Games Reviews

I give this Leap Pad book 3 stars for fun because my children were not interested enough to even look at all the pages.They played with it a lot, but did not get even half way through, maybe that just means it is full of fun stuff to do, but since my kids have not gone back to it, I feel it does not hold their interest quite enough. Educational, 4 stars because some of it seemed a bit simple, like the space page. 5 stars for durability because it is no more and no less durable then regular Leap Pad books. Dont like the eraseable pen though. Must cover it each and every time, even between questions. If it's off more then 5 seconds, it dries out.I peronally did not find it very easy to keep picking up and putting down pens. I tried using a pen in each hand, and it dried out, so I had to keep putting down the regular "pen" to cover up the eraseable pen. Pretty annoying.

I'm a little disappointed about the Smart Guide to Third Grade, not because it's not good, but because it doesn't offer much more than the sample book that came with the Quantum Pad. I'm sure that someone who has the LeapPad will get more use out of it, but if I had known that the only major bonuses are in the math section, I would have purchased the Third Grade Math Book instead.

I think this book is very good for learning the skills of third grade. The only thing is that I wish it came with a case to hold the cartridge, book and pen in one place like my sister's Smart guide to 1st grade came with.

My son started collecting IMAGINEXT back when he was 3 or 4. At first, I would build the castles and make up stories for him to watch (and help create!). Now he's 7, and this toy has done so much to develop his spatial skills and problem-solving. He has literally EVERY Imaginext toy (except the newly-revised ones for the younger audience with disproportionate hands and feet -- a la Rescue Heroes) that has come out in the last 4 years. We have loads of fun building new castles and creating new worlds... Hot lava, weird new worlds, crazy creatures... My only problem with this toy is that the only female looks more like a gender-confused wizard (decidedly masculine). Nonetheless, Imaginext remains one of our favorite toys and will for some time to come. I wish they would do Imaginext Vikings or OCEAN!!! Yeah.... THAT's the ticket! Deep Sea World!!!

Imaginext toys are a logical progression from the Fisher Price Little People. Imaginext is a step up from Fisher Price in that you assemble the toys, and you have some flexibility in how you assemble them (not so much with the pirate ship, you can move the sails & masts around). From Imaginext, you can go to classic lego or Playmobile.

All of these toys allow the children to create their own imaginary world, and there are usually several items within each theme that you can purchase.

My three year old son received this ship for Christmas, and he plays with it the most of allhis toys, and when he sets it down his 6 and 8 year old siblings will pick it up. It has been used as a pirate ship and a ship of exploration, skull and crossbones not withstanding.

We have also found the toy to be quite durable. In assembly, you do need to push the ship sections into place to lock them together. The red rails have fallen off a couple of times, but those are easy enough for my 3 year old to push back in.

I purchased this for my 5 year old son for Christmas..I was'nt sure that he would like it, just for the fact that he really isn't into pirates. We just put it together & he loves it..If you follow the directions & take your time putting it together...IT WILL NOT FALL APART! In fact it is quite sturdy.. It has some great features & sound effects..We also have the Dino mountatin & phantom Island, all of them are very cool ....The Ship definitly gets played with the most..Even all the older neighbor boys age 8 love these imaginext toys..they spent about 3 hours straight jumping from one to the next...A great toy if you put it together the correct way...Not one peice broke off during 3 hours of play (from 4 boys ages 2 thru 8)...definitly the best $23.00 I have ever spend. (I got it on sale)

This is my favorite Christmas prezent of ALL TIME!!! I think the reason this is always soo rare is because no one can get enough of it! Even at a high price it still fills joy in the eyes to just lay them apon it! I luv it soo much, my second favourite item after my autographed pic of Orlando Bloom that he, himself sent me!!

Sure this would be great for motor skills and hand/eye coordination, except that my 2 year old gives up in two seconds since the nylon string will not go through most of the beads! The beads are rough and splintery inside, which snags the nylon string so it won't go through. Very poor design in my opinion, I mean, isn't that the whole point of these things?

My son who is four and my daughter who is two both love this toy. They line up the blocks, stack the blocks and lace them onto the strings. It's a wonderful learning toy. The only problem we had with it, was that the holes in the beads didn't seem properly cleaned out and they stuck on the laces. We took sandpaper to the insides of the beads, which helped, but the beads still don't slide on the laces like I would like them to. This hasn't stopped my kids from enjoying this toy, though.

Our daughter loves to play with these lacing beads - they have been her favorite toy for quite some time now (she's 3 1/2 years old).
When we first received this item some of the holes were a bit difficult to lace through. We contacted the company (800 number of the box) and they explained to me that they corrected this problem, and they sent me a replacement set and it was PERFECT!

We couldn't be happier with both this purchase and the great customer service we received from Melissa & Doug. This item is just what any parent needs to help their child build valuable fine motor skills. A fantastic learning Toy!

It really is not what I was looking for, but the children have found other uses for it.

These baseplates are important if your little one likes to build structures with Legos. I'd recommend attaching them to a board (I wood-glued 6 of them to a board, added some molding, and put sliders underneath so I could store the board under beds or sofas) so they won't flex.

Otherwise, you'll definitely need to encourage your child to play with these on a table or other hard surface, and warn them that moving their constructions to another spot might result in the creations coming apart.

