USA Talking Puzzle

FOR KIDS WHO LIKE PUZZLES,WHAT A GREAT WAY TO LEARN THE STATES' LOCATIONS AND THEIR CAPITOLS AS WELL~~

This is a great toy and my daughter spent an hour playing with it the second it arrived today. She's having fun figuring out where the states go and loves listening to the songs. I can see that it will only be a matter of days before she learns the states and their capitals.

However, we were a little disappointed when we pushed on Oregon, the state we live in. The puzzle used the common mispronunciation of Oregon as "Or-i-gone" when the proper pronunciation is "Or-E-gun." I truly think an educational toy should have the proper pronuncation of all states.

We had this States puzzle when my guys were little. They played with it so much that soon they knew not only the States, but also the State Capitals! When you place a piece into the correct location, it tells you the name of the state, the state capital and the state nickname. The only annoying thing is that it plays America The Beautiful when you press the flag and it takes a long time to play. There is a drawer (at least on ours) on the side to hold all of the pieces for safe keeping and the bonus... if you lose a piece, you can order more from their website!

I bought this for my 2 year old last year for Christmas (2007), and this year she is saying the pledge. She can sing. "O Beautiful" too. I love this puzzle is it great. The hardest part is keeping the states together. I put them in a bag to keep them together.

It's a great way to learn the states and the capitols! It gives you that spatial memory that can be so important. We use it and a few other items to make up our own map game. It could be improved. A quiz mode would be great! The names of the capitols printed clearly somewhere (even in the pull out slot on the side) would be nice because many kids learn by seeing. And what about the star spangled banner? It's got the pledge of allegiance, and America the beautiful, which are fine and all but the Star spangled banner is arguably one of the best national anthems on the planet, why not include it?

Also some note about how Alaska and Hawaii are out of scale and out of place. I understand this might not be easy, but they could include it on a supplementary mini book, or a few cards. Don't get me wrong it is a great tool, but I am left filling in a lot of the details. Also the storage pocket works not too well to store the pieces as it won't close when all the pieces are in. Last gripe is the state names could be printed more clearly. You do need pretty good light to read them.

I bought this during the recent presidential election so the kids could visualize what was going on better and have some understanding of the complex nature of our democracy. We like it. Don't stop making it please, but considering the limitations, it could be a few bucks cheaper. Actually now that I look at the price, it is a few bucks cheaper than what I paid!

A side note, we also have the leapfrog globe but the kids are really still too young for that. This is something different altogether, and worth buying I think. Use it for a year or two and then donate it to your school! Or pass it on to the cousins, just don't lose the pieces! Unlike a globe, the information contained is not likely to change.

A software version would be a great!