Comfy Easy PC - EC

A special keyboard with its own software for toddlers.

Publisher: Comfy Category/Genre: Smart Toy - Preschool Platform: Windows Price: $79.99 Graphics: Big and bold Playability: Simple to play Reading Level: None required Release Date: 05/25/2005 ESRB Rating: EC

Common Sense Note

Comfy Easy PC lets toddlers play games on their parents' computers without the risk of deleting files or ruining keyboards. And it can be played in 17 different languages.

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Jinny Gudmundsen

Most parents don't want their drooling babies or sticky-handed toddlers anywhere near their expensive computers. But a new smart toy, Comfy Easy PC, may change that assumption.

With Comfy Easy PC, parents can use their computer to create a dynamic learning environment for kids as young as 1 year without the risk of deleted files, ruined keyboards, and messed-up mice.

Comfy Easy PC is a keyboard-type contraption that plugs into your computer via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection. It operates separately from the standard keyboard and mouse and comes with its own software called "First Steps." Once parents launch the software, the Comfy keyboard takes over. Toddlers cause animations, songs, and rhymes to occur on the screen by tapping on keys of the Comfy keyboard. The 20 keys aren't letters of the alphabet; rather, they are animal friends, colors, musical instruments, a cloud, the moon, and the sun. There is also an interactive spinning roll bar and a telephone receiver.

Touching any key will cause a change on the screen. If a toddler touches the piano key, an animated piano plays music. Exiting the game requires parental help by hitting the "Escape" key on the standard keyboard.

Comfy Easy PC is a fabulous way to introduce toddlers to the concept of cause and effect. It provides an insulated computer environment filled with cute characters and bold graphics in which kids can learn motor, sensory, language, and thinking skills as they play. The software includes three levels of difficulty that roughly correspond to the ages of 1 to 3 years. With many of the activities, if kids repeatedly hit a key, the program rewards them with different animations.

The software can be played in 17 different languages. Parents can add to the system by purchasing additional software, including "Home Hunt," "Let's Imagine," and "New Friends" (each software title sells for $20). Our toddler-testers love this keyboard and ask to play with it every day.

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