PowerTouch Learning System: The Best Toy We've Ever Bought Our Daughter
Written: Feb 12 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Highly educational, fun, sturdy, easy to use, many titles to choose from, auto shut-off
Cons: Battery life not long, some titles hard to find
The Bottom Line: A highly educational learning system that your child will find fun and easy to use.
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| jadzia66's Full Review: Fisher-Price PowerTouch Learning System |
Our acquisition of the PowerTouch Learning System actually started from a mistake. I sent my husband to K-Mart last year around Easter time to buy some small toys for our then 3 year old's Easter basket. He came home with some very cute things, one of them being the Dora the Explorer River Adventure PowerTouch book. He had thought it was just a normal electronic book and hadn't realized that it went with a whole learning system. I told him not to return it, that we would put it up for now and then for her birthday in September, we would get her the PowerTouch Learning System.
All About the PowerTouch Learning System
The PowerTouch Learning System is an electronic toy that closely resembles a notebook. This system is geared toward helping your child to learn how to read, learn math and many other educational pursuits.
The PowerTouch Learning System is very easy to use. It comes with 2 starter book, Ernie's Neighborhood and School Skills (for grades K-2). On the right hand side is the on/off button and volume control. A little lower is a jack for headphones which are not included. Near the very bottom is the speaker.
To get started, all you have to do is to put in one of the starter books. The books are spiral bound with little clips at the top and bottom. These clips slide into indents that are at the top and bottom in the middle of the PowerTouch System. Once your book is in, there are a variety of ways to play. There are 8 modes, 4 of the modes are reading activities and the other 4 are interactive games. You can tell what mode you're in because that mode will be lit up by a red light. Your child can also choose what mode they want to play in by pressing the buttons at the very top of the page. The 8 modes, from left to right at the top are:
Story - Your child can listen to the story while the system reads it out loud.
Words - In this mode, your child can touch any of the words or pictures on the page and the system will identify them.
Phonics - This mode will sound out any word your child touches.
Spelling - When your child touches a word in this mode, the system will spell out that word.
Find - The system will ask a question, such as "Help Emily Elizabeth find her friends. Find the home of Charlie." If your child still has trouble finding Charlie's home, it will give another clue "It's a boat". When you find it, just touch it and the PowerTouch System will tell you if you have found the right one.
Count - Count the objects on the page. Example: "Let's count Christmas trees" Your child will then touch all the Christmas trees he/she finds.
Surprise - Play a variety of games. Example: "Touch a home to hear a joke" Then when you touch one of the houses, your child will hear a knock knock joke. The games and activities vary in this mode so you will never know what you get from page to page.
Music - By following the instructions, your child will hear songs or get to play notes and music. Example: "Touch a picture to hear a song" So your child touches a picture of a Christmas tree and hears the song The 12 Days of Christmas.
(Examples given are from Clifford's Christmas Countdown)
Every mode is available on most pages but not on all. For example, on page 14 of Clifford's Christmas Countdown, all modes are available except the music mode.
What makes the PowerTouch Learning System so easy to use is the fact that your child doesn't need a special pen to use the system. All they need is their finger. Anything they touch on any page will be responded to.
Books and Cartridges
There are many books available to buy for the PowerTouch Learning System. Some books are easier to find then others but if you can't find what you're looking for in your area, then check online stores. This is where we have found most of our daughter's books for her system.
There are only 2 books that don't require a cartridge to go into the system when using it and these are the 2 starter books that comes with the PowerTouch Learning System. Every other book that you buy will come with a cartridge that goes into the top of the system. If the cartridge is not put into the system then the book won't work.
Most but not all of the books available for the PowerTouch Learning System have licensed characters in them, therefore you have a good chance at buying a book that your child will enjoy. I've compiled a list of books that is available. I'm not sure if this is a complete list but these are the titles that I've found available or listed at different sites online:
- Caillou and Gilbert
- Maggie and the Ferocious Beast Rain Play
- Dora and the Lost City
- Elmo's Noisy Day
- Dragon Tales: The Hunt for the Missing Music
- Clifford's Christmas Countdown
- Angelina and the Rag Doll
- Jimmy Neutron Mysteries of the Deep
- D.W. the Artist
- Fairly Oddparents Squackers
- The Berenstain Bears Go to Grizzlyland
- I Spy Book of Letters
- Spongebob Squarepants Sleepytime
- Science: Dinosaurs
- Math: Money and Time
- Grade 2 Phonics
- Blue's School
- Elmo's Big Surprise
- Dora's River Adventure
- Dragon Tales the Search for the Baby Rhyme Bird
- The Story of Clifford
- Arthur's Talent Show
- Rescue Heros Storm Warning
- Franklin Goes to School
- Reading: Reading, Adjective, Noun, Verb
- Clifford's Puppy Days: Monster in the Neighborhood
Why We Recommend the PowerTouch Learning System
I have to say that the PowerTouch Learning System is by far the best toy that we have bought our daughter at this date. She absolutely loves it and it goes to bed with her every night where she will play with it for a good 20 minutes or more until she falls asleep. Her favorite mode in the system is the music mode. That is the mode she almost always goes to first upon first opening her system. Some of her favorite books are the 3 Sesame Street ones, Caillou and Gilbert and Clifford's Christmas Countdown.
