Thinkin’ Things Collection 3

Thumbs Up To Edmark For The Best Title Yet–Thinkin’ Things 3

A Review of Thinkin’ Things Collection 3

Tina Velgos

Thinkin’ Things Collection 3 is loaded with five challenging activities to

keep the kids busy for hours. The animated opening sequence is literally

out of this world! With each of the different activities, parents (or kids)

can adjust playing levels from beginning to advanced to keep the activities

entertaining. The levels also automatically adjust as the kids successfully

answer questions.

Solving the Case of the Empty Fripple House in the Fripple Place activity

was a challenge for 11-year-old Stefanie and 13-year-old Justin. The kids

put on their virtual detective caps as they navigated their way through

many rooms of the Fripple

house, in search of written clues that are linked to other information, to

help the Fripples find their rooms. The Fripples can’t move in until the

kids read the clues in each room and synthesize the information to

determine where they go. The animation in Fripple Place is outstanding and

the sound effects are as zany as the characters! The kids agreed that the

vacuum cleaner sound was the coolest. Watch the Fripples bounce up and down

(when they’re happy!) as your kids analyze the clues and enhance their

reading comprehension skills.

It’s always football season in Thinkin’ Things 3′s Half Time activity.

Stefanie, Justin and 15-year-old Andi had a blast creating their own

half-time show. Here’s where the kids can learn basic computer programming

skills as they move around the football field linking command tiles and

controlling moving formations (moving forward, turning left, turning right,

turning randomly, repeating, or performing wacky, weird or wild actions) of

marching bands, football players and cheerleaders. Kids estimate and

predict distance and direction and experiment with patterns and sequences

as they place and clone performers into moving patterns and formations. We

counted 30 different performers that can be placed on the field at one

time. The realistic sounds of the marching band and the football players

made the activity extra cool to play.

Four-year-old Timmy loved the Carving Blox activity, which lets kids

experiment with virtual sheets of metal and a set of six balls of three

different masses. Gravity, friction, motion and inertia can be experimented

with as kids select tools and click and drag them onto the surface to shape

the metal. Balls can be set in motion when placed at the top of carved

ramps or by tilting the metal. There’s also a special spring tool to launch

the balls. The realistic workshop sounds were outstanding and Tim quickly

discovered that he could "draw" his name with many of the tools, simply by

clicking and dragging the mouse. Watching a preschooler apply basic

principles of physics in this graphically-challenging activity was the most

fun of all. Justin and Stefanie agreed that the graphics were "awesome".

Your kids will love Photo Twister. 22 different wacky green Twisters

characters pose as special effects tools and help the kids apply their own

special effects to the pictures provided, or to images imported into Photo

Twister. Stefanie and Justin laughed and giggled as they watched the

hilarious tiny green guys flip and curl the photos and plop around the

screen. This was the most difficult activity in Thinkin’ Things 3 for the

kids, but once the kids got familiar with each visual special effect, they

quickly found out how to rotate the images and use the correct sequence to

solve the problem. Kids analyze the photos and round-up the little green

alien Twisters which faded, dented and twisted the photos. Then, they can

use their tools to create their own outrageous masterpieces.

How can you resist a stockbroker named Stocktopus? A purple Octopus

stockbroker with a wild tie, advises kids as they trade objects (apples,

basketballs, TV’s, soda cans and more) with Trading Partners around the

world. Kids can learn different languages as the Trading Partners greet

them in their native language and ask the kids whether they want to make a

trade. If your kids are struggling with an important stock trade and want

some advice, they can click the "Help" button on Stocktopus’s desk and he

will recommend a trade. Next stop, Wall Street?

Kids can also save their creations in the Create Mode of Half Time, Carving

BLOX, and Photo Twister. ( The "Allow child to save creations" check box

must be on, then click the Save button to save programs, designs and

images the kids have created. If the "Allow child to save creations" check

box is off (no "X" appears in the box), a Save button does not appear.

Well, it looks like there are some impatient Fripples waiting to move into

their new house. I think I’ll help Timmy "read" the clues! Two thumbs-up to

Thinkin’ Things 3!

School House Scorecard

Product:	Thinkin’ Things Collection 3
Company:	Edmark Corporation P.O. Box 97021 Redmond, WA 98073-9721 Phone: 206-556-8484

Cost:

$40.00

Windows 3.1 (enhanced mode), Windows 95 or later
8 MB RAM required
CD-ROM drive (double-speed or faster recommended)
486 required (33 MHz or better recommended)
Super VGA, 640×480 (256 colors, or more, required)
Hard disk with 2 MB free
Mouse
Windows-compatible sound-output device required

Color Apple Macintosh (256 colors required)
4 MB RAM
5 MB required for System 7.5 (8 MB recommended)
CD-ROM drive (double-speed or faster recommended)
System 7.0.1 or higher
13″ monitor or larger