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Edutaining Kids
.COM
Parents' Guide to Children's Products for Fun & Learning
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Edutaining Kids
.COM
Parents' Guide to Children's Products for Fun & Learning
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Musini
is an ambitious toy that responds to children's
motion with musical and visual surprises. Users select any of five
musical styles (Basically Bach, Child's Play, Latin Jazz,
Carnival, or Orchestral Overture) and start to dance or move! A
sensitivity dial must be adjusted in order to maximize the toy's
responsiveness in any given room.
Expanding
the "Jumbo" line is the new Jumbo Music Ball -- a large
(although not
quite as large as last year's Jumbo Music Block) plush sphere that
features colorful flaps on each side. Each flap takes the form of
a basic shape, such as a heart or an arrow, and is labeled with a
set of uppercase letters of the alphabet. The learning component
of the toy features four levels of challenge. Children begin with
color and shape recognition and work their way up to letter and
letter sound identification. The ball requires 4 'C' batteries to
operate, and it features auto shut-off and two volume settings.
Phonics Tiles
is a play mat which can
also be mounted on the wall, featuring letter tiles that can be
placed on the toy's special slots. Whether or not the resulting
combination actually spells a word, the toy pronounces it. With
this electronic smart toy, kids learn to identify letters and the
sounds they make, build words and hear them phonetically
"sounded out", and play games. Our full review of
Phonics Tiles can be found 
Jumbo Music
Block was introduced last year, and it quickly became popular
with families with young children. This 14-inch plush block
features lift-up flaps that come in assorted bright colors and
shapes. When a child activates a shape, a song about that shape is
triggered. A nice feature of this jumbo toy is that families who
own the Music Blocks toy and its cartridges can insert a cartridge
to change the musical soundtrack of Jumbo Music Block. This toy
does "double duty" simply because it allows children to
develop gross and fine motor skills while they learn about shapes,
music, zippers, and buttons. Babies just learning to "pull
up" to a stand
particularly enjoy this soft but rather sturdy jumbo block. Uses 4
'C' batteries. 
A great choice for babies is Neurosmith's Sunshine Symphony.
Its attractive smiley face need only be tapped and the plush toy
plays any of four classical music selections (Handel's Water
Music, Mozart Piano Sonata in C Major, Peter and the Wolf, and The
Nutcracker). The first touch or tap activates the first half of
the musical selection played on a particular instrument (such as
violin or flute); the second triggers the remainder of the
selection; and the third touch activates the song to play complete
with a full orchestra--a "sunshine symphony"! If parents
so choose, the toy can play the musical selections continuously
(this runs for several minutes). What's more, the toy features
twinkling lights as the music plays. As seems standard with Neurosmith toys, the sound quality is excellent.
at Amazon.com]
