Homerun!

This review is also posted up at CapeBuffalo Says... but I loved this product so much I had to give it prime time here. enjoy!

I’ve often thought of starting a site that focuses on traveling with children. A little over a week ago, the Kiddo and I returned from ten days in France and, aside from a few weather related disappointments, we had another great trip. Back when Kiddo was about three years old, one of her grandparents gave her a set of preschool Brain Quest cards. These things stayed in the magic travel bag for probably two years before my little genius needed to move up to the next level of questions.

(aside: If you’ve never seen these things, run out and buy your kid(s) a set. They’re awesome! Even very young children can manipulate them and parent interaction just makes the experience more fun. Best part? The cards are fastened together which means you won’t be forever picking them up off the floor of your car or home (or the airplane, or the restaurant)).

These days, Kiddo is all about DVD’s and video games. Yes, she can read chapter books, but sometimes, the girl needs the sights and sounds. That’s why I JUMPED at the chance to review the Brain Quest DVD game . I had high hopes for this product, given our familial adoration for the card sets and I’m happy to say the DVD was a huge hit!

We have a dedicated DVD player that stays in the travel bag (I promise I’ll write a post about my never-fails bag of tricks soon) and since we received this DVD in the mail, it’s never left the player. Stop for a minute and absorb the magnitude of this statement… my daughter hasn’t played a movie in her player since she got this game. The DVD is a higher teach version of the cards but with bells and whistles. The interface is really easy to use and my seven year old was able to figure out how to play the game using the DVD remote pretty much immediately.

The BEST PART about this game is that, unlike the cards, the game elaborates on the answer to the questions. For example, when it asks about the name of picture writing used by the ancient Egyptians, it follows with an explanation and visuals of hieroglyphics.

While it’s easy to plug your kids in to the game while you drive, there are points in the game where it asks parents to interact and assist the children in answering questions. By my estimation, Kiddo has played this game for a dozen hours or so with her friends, with us, and by herself and has yet to encounter a repeat question.

For those of you wishing you had something to plug into the car’s DVD player that doesn’t involve princesses or cowboys who befriend astronauts, you WANT to give this game a try!