Sesame Street Music Maker

Copyright: KBkids.com

Some Sesame Street fans will enjoy interacting with their favorite television characters in this new program. Parents may be a bit dismayed with all the 'noise,' however, and the musical education value questionable. Most kids will be better off listening to a tape of Sesame Street Music, or watching a sing-a-long video.

Join Elmo, Ernie, Cookie and Grover as they play eight different musical games.

Studio 543: Choose one of six Sesame Street songs and watch Elmo and Grover dance.

Sing-A-Long with Muppets: In the music studio you can sing with the Muppets, or sing karaoke style as the words are flashed across the bottom of the screen.

Rock 'n Roll Jam: The Sesame Street friends produce a cacophony of sound as your child adjusts the pitch and tempo, selecting which friends will play.

Elmo's Magic Music Machine: Slide tiles on to a grid in order to produce a new 'orchestration.' The sound is wild, jumbled, and not of much musical value.

Musical Stickers: Move between six scenes, selecting stickers that produce different sounds. These are again jumbled together in something that is more noise than music.

Worldly Instruments: Learn the names and sounds of twenty different instruments from around the world.

Ernie's World: This activity is like a musical 'mad lib.' Select three objects, which will become new words in familiar songs. Testers were disturbed to see that their first choice produced "He has the whole underpants in his hands."

While interacting with Sesame Street friends, and hearing familiar songs may be fun for some kids, there is no real redeeming musical education going on here. The sounds are mot musical, have no pitch value, and become a blur of noise when combined. Testers also found the volume varying wildly throughout the program. While there is a serious need for a good preschool music program, this just is not it.

Bottom Line: A mediocre music program at best. Familiar Sesame Street characters do not save this program.

Ratings: (base on KBkids.com's 4 star rating system)

Overall: 2

BrainGain: 1

FunFactor: 2

EasePlease: 3

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