll be looking for more software from this company as I find that most of the stuff out there for kids is a big waste of money.

Rating:
Summary: Not perfect, but very good
Review: My 2 1/2 year old son has really taken to this. It's a really great idea and it's well executed. You have four puppet shows and three games. The graphics are very well done and very realistic, with no cartoon-like figures. Everything is a scan of a real object. The games are building your own puppet, building your own still image from a puppet show, and sorting. Sorting really is what early math is all about. I'm glad they have it.

The puppet shows are where you will spend most of your time. Each show is composed of four or five scenes which have a dozen or so clickable objects. A riddle appears at the bottom and you have to find the three or four objects that are in the riddle. When you click on a riddle object, it does something and advances the story. Each scene has two riddles and when you have gone through all the scenes, your done with that show. A kid might eventually learn the locations of all the objects in a particular show, but with four shows, it will take a while.

There is only one real problem I have with it, based on several sessions of lap play with my son. Because there are about a dozen objects in each scene, but you only need 3 or 4 for the riddle, the rest of the objects don't do anything when you click on them. I think every object should do something (wiggle, glow or zoom, at the very least) when it gets clicked, not just the riddle objects. This has led to my sons newest vocabulary word: "doesntwork". If not this, then at least the riddle objects from the first of the pair of riddles for a particular scene should still be active for the second of the pair. So, when you click on a riddle object from the first riddle, it should still do something, if not it's original action, when you are finding the objects from the second riddle. As it is now, my son tries to click on the objects which were just active in the previous riddle, but they "doesntwork".

But, overall, I'm pleased with it. There is no violent action and it is pretty exploratory and creative, as advertised.

Rating:
Summary: Independent game
Review: My youngest son is 3 and really enjoys computer games. I limit his time, especially since many that have entered our house don't seem to have many redeeming qualities or he can't do them himself. This is a game he can play by himself, which occaionally comes in handy, and I feel that it is not devoid of educational value. He also enjoys playing I Spy Treasure Hunt and Spooky Mansion with his 6 year old brother.

Rating:
Summary: A Decent Game for Kids Under 5
Review: This is a good choice for children under 5. I was impressed that the graphics and game play were appealing, and utilized the latest features from Macromedia.

I get SO tired of childrens games that look and play as though they were made for a Windows 3x machine, circa 1994. This game will not disapoint.

Rating:
Summary: Boring...
Review: This was so heavily hyped, I had to have it for my five-year old twin girls. What a bore. They're either too old for it, or there is the outside chance that Scholastic really didn't put a lot of effort into this. It would bore a three-year old. Compare to Spooky Mansion or Treasure Island - can't compare with these gems. I'm 50 and play the latter two.

Rating:
Summary: Boring...
Review: This was so heavily hyped, I had to have it for my five-year old twin girls. What a bore. They're either too old for it, or there is the outside chance that Scholastic really didn't put a lot of effort into this. It would bore a three-year old. Compare to Spooky Mansion or Treasure Island - can't compare with these gems. I'm 50 and play the latter two.