Comfy Easy PC (Windows)

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. The keyboard-type contraption plugs into your computer via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection, operating separately from the standard keyboard and mouse with its own software, titled "First Steps." Once parents launch the software, the Comfy keyboard takes over. Toddlers prompt animations, songs, and rhymes on the screen by tapping keys on 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 title sells for $20). Our toddler testers love this keyboard and ask to play with it every day.