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Reviews new video games for kids And Special Offer.
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![]() Telestrations turns the classic schoolyard game of "Telephone" into a hilarious sketching game. |
![]() With each guess, players get further from the original, intended interpretation. View larger. |
Each sketch book contains eight erasable pages, and each page is labeled with either an "S" (for sketch) or a "G" (for guess). The spiral binding allows you to flip pages before passing the sketch book to the next player, and the label lets that player know whether to sketch or guess. Aside from the occasional unrepressed snicker, gameplay is silent until the final results are revealed.
The erasable markers have a fine point to allow true artists to flourish. Clean-up cloths are provided, as is a timer and a deck of 144 cards, each of which contains six "secret" words.
Gameplay: Friendly or Competitive Mode?
Much like "Telephone," Telestrations leaves a lot of participants scratching their heads. One player's sketch of a pretzel might end up looking more like a ribbon, and that ribbon might evolve into a banana peel. Only rarely does the final guess match the original word, so playing Telestrations is almost always a delightful comedy of errors.
While the game is easy to learn, scoring can get a bit complicated. The instruction manual describes two different modes of gameplay: friendly and competitive. The friendly mode awards points based on the most creative and hilarious drawings, a subjective determination that can lead to either a fun debate or an irritating disagreement, depending on who is playing. In either case, a simple democratic vote may be necessary to speed things up.
The competitive mode awards points to players whose sketch helps another player win a point. This determination is straightforward enough, but going back over the drawings and assessing points may be tedious for those who would rather simply laugh at the results. Anyway you decide to play it, Telestrations will bring out the artists in your friends and family, along with lots of loud laughter.
What's in the Box
Telestrations game instructions, 8 erasable sketch books, 8 erasable markers, 4 eraser cloths, 144 cards in card box, 90-second sand timer, and die.
![]() Designed for 4-8 players, Telestrations features intuitive, reusable game pieces for a great experience. View larger. |
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![]() Build 101 different electronic projects. View larger. |
![]() Electric Bombing Game View larger. |
Simple, Fun Projects Let Kids Learn While They Play
With its easy-to-follow instructions, Snap Circuits gives your child a hands-on education in how electrical circuits work to run the everyday devices that they're familiar with. They'll also gain valuable lessons in building and in following instructions. The project manual includes large color illustrations and simple directions for each project.
The projects include a sound-activated switch, a musical doorbell, a voice-controlled lamp, a flying saucer, and a light police siren. With these projects, children will experiment with things like electric switches, integrated circuits, digital circuits, fuses, and the transformation of circuit sounds into other sounds.
Grow as You Go
Because the projects are arranged in order of complexity, kids can build on their skills as they progress through the manual. The lessons start out with a simple electric light and switch project that demonstrates how electricity is turned on and off with a switch. Further along, kids can put together a two-speed fan, create clap-controlled sounds, and more.
Design Your Own Circuits and Upgrade Your Kit
Once children have mastered several of the techniques introduced in this kit, they can use the components to experiment and create their own customized circuits and electronic devices. The Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100 can also be upgraded to the Snap Circuits SC-300, Snap Circuits Pro, or Snap Circuits Extreme with the purchase of a UC-30, UC-40, UC-60 upgrade kits, respectively. Kids will enjoy additional parts, manuals, and projects that'll take their kit--and their fun--to the next level.
Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100 requires two AA batteries, which are not included.
What's in the Box
Plastic snap-grid, 32 electrical components, and 1 project manual.
Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100 | Snap Circuits SC-300 | Snap Circuits Pro SC-500 | Snap Circuits Extreme SC-750 |
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The world's most addictive video game just got more intense with Big Screen Tetris. It has 3 game modes -- Marathon, Race and Ultra -- auto light and a sleek, portable design to enhance play and make clearing blocks easy. It is good for hours of fun.
Turn your child into the family photographer with Vtech's Kidizoom Spin & Smile Digital Camera. Durable and easy to use, this 2.0 megapixel camera lets kids take and edit photos, record digital video, and play games. Designed for children three and up, the Kidizoom comes with a built-in flash for indoor shooting as well as a twisting lens for easy self-portraits. A variety of wacky frames, stamps, and other effects will keep your budding photographer entertained.
Engineered with children's small hands in mind, the Kidizoom Spin & Smile Digital Camera comes with easy-to-grip, rounded sides and large, intuitive buttons. Kidizoom's sturdy design helps withstand rough handling by young photographers. While not indestructible, this camera stood up to repeated drops on a cement floor during testing.
Kidizoom comes with a twisting lens that flips effortlessly into position as well as a timer, taking the guesswork out of self-portraits and group shots. A zoom wheel activates the 4X digital zoom, while dual viewfinders and a full-color screen make it easy for children to compose pictures.
