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You may be familiar with Jean Marzallo's I Spy books full of fascinating photo collages. This electronic rendition is designed especially for younger children and uses the same visually rich graphics, with easier-to-find objects. From the first menu, children are asked to choose from six categories of puzzles: Blocks, Nature, Busy Bins, Oops Hoops, Pattern Place, and Make Your Own. The first three categories contain typical but simplified I Spy puzzles, with riddles such as "I spy turtle eyes a letter D block, three yellow buttons and a bug on a rock." The poems are read aloud, and pictures are embedded in the graphics to serve as clues. Each find is rewarded with a short animation. The next two activities, Oops Hoops and Pattern Place, are excellent exercises in logical mathematical thinking. In the Hoops game, kids have to sort objects into hoops (Venn Diagrams)- "food" in one hoop, "red things" in another and "food that's red" in the overlapping portion of the two hoops. In Pattern Place, children must put objects into a requested pattern. The final activity is a popular "Make-Your-Own" I Spy puzzle. Here, children create and print their own collage of objects. The primary weakness of this program begins to reveal itself about two hours into its testing when the same puzzles start to show up again. Because there isn't any overall plot to the program or random elements to the puzzles, children can grow tired of the format- an important concern in the home.
System Requirements:
Printer optional MAC
Regular Price: $29.95 On Sale For: $8.95 |
