Activities and Learning Reviews

I guess I forgot that in today's society children tend to think of fighting instead of the wonders of magic.
I bought this for my 5 year old grandson. The first thing he did was put on the hat and grab the wand and start charging with his sword ... eeks ... I had to remind him that Harry Potter would never use his wand as a sword ... that it is only to be used for magic. I would have said David Copperfield to him but he would have said ... Who ??
I'm sure it won't last long as it is a bunch of cardboard. What do you expect from a 5 year old. Butttttttttt... It gave some quality time between father and son as he had to spend time with him to figure out the tricks. So what if the toy doesn't last forever, the memory of daddy doing magic tricks with him will.

This item stinks! One of the hat tricks doesn't work right and most of the other tricks are so lame that both my four year old and six year old think it's stupid. There is always one Christmas toy that makes its way to the trash...and this is the one. Even if they used it I'm sure it would make it's way to the trash as the hat insert and some of the cardboard props dent and rip very easily.

This is a great little starter set for anyone who wants to get started in Magic. This set has a variety of tricks to keep both you and your audience on their toe. Some of the tricks can be performed with just a little practice. But there are some that you need to work with for a while before you present them to your audience.

This set includes: Trading Places; a Card trick, Square Circle, Crystal Box Illusion, X-Ray Color Vision Box, Stuffed Animal from Hat, Candy from Empty Hat, Monte Rabbit Cards, Block Through Wand, Color Changing Balls, Wand from Tube, and Wonder Balls.

All Props are plastic or cardboard. The only drawback is that the cardboard items will wear out quicker with a lot of use. Over all this is a Wonderful way to get your introduction to Fun World of Magic.

This could be a very nice item for its intended use. However, a major drawback that would have me express concern to future buyers and recommend against its purchase has been mentioned before in these reviews. The light not only doesn't work, but the batteries fit loose with over 1/4" of play. This was apparently designed by a committee who could not decide whether to wire them in parallel or series because neither is complete. The whole mechanics of the light is dangerous to sell to the intended market as it can result in an 8 to 12 year old attempting to repair and wind up creating an excessive and dangerous amount of heat. Since "only" 40% of the buyers of the Meade 8200 have a problem with a crucial part of the microscope according to these reviews, it equates to a coin toss on receiving a Meade 8200 that is not defective. I would recommend caution to those whose light works and be aware of not leaving it on unattended. If the manufacturer left contacts and tension springs out of mine, et al, there may be workable ones that are inferior also. Since this was a gift for my niece I bought her a small light and a mirror to reflect to the microscope.

We have not had a problem with the light or batteries. This microscope works as we expected and we have been very pleased with it. The quality of the images is very good. The manual is very easy to follow, even for my nine-year-old.

We were just looking for a beginner scope but this looked like so much more for the price. The lighting really works well to view deatils. We have had fun as a family trying some of the slides suggested in the instructions.

I returned this item. It is sturdy and useful as indoor entertainment, but I wanted my grandchild to be able to identify the constellations outside and the dots just didn't seem to translate to the actual sky.

I suggest if you're looking for a home plantarium get this one..it's the best you can get.
Like above mentioned this displays a white light until other trashy projectors i.e Star Theatre II = a total waste of time and $35US and they display in shadowy dull and doesn't even fill the entire room...a total waste.
Get this one,you won't regret it!

I really had high hopes for this product. When I took it out of the box and put the batteries in, I was really disappointed. It just looked like white dots on the ceiling. The constellations were very hard to make out. We will be returning this item.

My son received this as a gift, and I thought since he liked the 'English' version he would like this one. He didnt seem to take to it as much. The music isnt as interesting and the songs are shorter. There aren't as many options for him. And on a personal level, the Spanish was Castellano with doesnt really help when most of us in the U.S. speak Espanol from the Americas. I think that they should make a version for the children that will be using it here on this Continent.

