Binding: CD-ROM Brand: The Learning Company EAN: 0772040810276 ESRB Age Rating: Early Childhood Format: CD-ROM Label: The Learning Company Manufacturer: The Learning Company Model: 381027 Publisher: The Learning Company Release Date: July 19, 2001 Sales Rank: 5624 Studio: The Learning Company
Product Description: Join Arthur and D.W. in six exciting learning adventures and 30 different activities packed with hours of fun and learning! Kids 5 years and older will have loads of laughs while developing critical thinking skills, logic and memory.
Amazon.com Review: The six activities in Arthur's Thinking Games encourage critical thinking and logic, and we had our problem-solving skills further tested by an inadvertent bonus activity: troubleshooting an audio problem that had characters dropping the ends of their sentences. Fortunately, this problem only occurred with one of the computers we tested on. The program's help function suggested making an adjustment to a default setting. We did that, yet the usually consistent Arthur characters still coyly refused to complete their sentences on a Pentium III system with an up-to-date sound card and more than the required 8 MB of RAM and 20 MB of hard disk space.
When we explored this CD-ROM on an older system that for some inexplicable reason gave us good audio, we found an affable little program. In one activity, kids use a catapult to launch water balloons at a castle in order to drench a dragon. As the dragon moves around, kids adjust the catapult's distance and angle of attack to hit their target and put out his fire. Another task involves helping a mummy work his way through a maze-like pyramid. In another deductive game, Arthur's dog Pal gets lost in what looks like the Roman Coliseum, and players can decipher Pal's whereabouts by clicking on windows and listening to hints. A musical jungle allows kids to compose then play short tunes with the help of some musically gifted animals. A game that's structured like a quiz show gives kids an opportunity to listen to clues and pick the correct answer from three choices. Finally, Arthur leads kids to a stage activity where they can use stamps and paints to customize a backdrop, then program Arthur to do a series of dance moves up in the footlights. Each of these activities, with the exception of the Dance Theater, can be adjusted to five different levels.
There are no strokes of genius in Arthur's Thinking Games, nor is anything particularly awful. We do think that the box is claiming a bit much by saying kids learn "history" and "geography" with this program. Apart from the game settings (a pyramid, a coliseum, a castle), we didn't find a scrap of history or geography unless those elements were lost in some of that missing audio. (Ages 3 to 7) --Anne Erickson
Amazon.com Product Description: Join Arthur and the gang and have fun while learning. Arthur's Thinking Games features six fun-filled activities and five difficulty levels, and is packed with learning and fun. Kids learn a number of essential skills, including logic, critical thinking, memory building, and problem solving, as well as facts about science, geography, and history. (Ages 3 to 7)
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Autistic Kid Likes It
My 7-year old autistic daughter loves all the Arthur CD-ROM's we have.
This is not the best, but it is not the worst; I'd place it somewhere in the middle of the pack, as far as the quality of the software, and the interest value of the content.
She especially likes to launch water balloons against the dragon, and to make the mummy climb the pyramid, over and over again.
Rating: - Not for MacOS
We just purchased this and recived a version that is NOT compatible with the MacOS. Perhaps there are newer versions that work with the Mac, but be aware that some of the used ones may NOT be Mac compatible.
Rating: - Extremely Disappointing from an Arthur Fan
Like other reviewers, I find this game to have very little educational content..or content period. My sons (2 and 3) tire quickly of its few games, and really just enjoy the regurgitating sound the garbage can makes in the painting section.
Save your money for better quality games.
Rating: - Extremely Disappointing from an Arthur Fan
Like other reviewers, I find this game to have very little educational content..or content period. My sons (2 and 3) tire quickly of its few games, and really just enjoy the regurgitating sound the garbage can makes in the painting section.
Save your money for better quality games.
Rating: - Fun. My three year old likes it!
Two things are wrong with this CD which is why I gave it four stars instead of five.
1- There are only five activities on this CD. This is a problem when many of the other CD's you can buy have many more activities. I was a little bit dissapointed by this aspect. 2- The games a little too arcady for my taste. However having said that- I'm not the one playing it and my three year old son enjoys this CD.
I think that this would be too easy for a child that was five or six. I think this is really directed towards three to five year olds. For my three year old the games develop skills like problem solving, understanding directions and more. I was amazed at how quickly he caught on to the game of hot and cold to find something in one of the games on this CD. Now we play it around the house.
This is a fun CD that does develop thinking skills in younger kids. Be warned though that although the games can be leveled to higher and higher levels, there are only five games. That gets kind of old after a while, even if the level gets harder.
- Autistic Kid Likes It
- Not for MacOS
- Extremely Disappointing from an Arthur Fan
- Fun. My three year old likes it!