What do I think of the PowerTouch Learning System? I'm not sure where to even start! First off, you don't even need a book in the system to use it. Imprinted on the inside of the PowerTouch System is the alphabet where your child can play a few interactive games. Courtney uses this function when she decides that she wants a different book after she's in bed. While I'm downstairs rummaging around for the book she wants, she's upstairs playing in what I call the alphabet mode.
The educational value that the PowerTouch Learning System has is unlimited. Courtney has learned so much since receiving this for her birthday. She's beginning to learn how to read for one. This is something that she and I have been working on for a while now because she so desperately wants to learn how to read. If I'm busy making dinner or she's upstairs in bed, she can continue to learn how to sound out letters without me being there. She can now tell you exactly what each letter of the alphabet sounds like.
She's also learned simple math and deductive reasoning. She got her love of knock knock jokes from Clifford's Christmas Countdown, she knows what most musical instruments sound like from Blue's School and the School Skills starter book. She's beginning to learn how to tell time and what different construction vehicles are. She has even learned that the Eiffel Tower is in France and gets to listen to the National Anthems of other countries from Jimmy Neutron Mysteries of the Deep. Even when she's having fun in the interactive modes she's still learning.
The PowerTouch Learning System is also quite sturdy. I have had to to reprimand Courtney because I've caught her using it as a stool and sitting on it. So far the system is still as good as the day she received it. It's made from extremely hard plastic that would probably withstand a lot of abuse. It's also easy for her to use on her own. I don't have to put the books and cartridges in for her, she's been able to do it herself right from the beginning.
Are there any cons to the PowerTouch Learning System? There are a couple but none that have made me lower my rating.
I know some people have complained that if their child touch the system with more than one finger, the system becomes confused. This is a problem we haven't had. Courtney knows to use one finger only and not touch a bunch of places all at once. This may be because she was 4 when she received her system where some of her friends received one when they were younger.
One problem we have had is that Courtney was too exuberant in turning the pages of The Story of Clifford and ripped a couple of the pages near the spiral binding. Because of the location of the rips, they couldn't be fixed with tape and eventually the book had to be thrown out. I still have to watch her at times and remind her to be careful. There is a notch near the top on both sides of the PowerTouch System so that your child can place a finger in there and turn the pages of the book. Courtney has a habit of just flipping the pages like one might a magazine and thus one book was ruined because of that. While the pages of the books are made from vinal type material that is coated, the pages will rip if not handled properly.
Another con is that the batteries don't last very long. Depending on the brand and how often your child plays with the PowerTouch Learning System, the batteries can last anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks. This system takes 4AA batteries and the battery compartment is located on the back. One thing that does save battery life though is that this system has an auto shut off if it's not played with after a few minutes. This is how I know that Courtney has fallen asleep at night because through the monitor I'll hear the system say "Press any button to hear a song" a few times until it finally says "Good-bye" and shuts itself off.
The Powertouch Learning System is a bit heavy but not too heavy for a child to carry. Courtney has never had a problem carrying her system anywhere but if it's dropped on a little bare foot it will hurt.
One thing that may be a problem depending on where you live is the availability of some of the books. We live in a small city (pop. about 12,000) and don't have a lot of stores. We do have a K-mart and during October of last year they were getting rid of their PowerTouch books and my husband bought all the different ones they had as they were all on sale for 5.99 each. We have found a few titles in a nearby mall but mostly we've had to buy books online, as has family members who have bought her books for Christmas. A couple of titles are just plain impossible to find. I finally found Maggie and the Ferocious Beast Rain Play on eBay after checking for 2 months. I've been trying to find the Angelina Ballerina one and it's no where to be found. I've been checking eBay for months and have even checked the eBay UK site to no avail. I have a feeling that Fisher Price isn't making any more titles so I've been trying to find and buy all there is available.
The PowerTouch Learning System is often compared to the LeapPad. Will I be buying my daughter a LeapPad in the future? Yes, probably when she turns 6 and starts kindergarten because the LeapPad has many more titles available for school age children than the PowerTouch System has. For now though, the PowerTouch Learning System is just perfect for Courtney. She absolutely loves it, has learned more things than I can possibly list, most titles are available online at reasonable prices (around 15 bucks) and it's highly durable and easy to use. I would highly recommend this learning system for anyone with a child that is preschool age up until about 2nd grade. 4 Stars.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 29.99
Type of Toy: Educational
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years
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Epinions.com ID:
jadzia66
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Member: Cherie
Location: central NY
Reviews written: 187
Trusted by: 80 members
About Me:
I love being a stay at home mom to my 2 beautiful little girls.
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