Kids learn the ABC's in spanish by repeating what they hear.Press the animals and they talk and press the letters and they are spelled. Not so much fun. It always does the same thing. If an animal asks to press a letter and the kid doesn't press the correct one, it doesn't tell you it is the wrong one or to try again. It doesn't teach to spell any word, only letters. The spanish is from Spain so it is not so good for Latin America because they spell some letters differently.

I actually purchased this bus for my sister-in-law who teaches Spanish. The characters are fun and the electronic "voice" is very animated. Although I am not a Spanish speaker myself, my sister-in-law did notice that the bus sometimes speaks very quickly, which may be a bit difficult for a child trying to learn Spanish.

This is a nice garden set that my 3 year old carries around with ease. The pieces are easy to handle for his little hands when he is helping daddy around the yard. The set is more for pretend than for actual digging. The pieces fit nicely in the tote that is similar to my garden set.

I cannot believe I paid [money] for an item that is falsely advertised. This pouch looks to be pretty large, even the picture of the little girl you use makes it look bigger...all in all this item was the size of my two fists put together, what a waste of time AND money! Now I have to go out and buy something for Easter regardless as I am returning this waste of time to you. Even the tool that are included are so small I am not sure WHO would enjoy this product. All in ALL I am VERY dissapointed in this product...I will not recommmend this to ANYONE EVER.

This is a great little present for the spring time....but it says 3 and up - it should be under 3! It's quite babyish!

The kids don't seem to mind that the piano is seriously out of tune. I don't think this toy is worth the money. We have a $10 little tykes piano that is easier to pick out songs on.

The only thing I can say is - BEWARE! There are some serious quality control issues with Schoenhut. I finally received this piano after waiting over a month, and even though it was packaged well and the box was not damaged, the piano was damaged beyond belief! The keys were defective, some were stuck, legs were scratched, and there was a dent on the top that someone obviously tried to cover up with paint. For the price tag on this thing, this is unacceptable!

Do yourself a favor... just buy a cheaper brand at your local Toys-r-Us. Schoenhut has no pride in their workmanship.

My nephew and niece absolutely love this piano! It is absolutely precious and perfect for their little fingers! The piano is of excellent quality! My niece especially loves to use the colored keys for instruction on what key to press next.

this doll would be a doll for a littlegirl to keep as a reminder of herchristening day. someday she will beable to show her daughter the doll shegot on her christeing day and maybehand it down for generations.

This mobile looks great, it has very unusual design. I'm tired of seeing all of the Winnie the Pooh or loony tunes characters, so this was the best looking mobile you can find. Also, toys can be removed from the mobile and your child can play with it as a finger puppet. The only upsetting thing is that it does not turn or spin, because toys getting stuck on the plastic base (which you hook to the crib). I tried to move them around, but it still not working properly! Finally, I had to tie animals tails with the rubber band so mobile can turn and play music. (I really like the design, so I don't want to return this product...although, it's a very annoying defect.)

I'M SURE IT'S GREAT WITH THE BLACK AND WHITE PIXTER.
I SHOULD OF READ UP ON IT SOME MORE. WE BOUGHT OUR KIDS COLOR PIXTER, AND BOUGHT A B& W CARTRIDGE. KIND OF DEFEATS THE PURPOSE.

I bought this for my daughter to begin learning phone skills on her own phone. It was a big loss. Nothing worked as it was supposed to. It is a shame that this company could not come up with a better electronic system. Do not waste your money. We were lucky enough to be able to get a refund. Otherwise I would be really upset.

I bought this phone for my daughter and niece who are 8 and 9 years old for christmas last year and needless to say it was a hit! They love it!! It is just like a normal adult phone, but with the cool pink and purple colors. There is no static and you can hear very clearly. It even comes with a microphone that you put on you ear to speak handless if needed. Great gift!!!!

My daughter recieved the Barbie Talk N Style Fashion Telephone as a Christmas gift. However, the thing never worked. The phone would ring and recieve incoming calls partially. That is, the other party could not hear us on the phone trying to answer, with each "Hello" we uttered louder than the last. All the while we could hear the caller talking (always leaving a message because they couldn't hear us). Based on this experience, we will never purchase a product made by KIDdesigns, Inc.