Blue's Room: Blue Talks! (Windows)

Unlike on the Nick Jr. show, where an animated Blue communicates with yelps, in BLUE'S ROOM: BLUE TALKS! she's a 3-D fuzzy puppet who can talk when she is in her special room. With Blue and her friends -- Dictionary, Polka Dots, Dress-Up Chest, Frederica, Doodle Board, Roar E. Saurus, Silly Seat and others -- preschoolers explore six activities that teach early literacy and problem-solving. They meet in Blue's Room, a colorful playroom with special areas that animate when clicked.

With Dress-Up Chest and Blue, kids help shape three stories by selecting items to add to the tales. In another activity, preschoolers learn new words with Frederica and Dictionary while holding a birthday party. Doodle Board offers a delightful mystery game in which players try to figure out what Doodle is drawing. Kids also play a music-listening game with Roar E. Saurus, and with Polka Dots they play "I Spy" and peek-a-boo games.

All six activities are fun to play and offer age-appropriate learning skills for kids ages 3 to 5. They engage preschoolers in a manner that is refreshingly new. While the activities aren't available in different levels, they are random to keep kids' interest. The software also provides a special area where kids can print activities to play away from the computer.