Kid-Tough FP3 Player
© 2006 Fisher-Price, Inc.
Shaped like a hockey-puck and just about as indestructible, this $70 digital music player from Fisher-Price (www.fisher-price.com) puts your child's favorite songs or stories at their fingertips. Because preschoolers can't read song titles, the player's backlit display can show an associated picture icon, one per selection. After loading the two AAA batteries, you install the FP3 Player Software onto a Windows computer. There are six songs and two stories included on the bundled CD. Additional titles can be downloaded at $.99 each from a Fisher-Price store. It is also easy to import files from just about any existing format--music CDs, for example--and transfer them to the player. The sound quality is excellent, and the player's 128 MB of storage can hold about 30 songs or 15 stories; more if you add memory to the SD slot. A set of child-sized headphones is included, as well as child-safe volume controls and a breakaway neck strap. The membrane-covered buttons are obviously designed with juice boxes in mind, and the controls insure that even the youngest child will be able to listen to his or her favorite song or story, again and again, and then again if necessary.
$70, Windows XP
Teaches: listening to music and stories
CTR Rating: 92%