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 Collection 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 Collection 3!