Rating: 
Summary: Best Toddler Software on the Market
Review: As a parent and a former early childhood teacher, I have used a variety of software titles. Without a doubt, Reader Rabbit's Toddler is the best software program for any child who is beginning to learn how to use a computer. Children learn quickly how to use the keyboard and mouse due to the instant positive feedback they receive. In addition to providing for quick success, the program teaches children many important developmentally appropriate objectives, such as colors, matching shapes, counting, one-to-one correspondence, nursery rhymes, animal sounds, and finger plays. I would strongly recommend this as the first computer program for any child between one and five years old.
Rating:
Summary: WONDEFUL
Review: I bought Playtime for baby & toddler at a local store, while waiting for another reader rabbit cd to come in the mail and my daughter is actually 4 but absolutely loves this cd. Even though it is a toddler cd don't let that fool you my 9 year old plays it, don't tell him I said so though, LOL. I have 3 kids and we know have bought the reader rabbit thinking adventures, preschool and cluefinders 4th grade. My daughter loved the part where baby animals are in a basket hiding and they make a sound and you have to reunite them with their momma. She also loves peek a boo bubbles where she pops bubbles to free animals and then it counts them back to her after she has freed them all. It is very simple to use and they dont even have to click a mouse button, they can even just hit keyboard buttons, it is very simple and all my kids were delighted with these products and my husband is a computer tech and we have reviewed many children cds and Highly recommend reader rabbit software.
Rating:
Summary: WONDEFUL
Review: I bought Playtime for baby & toddler at a local store, while waiting for another reader rabbit cd to come in the mail and my daughter is actually 4 but absolutely loves this cd. Even though it is a toddler cd don't let that fool you my 9 year old plays it, don't tell him I said so though, LOL. I have 3 kids and we know have bought the reader rabbit thinking adventures, preschool and cluefinders 4th grade. My daughter loved the part where baby animals are in a basket hiding and they make a sound and you have to reunite them with their momma. She also loves peek a boo bubbles where she pops bubbles to free animals and then it counts them back to her after she has freed them all. It is very simple to use and they dont even have to click a mouse button, they can even just hit keyboard buttons, it is very simple and all my kids were delighted with these products and my husband is a computer tech and we have reviewed many children cds and Highly recommend reader rabbit software.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent educational program!
Review: I bought Reader Rabbit Baby and Toddler for my son when he was about 15 months. He's been using it for 6 months and still loves it! There are so many different activities; we haven't even gotten to all of them yet. He has a few other CD's - but still loves "Mat the Mouse" best!The program focuses on the basics and seems to emphasize "child interaction". For example, one of the activities is a coloring book. An outlined drawing comes on the screen (fish, dinosaurs, frog and an elephant in a boat, etc.) and my son colors in the drawing just by moving the mouse back and forth. He was able to do this very early on, but still loves the activity. Once drawn in, my son is rewarded when the drawing "comes to life". For example, the frog and elephant sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat. The author has also done an excellent job with extras. I can print out each of the drawings individually (to be colored in with crayons) - so my son doesn't have to be sitting in front of the computer to play the game. He clearly associates the printed pages with the online game - feels like a two-for-one! The program was easy to install (Windows 2000 Pro) and we have not had any trouble using the program. From an educational standpoint, he has learned everything from music, counting and colors/shapes to sing-a-long's and animals (there are 3 different activities with animals!). One of the best activities is a sing-a-long of Intsy-Winsty Spider, I'm a Little Teapot, Wheels on the Bus and others - simply awesome! Highly recommended from a dad and his son after six months of use!
Rating:
Summary: Greater starter CD for kids + educational
Review: I bought this for my 1.5 year old son and he has played it nearly every day for 6 months. Driving me crazy. So I picked up some other titles and really see that this one is special, none of the others come close to be as educational or interesting. He started out on the baby which is great that you don't need to use the mouse at all to play, just hit anywhere on the keyboard. On Toddler, you can get away without the mouse in many places but the mouse makes it more interesting and it has actually taught him how to move it to accomplish a task. He can navigate the scenes on his own and play all the games. It is great but he is starting to need to be challenged a bit more.
Rating:
Summary: Great for developing mouse skills
Review: I bought this for one reason only - to develop my 2-year-old's skills with the mouse. Every other way I tried had failed, yet after 10 minutes with this program she completely understands how the mouse in her hand makes the curser move, how to select items, etc. She loves the games, especially the bubble castle where you pop bubbles (she loves this in real life, but it is hard to do during the NH winter). This program was well worth the money.
Rating: 
Summary: Cute but not all that.........
Review: I have 2 children, a 1 yr old and a 3 1/2 year old. The reviews on this product sounded super. However, I wasn't all that impressed. It wasn't 'glitzy' enough for my 1 year old to be interested. And it was boring and not at all challenging for my 3 year old. My 3 year old thought it was cute but cute was about all I would give it to. Now, Barney All around the Town CD-Rom Computer game is all that.....engaging and entertaining for BOTH my kids. I had the same expectations for this one but was let down. It is "cute" though.
Rating:
Summary: Great for the youngest computer users
Review: I have 2 kids: 5 1/2 and 2 1/2. When my older daughter was very little, Reader Rabbit Toddler was wonderful for her. It is the only program I know of where kids can just move the mouse around and not have to click to make things happen. (Dragging and Clicking is very difficult for kids just starting out). She had hours of fun with it while her confidence and mouse skills were developing. It is very age appropriate for the youngest computer users. Of course by now, she is on to much more advanced CDs. My son, the younger one, is just now willing to sit still and try to do stuff on the computer and I can't find our Reader Rabbit Toddler CD anywhere!! So, I'm buying it again. I guess I must really like it.
Rating: 
Summary: This one Is the best for young toddlers
Review: I have purchased several titles for my 17 month old, and I always come away wishing I could write my own software just for him. He's very bright and already knows his alphabet, shapes, colors and numbers so when I purchased software I was specifically looking for something that would teach him to use the mouse. This is the best tool for that. We got him a track ball and he's able to operate this program more or less independently, although he occasionally gets stuck and says, "Sumpin' new!" We recently purchase Mickey Mouse Toddler and it's not nearly as good by comparison. He's got reasonably good mouse control, but we still have to give him the keyboard for Mickey.
Rating: 
Summary: I've seen better
Review: I have to say, I let my son since before he was walking to play on my old 586 133 computer. After having the Fisher Price Keyboard and three stage game, I was very dissappointed with this game. First off, it says it only needs DirectX 4 but it comes with DirectX 7 which would not install on the machine. One must have an updated computer to run this game, or have a copy of DirectX 4 lying around. Now since my son has been using a computer for as long as he has, he has learned that keys do different things and every key has an association with the Fisher Price game, and in general computer usage. With this game, everything is controlled. The key strokes do commands that the program wants to run, and completes tasks FOR the child rather than initiating them to complete the task by pressing the correct buttons. My son gets bored with this game since it doesn't matter what key he presses it does what the program wants to do, not what my son wants to try, and the game stops and sings and won't let him do anything. My son is used to more control. The Fisher Price game actually associates the letter A with the letter A for example, so I believe he is actually learning more from a straight keyboard than this game. My son is now 20 months old. When we got this game he was 18 months old, and he was off and away on the Fisher Price keyboard at 13 months. I was looking for another game just as good if not better, or more interactive to help him grow, but I would rather see an old fashion typing game that teaches him the letters on the keyboard or something more interactive that lets him control the game, not the game controlling him. And according to the system requirements my computer should be able to run the game, but I am still having a hard time finding DirectX get the computer game to run :(
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