The camera screen's compact size does make it challenging to predict the photo quality before viewing on a television or computer monitor. Do not expect this 2.0 megapixel camera to take sharp photos of squirmy subjects in low-light conditions.
Kidizoom allows your child to add silly hairstyles, wacky distortion, and colorful frames to photos. These can be easily viewed on a computer or television. Parents will need to spend a little time helping younger children find and use the editing features to allow them to fully unleash their creativity. Your child can also record movies with funny cartoon animations and scene-setting frames. A video recorder lets kids record and then distort voices, adding echo effects or robot intonations.
Along with the editing options, five preloaded games--including a photo puzzle, detective game, and germ-fighting adventure--will provide hours of educational entertainment for your child.
With 256 megabytes of internal memory, there's room for hundreds of photos or more than 10 minutes of video. The camera also supports up to 2 gigabytes of additional space by adding an SD card (sold separately).
Kidizoom Spin & Smile Digital Camera, USB Cable, A/V cable, wrist strap, and user's manual.
![]() The game controllers look like real sports equipment. View larger. |
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Your child can choose from one of six sports competitors and games: tossing footballs like a quarterback at moving targets; throwing strikes as they bowl 10 frames in the bowling challenge; serving and returning smash hits on the tennis court; teeing up for a round of golf or hitting home runs for points on the baseball diamond; and more.
Each sports challenge comes with the option of one or two players, with high scores recorded so your little athlete can keep track of their progress. Adding to the fun are the lightweight, plastic game controller accessory handles, individually designed to look like real sports equipment.
Get Off The Couch And Into The Action!
Once you have connected the Swing Zone Sports game console to your television, take a moment to sync it to the hand-held game controller. This may take a few tries of pushing the right buttons, but once the status indicator on the game controller begins flashing, your child is ready to go. Be sure to give them plenty of room to play (at least eight feet of space) so they can safely mimic real sports motions like tossing and swinging. And remember to keep the adjustable wrist strap securely wrapped around each player's wrist during play as forgetting to do so might result in them loosing their grip during the exciting action.
A fun and entertaining way to learn basic athletic moves, the Swing Zone Sports video game engages your younger child with bright graphics and simple but fun sports challenges. The variety of activities combined with the entertaining choices of sports characters and the durable plastic accessory handles makes this video game fun and engaging for young players.
What's in the Box
Game console with a/v cable, game controller, and five controller accessory handles.
With its nonstop action, the BOP-IT XT game will challenge you to Bop it! Twist it! Pull it! Spin it! Flick it! and Shake it! The BOP IT XT game will command you to do six actions in random order! Respond as quickly as you can to score points. Score 100 points to unlock more challenging levels for even more fun! For each correct reponse BOP IT XT will answer with a sound and another command. But if you're not quick enough, or if you respond incorrectly--you're out! It's that simple...or is it... Try it and see! Play solo or with friends. The BOP-IT XT game offers four levels of difficulty and different settings for solo or group play.
8 years and up
3 AAA batteries (included)
Colorful knobs, handles, and buttons take center stage in this well-designed game from Hasbro. Designed to be shaken, twisted, and pulled, BOP-IT XT keeps kids in the middle of the action, trying to react to the commands as fast as possible.
Fun music and irreverent commands make the BOP-IT XT game interactive while keeping the play lighthearted and fun. The BOP-IT XT game comes with three volume options and a headphone jack, allowing for quiet play.
A variety of settings allow your child to play alone, with a friend, or in groups. For example, when in party mode, any time a body part is called out, the "BOP IT!" button has to be hit with that part of the body.
BOP-IT XT also offers novice, expert, master, and pro levels, making it fun for children of different ages and abilities. The "SHAKE IT!" feature can be turned on or off, adding to the difficulty. Players are allowed to advance to the next level only after they complete 100 correct consecutive commands, keeping them motivated and challenged.
The BOP-IT XT game provides a fun way for kids to build their concentration and memory. The fast-paced commands require quick reaction times and a high level of coordination, keeping players active and engaged.
BOP-IT XT game and instructions.
It's time to get moving. Can you keep up? When you turn it on, this totally cool Bop It game calls out commands. It's up to you to pull it, bop it, twist it — or flick it, spin it and shake it. Can you keep up as the tempo revs? Play Bop It XT in party mode or solo — you can even plug in your headphones to keep the game all to yourself. Get it right and you can keep going, but if you get the moves wrong, your turn is up. Think you've got what it takes to beat it? Then, start the action. It includes Bop It XT game unit and instructions and 3 AAA batteries. It's for 1 or more players.