"Sesame Street" Toddler Deluxe

In the past few years our family has moved beyond the toddler stage. I usually have to round up nieces and neighbors to help with the toddler programs that pass across my desk. I also rely on my teaching experience since my children are not too thrilled about playing toddler programs any longer. I was therefore quite surprised when I could not drag my five and eight year olds away from the new "Sesame Street Toddler Deluxe" program! Yes, it is academically too easy for them. There is something universally appealing about this program for anyone who has watched "Sesame Street."

This program is divided in to three basic sections, the "Art Workshop," and a section dealing with letters and one dealing with numbers. The "Art Workshop" is by far the best portion of this program and is worth the purchase alone. Because toddlers often have a difficult time with mouse manipulation, the drag and drop feature here has been simplified. Once your child clicks on an item to drag into his picture, it stays "stuck" to the cursor until he clicks a second time. This makes it much easier to use. In one area your child can place dozens of "Sesame Street" characters and objects on the screen and backdrops. This was an activity which kept my older children busy for a long time. There was something magical about being able to pick up Bert, Ernie and Elmo and make them do whatever you wanted them to do. You can also access a costume shop which will allow your child to dress the "Sesame Street" characters in various outfits. The Art Workshop coloring book helps your child create works of art which can then be used as screen savers. By moving shapes around the screen your child can create limitless objects by using his imagination. I even found myself having fun with the "paint" program. Here you will be painting familiar "Sesame Street" characters of course, but the number of colors to choose from seemed infinite! I can't recall a paint program with as many color choices. The print button can also be turned off my you as a parent. I don't know about your house, but I don't like to see all those works of art printed out endlessly on a color printer!

The second and third sections of the program seems to be an upgrade of an older "Sesame Street" product which we used to own many moons ago. I did not feel that the quality of the graphics was as good in this area of the program, but most kids will not care. Your child will be dropped right on "Sesame Street" to explore and find activities in hidden hot spots. Visit Snuffy's cave and your child can learn to use the telephone and watch videos. In several areas there are videos which the kids can watch. If you are a "Sesame Street" parent you will find these videos very sentimental. I admit that even my twelve year old came in to watch and kept repeating, "Oh, oh, I remember that one!" It was a trip down memory lane.

As your child travels around "Sesame Street" he will find hidden letters. This is fun for a toddler, but it don't expect this to be a pre-reading program. Most of the time the letters are not repeated aloud and there are few activities connected with the letters. The Shape-O-Matic game in Bert and Ernie's house is the only other substantial activity. Here your child will find more videos to watch as well as a really funny game. As you click on various objects in the room they will change shape. Your toddler will giggle as he turns Ernie's Rubber Duckie into a triangle or Bert into a circle. Bert's radio will give your child a chance to listen to familiar "Sesame Street" songs as well. The number CD is very similar in nature but encourages spatial relations, shapes and basic number facts.

All-in-all this program will delight most toddlers and preschoolers. If your kids have grown up watching "Sesame Street" there will be immediate appeal with this program. If you are not a "Sesame Street" watcher I am not sure if the attraction will be as strong, my guess is it would not and I would recommend a different toddler program. We love this one in our house and it makes me laugh to see my older kids still ask to play with a toddler program. I was surprised to find my own children enjoying this program far more than the other "Sesame Street" products produced by the same company.

Grading:

Educational value- 4
Entertainment value- 5
Use of medium- 3
Age- 2-5

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