Hooked on Phonics Touch Screen Learner
© 2007 Zizzle, LLC
Featuring a clunky design, an overly chatty narrator and several games that are too hard for the intended age group, this handheld learning aid has one color LCD screen, a tethered stylus and 14 onboard games. For example, in Letter Drop, children are shown a target letter for a few seconds, and then have to try to find that letter in a stream of falling letters. While this is a good idea, the letters move too fast, and the stylus is so fat and stubby that it blocks the view of the screen. The scoring system "You scored 20" is irrelevant for the intended age group, and there is no connection between the games. One of the better games is Memory Tap—concentration with a grid of letters—that could work for a long car trip. But the background music can't be adjusted, and there's no ability level which could frustrate both children and nearby adults alike. Features include a pen storage slot and a high/low volume switch. Powered by 3 AA batteries. This is one of a series of LCD electronic learning gadgets from Zizzle. Other titles include Smart Sticks Letters and Sounds, Smart Sticks Bilingual Numbers, Smart Sticks Bilingual Colors and Shapes, Musical Letter Twist, Phonics Word Master and Get Ready to Read Activity System.
$35, Smart Toy
Teaches: early reading, letter and word recognition
CTR Rating: 56%