I would say that while I think 7 bucks is a bit much my son has had constant play using this and has definitally put 7 bucks worth of use into it I think. I do agree that they should be included and I also would like to find one of the lego tables although someones suggestion of fixing them to a board or something might just be an idea. My son has used them to build hotels on or even makes his own "game grid" or mazes or even maps. He is 7 and I have to say he loves this thing and I plan on maybe getting him another. I nearly forgot to add that while some people have seen durability problems we haven't. It has even been stepped on by his older sister and while it left a faded green mark it did not bend it or anything. It has been very durable for us.

I got this for my almost 5 and 6 yr olds who are big-time Spongebob fans. This game is absolutely adorable and loads of fun for our whole family! The board is an outrageously colorful and fun representation of Bikini Bottom. There are 3-D buildings of Patrick's, Squidward's, & Spongebob's houses, The Krusty Crab, The Chum Bucket, Mrs. Puff's Boating School, The Anchor, & The Shady Shoals Rest Home. The pawns are delightful and substantial 3-D plastic renditions of Spongebob, Patrick, Squidward, & Mr. Krabs that ALWAYS stay standing on their adequate base!! I can't stand those cheapo cardboard pawns with the tiny stands!!! There is no accumulation of children in this game version, but one does decide on whether to attend college or not (and pick a corresponding career), adopt a pet, and chose a home. There are life tiles($100 each)to earn for doing decent things and expenses to pay for unfortunate or typical Bikini Bottom life events. There are also Raffle cards to help earn extra money by game of chance spins. The writing on all of the cards is witty and humorous. I won't spill the beans about the pets, careers, homes, expenses, life cards or raffle cards because they are just so cute and funny!! My kids think the cards are a riot! The winner is determined once every player has reached Shady Shoals rest home by greatest net worth. The game moves along at just the right pace and my kids had no problem learning the rules. It is a great teacher of reading and money counting ($1,000's & $100's only)as well as decision making and consequences of behavior. Game play really does even out any skill level because much of the game is chance based by the numerical spinner to make your move. I paid full price for this game and I think it is well worth every penny! A++++++, FABULOUS GAME!!!!!!!

My daughter loved it for her birthday. It is really cute!

This toy is reasonably accurate and reasonably safe, as long as players wear their eye protection. I can tell the guns won't last long, but they're fun while they last. Be sure to buy extra darts.

this is good it could proply beat the firely it gose arownd 45ft this is grate and porful and the sheld proble will not help mouch if you go agenst a nother one of thes i wold say you shold buy it

This gun is so awesomely good, its got range and is really accurate, the only problem is that in a nerf war it takes a while to reload. Overall I give this gun a 5 outta 5

My son would crawl all over my house just to play with this thing! When my friends would come over with their children of all ages they would play with this so much I had to hide it from them! lol My friend kristas son brandon who is 3 he couldnt get enough of this one! I think every mom should never go without one!

a great buy! my child began playing with this when he was 3 months old! he loved to spin the ball and it helped him learn cause and effect. As he got older, he would pick up the ball and roll it around! he loves it! it is a favorite for him and all of his baby cousins who recommended it to us! great gift for new parents!

Our son fell in love with this toy in the church nursery when he was only 6 months old. He played with it for hours, week after week until we decided to get it for him for his first birthday. No, your child will not be spouting off the alphabet by one year, but it WILL help him developmentally.

The product promotes hand-eye coordination from spinning the ball and also fine motor skills by pushing the letter buttons. My son loved this toy so much that he would not go to sleep without it. He is now 2 1/2 (still loves this toy) and is now spouting off the alphabet with limited help. Your child may not learn his ABC's overnight, but we all know that children learn from repitition- so this toy will definitely aid in his learning.

Other benefits: the toy plays 27 different tunes, the ball is removable for other types of play, and in addition to saying the letter names it also speaks the sounds of the letters so children can learn phonetics.

Hope your child enjoys this toy as much as ours has!

It's a big toy, but no problem for my 3 y/o to easily lug around. His sister prefers Dora to fly the X-wing; who am I to argue.

I purchased several of these during the huge toy clearance sale a few weeks ago - what a great toy for $5.29 with free shipping! My 3 year old found his - supposed to be for Christmas - and has played for hours with the ship and the adorable R2D2 fiqure and Luke that were included as well. Too bad these have been discontinued - these and the fiqures you can purchase separately are great for small hands. Some advice - buy up all the "Galactic Heroes" fiqure sets (smaller than these "Jedi Force" fiqures) while they still are available.

I ordered this a few days ago during Amazon's huge toy clearance and even though the description says it does not come with Luke Skywalker and R2D2, mine had a sticker on the box that said "special bonus Luke and R2D2 figures included!" I opened the box and sure enough they were there. How cool is that? And my 6 year old Star Wars lover thought this toy was awesome, especially all the sounds it makes. A great buy for the money. Highly recommended. :)

My 3 year old really enjoys playing with this play doh set. We now have a big tub full of all the play doh sets that he has and it's a big production when we drag it all out to play! Keeps him occupied for quite a while and it's not too difficult to clean up - just need to drag out the vaccuum cleaner to get the little pieces too small to pick up. :o)