Rating: 
Summary: Not her favorite, but useful
Review: I bought this software when my daughter was 3. She doesn't love it and never asks for it, but if I put it in, the games hold her interest. I don't think she understands the overall scheme of making a "word-book," and she can't do everything the games will let her do. However, after a few frustrating times playing the spelling game, I was surprised that she could construct the pictures using the shapes provided and put the letters in their places to spell the words. From just this game she learned how to drag and drop with the mouse. And something clicked in her mind about reading. I saw a direct transfer of her putting letters in already-made places to her trying to make words with magnets on the refrigerator and learning to read words on paper. I think she also got a better idea from this game about how to guess a word based on the clue of the picture. All the words from the game quickly became sight words for her. My daughter's not 4 yet, but can sound out words and knows words by sight because of games like this.
Rating: 
Summary: Captures attention
Review: I purchased this software for my 3 year old son. At the time of purchase he was 2 1/2 and I needed some software that would keep his attentionlong enough to learn some basic preschool concepts. Since he was a big fan of Blue's Clues I thought it would be perfect. The program did capture his atttention right from the start. The characters all had their own versions of play and covered seperate concepts. The games were a little to simplified at times and some of them seemed to be to hard for he age of my son. I feel that the program would have been better if skill levels could have been altered for the different age groups of 3-5. Overall the software was definately worth the cost and just as importantly it made learning fun for my child.
Rating: 
Summary: buggy software and confusing play
Review: I wanted to like this software. I think very highly of the Blue's Clues franchise and the products they usually put out, but this game has been a nightmare.We are running this on a PowerMac G4 with OS 8.6 and 384 MB RAM. We've never had any problems with kids' software, and made the supreme mistake of installing the game while our son waited to play. Four times in a row, with no other applications running, the cursor locked up and we had to reboot the computer while our two-year old howled in frustration. Later, alone, I looked at the README file, which suggested I turn off all extensions except QuickTime and the CD drive, which I did. It worked for a while, but then the cursor disappeared. I then accessed the developer's web site but found no FAQ or patch there, and no way to contact them. From what I could see of the game it was interesting and fun. I think that explanations of gameplay are sometimes wordy without being illuminating to a young child, but once the child understands the individual games and the Word Book it would be enjoyable...
Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: I was disappointed by the organization. This CD focuses mainly on letter recognition rather than accurate letter-sound association. The directions for each task were difficult to understand. The introduction was too long. I work with a special education population and programs whose introduction is long loses the attention of many of the children. There was confusion between letter names and the sound they produce within words. The program included blends in the letter/sound recognition tasks which is confusing for children; often, these concepts are taught in simple one syllable words avoiding words with digraphs and blends.
Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: My 2 1/2 year-old son enjoys this game. He gets a little bored with the intro. because he's anxious to begin playing, but loves the game. I was surprised at how well he did. Don't be afraid to let one this young play with the mouse and try to do it on his/her own. Just be ready to provide help as they need it. This game offers different activities like simple puzzle piecing with the Felt Friends, letter recognition with Mail Box, letter sounds with Mr. Salt & Mrs. Pepper, rhyming with Slippery Soap, and more. I like the variety, because there are activities that my son can already enjoy and then others that he can enjoy as his skills improve. The storybook part of the game was a little confusing at first. But once you realize that certain color words go on certain color pages, it's easy to understand. However, this part of the game is a little more advanced in the learning stage for kids. I do recommend this game. I only wish it had a painting section for my child. I realize that there is separate game for art time activites, but it would be nice if it had a painting section, along with these activities.
Rating: 
Summary: Blue's Clues Fun
Review: My 2 1/2 year-old son enjoys this game. He gets a little bored with the intro. because he's anxious to begin playing, but loves the game. I was surprised at how well he did. Don't be afraid to let one this young play with the mouse and try to do it on his/her own. Just be ready to provide help as they need it. This game offers different activities like simple puzzle piecing with the Felt Friends, letter recognition with Mail Box, letter sounds with Mr. Salt & Mrs. Pepper, rhyming with Slippery Soap, and more. I like the variety, because there are activities that my son can already enjoy and then others that he can enjoy as his skills improve. The storybook part of the game was a little confusing at first. But once you realize that certain color words go on certain color pages, it's easy to understand. However, this part of the game is a little more advanced in the learning stage for kids. I do recommend this game. I only wish it had a painting section for my child. I realize that there is separate game for art time activites, but it would be nice if it had a painting section, along with these activities.
Rating:
Summary: This is a good one mom's & dad's!!
Review: My son who is 3 yrs old loves this game. He has improved his letter comprehension. He spends quite a bit of time playing this game....he loves finding the "Blues Clues". I highly recommend this game.
Rating:
Summary: A great product...
Review: The wide variety of activities means there is always something new and different - and the printable activities (the mazes and books mean you can take the activites with you - COOL). Some activites are harder than others, but the hard ones give a challenge while the easier ones give some confidence building - and my little one rests a while in an easy activity and then gets back to the harder ones. He's learning to recognize letters and he's already good at HEARING the rhymes even though he can't read them yet. Previous reviewers said the game is confusing - yes it does take some figuring out, but I think it is more confusing to us goal oriented adults. We want to know how to win the points and earn the prize. My son (age 2) just enjoys the PROCESS of playing - he doesn't really care if he collects enough letters to make a word - but that will come later. For now he's learning learning learning and when all that repitition makes collecting words easy THEN he'll figure out what to do with the word book. The reviewer that suggested you learn how to play first and then guide your child was absolutely right. And that goes for ANY software at this age. P.S. for all you goal oriented adults: you earn letters by completing any task in any of the activities. When you get three letters they will be a three letter word. When you go to your word book these words wil be waiting for you to put them on the page that matched the word color. Later you can insert these words in the blanks to make stories. You can even print the stories, or the book of words you collected, or the animal pictures you collected.
Rating:
Summary: wide variety of activities
Review: The wide variety of activities means there is always something new and different - and the printable activities (the mazes and books mean you can take the activites with you - COOL). Some activites are harder than others, but the hard ones give a challenge while the easier ones give some confidence building - and my little one rests a while in an easy activity and then gets back to the harder ones. He's learning to recognize letters and he's already good at HEARING the rhymes even though he can't read them yet. Previous reviewers said the game is confusing - yes it does take some figuring out, but I think it is more confusing to us goal oriented adults. We want to know how to win the points and earn the prize. My son (age 2) just enjoys the PROCESS of playing - he doesn't really care if he collects enough letters to make a word - but that will come later. For now he's learning learning learning and when all that repitition makes collecting words easy THEN he'll figure out what to do with the word book. The reviewer that suggested you learn how to play first and then guide your child was absolutely right. And that goes for ANY software at this age. P.S. for all you goal oriented adults: you earn letters by completing any task in any of the activities. When you get three letters they will be a three letter word. When you go to your word book these words wil be waiting for you to put them on the page that matched the word color. Later you can insert these words in the blanks to make stories. You can even print the stories, or the book of words you collected, or the animal pictures you collected.
Rating:
Summary: Very Challenging
Review: There are 2 CD's for half the price of one. The 123 games are challenging, fun and educational. I highly recoomed these CDs for ages 4 - 6.
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