| This program can be very fun, But when you get to the Lessons where your child can practice writing numbers and letters it can be very Tormenting..... I have tried writing the number3 countless times and have yet to please Mr Pencil. Could be a bit discouraging for a child... The other areas are pretty fun But I think they could have added a bit more to the whole program......more coloring pages, stamps, ect.... |
| We bought this game for our 5yr old after she got a Leapster for Christmas. I thought it would be a good choice as she has just started Kindergarten this year and has to learn to write, as she put it "perfect" (very frustrating). She also really enjoyed the drawing program on Leapster's original game, so I figured this would be the best of both worlds. When it came, of course I had to test it out, and was instantly annoyed by the task master "Mr. Pencil". If my daughter thought that parochial school teachers were tough, she had another thing coming. I was a bit concerned that she would be put off by his "perfectionism". Stray but a bit off the chosen path and you are sent back to the beginning, and DON'T DREAM of lifting your pencil on a line that he has deemed should be drawn in one stroke! But much to my surprise, she rose to the challenge. She enjoyed "Mr. Pencil"'s silly interpretations of her drawings on Double Doodle, and has spent countless hours with the Flip Book program. The maze section was moderately frustrating (mostly because her first attempts were made on a long, bumpy car ride), and she hasn't spent as much time practicing her letters and numbers as I had hoped (why do "work" when there are other fun things to do". My only complaint is the same I have with the few other games I have bought. Instead of doing a few things well, the manufaturer settles for doing many things "okay".After playing many of the games you can imaginge how they could have been better if they hadn't wasted memory on games like "Paint Drop" or "Picture Challenge" or the coloring book feature which could have been incorporated into the doodle feature. All told though, my daughter does love it and it does have some eduacational value teaching basic color theory and some perspective (which is a bit beyond her intrest at 5yrs old, and I think it is definitely worth the money. |
