Educational toys are a bit of a sticky wicket. On one hand, they can’t be too overtly educational, or else the element of fun disappears and they cease to be toys. On the other hand, those that can be classified as “edutainment” are really just a panacea - pure entertainment masquerading as education. The greatest educational toys are those that inspire wonder and further exploration of actual concepts, ideally by parents and children together.

The Discovery Channel Store has struck that perfect balance with both of their new Spark toys - the Spark Talking Microscope and the Spark Talking Telescope. Certainly it helped that the bloggers were interested in the toys (and the concepts behind the toys) themselves. As one blogger put it: “This is a space family. I’ve been interested in astronomy since I was a young girl, and unlike other childhood interests, this one stuck around for good (note the domain name - andromeda? That’s not for the lame TV show, I chose my domain based on my favorite galaxy. Yes, I have a favorite galaxy. Hush.).” And Spark definitely delivers - it’s in their mission statement to “…offer captivating science products that inspire kids to explore and make discoveries for themselves.”

In this first set of bloggers, only one reviewed the microscope. It was an instant hit with her son: “The microscope comes equipped with an array of slides for children to examine - like fleas, mosquitoes, houseflies, and even spiders. For any kid who’s fascinated by bugs? Getting to see them magnified by five times is an irresistible proposition. There’s also cards illustrating how to use the microscope. But honestly? The microscope is so easy to work, the kiddos probably won’t need them. [My son] was examining slides within minutes.” Even though his previous interest in science was largely limited to Star Wars, his enjoyment of the microscope was so great that this blogger commented: “What I would really have liked is for the magnification to have been powerful enough that you could see the tiny hairs on a fly or slides of bigger germs. Perhaps, if he could see that germs actually exist, he’d take more time to wash his hands?”

The rest of the bloggers reviewed the telescope, and it was just as big of a hit with all of them and their kids. They were thrilled by how easy it was to get started:

• “Setting it up was a no-brainer. You basically just take it out of the box, install the 4 AA batteries (not included), insert a slide, turn it on, and you’re ready to go.“
• “I needn’t have worried too much about the instructions; with a little parental assistance, [my daughter] quickly figured out how to operate the telescope.“
• “…you simply insert a slide of your choice, turn the telescope on, enter in the three-letter code on the slide, and the telescope narrates short blurbs of information.“
• “My daughter preferred the quiz option, even when she knew nothing about the topic (the kindergarten curriculum hasn’t exactly covered the solar system yet). I gently encouraged her to maybe try the facts first. Once she did she realized that was a better way to ace the quiz.“

The slides “contain beautiful images of space objects directly from NASA. It includes things in our own solar system (all the planets, the sun, and the moon, as well as the asteroid belt) as well as other further deep space items like comets, a nebula, and galaxies” and “the drawer on the bottom of the telescope that keeps all the slides in one place” was a big hit with mothers who try to minimize clutter. One mom did bring up the hypothetical situation that “if there happens to be a slight battle between one sister holding the telescope and another sister who wants to use it, the slide drawer could possibly fling open and the slides could potentially go flying across the room” as a possible drawback to this means of storage.

The bloggers were also really impressed with the narrative aspect of the telescope:

• “…it’s all simple, concise information that is presented - not too much to be overwhelming to a child, but not dumbed down either.“
• “It’s not too much information, it’s not watered down baby food quality - it’s just right. In fact, some of the information was new to me!“
• “The cool part is that the recording is short and to the point. This is very important in keeping a child’s interest!“

The parents and kids did run into a few glitches, but nothing that diminished their praise for the telescope. One mother commented: “…we couldn’t figure out how to switch from one slide to another without turning off the telescope altogether…Once you’ve listened to them all, you can switch to a new slide - but we were never able to get the scope to understand that we’d done this unless we turned it off first.” Another blogger noted that: “I’m frequently called upon to assist during the slide switching process. The slides must be inserted *just so* in order to be properly viewed, and it takes a little bit of practice to get them to click into place.”

Even so, it was surprising to see how many younger siblings - below the target age range of 5+ - enjoyed the telescope too:

• “…my three year old couldn’t stop playing with it long enough to give everyone else a turn.“
• “…my three year old enjoyed it too - especially once she figured out how to squint one eye and look through the eyepiece with the other…So maybe the facts won’t sink in for her quite yet, but at least she’s getting familiar with the images of earth and other planets.“
• “Even my 2-year-old has had fun checking it out, although he doesn’t have the attention span or motor skills to really enjoy it.“

One blogger even commented on the earth-friendly and consumer-friendly packaging: “I was impressed with the packaging this toy was shipped in - a cardboard box only slightly bigger than the box the toy comes in, padded with nothing but easily recyclable paper. And the telescope was ready to use right out of the box - no wrestling with those crazy-making twisty wire things or hard plastic strips.”

In short, as one blogger summed it up: “Discovery Channel Store Toys has hit the ball out of the park with this toy, according to my kids…Seriously, this toy was HOT in my house.” Sounds like a perfect gift idea to us!

Stay tuned for more reviews, particularly those focused on the Spark Talking Microscope (which promises to be a big hit, just as the Spark Talking Telescope has been!).

Mon 12/10 - Karianna
Tues 12/11 - Little Bird Reviews
Wed 12/12 - Mommy Needs Coffee
Thurs 12/13 - Ebony Mom
Fri 12/14 - Mama Maven
Mon 12/17 - Sarah’s Dandelions
Tues 12/18 - Round-Up Review on PBN