Barney Magical Music Cd-Rom Playset Review
Barney toots the trumpet to a smooth Latin beat, Baby Bop boogies down, and BJ leads a chorus of animals in a cacophony of sound.
Barney's Magical Music PlaySet is a Windows-only program accompanied by a brightly colored plastic band that straps over any standard keyboard. With Barney's help, the yellow trumpet, orange bongo drum, green violin, purple bass drum, and three-key piano will put your child in the band. These friendly instruments are easy for little fingers to manipulate; the bass drum with its footpad and the sliding bow on the violin are especially fun.
After a brief tutorial from Barney, the action moves to a theater stage where kids choose to visit the Farmyard Festival, the Fairytale Fantasy, the Jungle Jam fest, Barney's One Man Band, or the Jukebox. Players can use the mouse to click on big, fat arrows that move them around the program, a welcome contrast to other playset programs that disable the mouse. There are also plenty of hidden sound surprises--lurking atop castles and beyond barn doors--that add to the fun and enhance the listening lesson of the program.
The 13 activities will keep kids busy for a long time. In one, BJ leads a country dance in which each instrument makes its designated sound and inspires him to make a particular dance move; in another, Baby Bop leads kids through "Itsy Bitsy Spider," inviting them to select wacky lyrics to the song using the keyboard, which she then sings from beginning to end. Our favorites are the games in which the instruments don't make their musical noises but instead elicit rhythmic oinks, meows, and moos from the animals playing them. Many of the activities can be recorded and then replayed from the jukebox later.
This game is a great musical educator, and doesn't rely solely on the gee-whiz factor of the colorful gizmo strapped to the keyboard. Kids will have hours of fun jamming with Barney, and we're willing to bet that the sight of him earnestly swaying his hips to a Latin beat might inspire parents who are victims of Barney burnout to crack a smile as well. (Ages 3 and older) --Anne Erickson Read more...
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Barney Magical Music Cd-Rom Playset Specifications
With this CD-ROM playset, kids can join Barney, BJ, and Baby Bop in a world of musical fun. Kids control all the action on the screen with the friendly and easy-to-use musical instruments on the playset, which fits over most standard Windows keyboards. There are five instruments in all: piano, bongo, violin, foot drum, and trumpet. Kids can play in three different environments (Jungle Jamfest, Farmyard Festival, and Fairytale Fantasy), each with plenty of activities. As kids play the instruments on the keytop, music will sound and animals will dance. Songs can be saved in the jukebox for repeated listening pleasure. Barney will be on hand with his own one-man band, allowing kids to choose which instruments and style of music Barney plays.
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