As parents who are dedicated to the education of our kids, we’re always searching for products to help us enhance learning on our own. I’ve heard the saying that it takes parents to make a school; the more involved the parents are, the better the experience for all the kids. And I’m thinking that involved doesn’t just mean attending meetings and school performances. It also means helping kids learn and not laying that burden solely on the teachers.

Brighter Minds Media has a long-standing record of making fun and educational products that help parents do just that. And from what I can tell, there’s a great reason why they are so popular. They make being smart fun, enjoyable, and something that the whole family can participate in together.

As far as the Brain Quest DVD game (Grades 1-3/Ages 6-8) goes, our bloggers have been more than happy with the results. Sure they can’t test to see whether their kids are smarter from playing the game. But in a world where DVDs, TV, and everything else involve little interaction from our kids, it’s nice to find something that actually gets kids playing, thinking, and doing.

The bloggers from the first half of the review campaign highlighted how much the Brain Quest game was useful for car trips — not just the cards themselves, but also the DVD. And the parents from this round couldn’t agree more. “For those of you wishing you had something to plug into the car’s DVD player that doesn’t involve princesses or cowboys who befriend astronauts, you WANT to give this game a try!”

And even moreso than the parents, the kids loved the game.  “I have to say, I was expecting my kids to hate it. At first, I didn’t think it was so fun because it wasn’t very game-like.  My kids absolutely loved it and played it for over an hour.” “My son says Brain Quest is “fun.” I think he enjoys testing his knowledge and learning new things as much as I enjoy cheering him along…”

The bloggers appreciated the educational value of the game, and felt it was a nice change for a rainy day or when parents are frustrated with the lack of educational shows available. “When the weather’s not good for sending the kids outside, this could be a good way for parents to feel like the kids are learning a few facts, while the kids themselves think they’ve tricked their parents into some extra television time!”

While a couple of bloggers in the first round of reviews wanted more praise for the kids for correct answers, this set of bloggers really appreciated that there were no congratulatory sounds or on the other hand, noises to indicate a wrong answer. “I especially appreciated the lack of dramatic sound effects when a child failed to answer correctly.”

Personally, I liked the non-competitive nature of this game. There were no “Woo hoos” or “You’re a genius!” exaltations for correct answers, and similarly, no “gongs” or “Oh nos!” for mistakes. There were no tallies of right and wrong answers, and thus, no winners or losers.

There were mixed reviews in terms of the perceived difficulty of the questions. Clearly, bloggers with children on the cusp of the next set (Age 8-10) found the questions on the easier side — children younger in age seemed to benefit more although a few felt that the questions were a bit hard for the just 6-year-old set.

And while most of the bloggers agreed that any complaint about the menu and dvd user friendliness was outweighed by the fun and enjoyment of the game, it was a consistent issue (in both sections of the review campaign) with many of the bloggers.

My biggest criticism of the DVD was the lack of a menu.  It was not an easy DVD to navigate.  And there really isn’t a way to stop the game and come back later if you need a break.  Each time you want to start, you have to start over.  That did not go over well with the kids. 

But overall, it was hearty thumbs-up for Brain Quest. “This is a really wonderful product - the kids love it, it is easy to use, and perfectly geared for ages 6-8. I highly recommend this game.“