USA Talking Puzzle Reviews

• Don't Be Fooled -- This Toy Is Great At ANY Age!!

  
  By ARYAM0UCPGC06 on 2003-01-15
  .
  How many of us adults can correctly recite ALL 50 State Capitals?

  This educational product (yes, it's more than just a toy) is a terrific learning device for children ... or adults ... of any age. Push any State and the Talking Puzzle announces the State name, capital, motto, etc. back to you! We purchased this for our middle schools kids to memorize all of the State capitals, and it has worked beautifully. The plastic puzzle pieces are also removable so one can test his/her knowledge of every State's location in the U.S. by replacing it correctly on the map.

  Having looked at similar products ... board games, GeoSafari, books ... this is the "hands-down" favorite by far! And for about 20 bucks, a sure winner!

  We strongly urge the manufacturing design team who created this to produce a similar product for World Capitals ... what a fantastic global learning tool THAT would be! In the meantime, the "USA Talking Puzzle" is YOUR ANSWER to painlessly teaching the U.S. States and their capitals to children ... or their parents ... of any age.

  Enjoy.
  
  

• EXTREMELY NICE TOY, EVEN I LEARNED THINGS!!

  
  By A249EDCV3LAXGX on 2002-09-21
  This is a wonderful educational toy!! Scholastic definitly has a hit right on the mark with this wonderful addition to the world of children's educational materials!! I bought this for my 3 year old son and all three of my kids (ages 6, 5 and 3) cannot stop playing with it!! It teaches them what the state looks like on the map and important information about each state. On top of the wonderful educational value, your child can improve hand/eye coordination by putting the puzzle together. If you are a big supporter of educational toys/materials, then this is a must have. You will not be disappointed with your purchase!! Don't miss out on this super value, they are sure to become hard to find!!
  
  

• Map accuracy

  
  By on 2004-03-14
  We liked the description of the map puzzle and thought it would be perfect for our puzzle-loving toddler, but we read an Amazon review (dated 11/03) noting that the upper peninsula of Michigan was colored the same as Wisconsin. Obviously, accuracy is important for an educational toy, so we planned on buying it and painting the piece to fix the Michigan problem. But when the puzzle arrived, both parts of Michigan were yellow, and Wisconsin was blue - the manufacture has fixed that oversight!

  Note however that some of the small Northeastern & New England states are combined on single puzzle pieces, so in fact the puzzle only has 44 pieces, not 50. Toddlers won't mind because the puzzle is fun, but parents might think twice before buying for children trying to learn all the states.
  
  

• excellent for all ages

  
  By on 2003-03-15
  I purchased this toy as a Christmas gift for my 7 yr old. He loves maps. I find my 2 1/2 yr and my 5 yr old playng with it all the time. My 5 yr old knows his states and capitals and my 2 1/2 yr old already knows approx. half the states and where they are located. This is and excellent toy . I highly recommend this to any parent for any child.As far as durability ... this this has been tugged and dropped, and is still perfect .
  
  

• Amazing educational tool!

  
  By on 2003-08-13
  My two granddaughters (aged 2 and 5) have this puzzle and both know most or all of the state capitals and state nicknames. The 2-year old especially puts together the puzzle, dumps it out and puts it together again over and over for hours on end. My daughter says that when neighbor kids visit, this puzzle is the toy of choice. Based on this, I bought one for my grandson, aged 3.
  
  
• Great Learning Toy!
  By A1IBTZ7QRUEA67 on 2004-09-17
  I bought this for my 2 year old grandson, he already knows most of the song "America the Beautiful" and he knows what state he was born in and what states that his family members live in. The puzzle part of the map is a great idea too, it took a few times but he can get almost all of the puzzle put back together on his own.
  
  The toy is a bit loud, but what the heck, kids love louder things! I can't wait to get him the World Map.
  
  I would purchase this item for any young child, it is fun for us grown-ups too!
  
  
• Stopped working,kids very disappointed.
  By A9I85XL45GXI9 on 2005-11-14
  Bought this for my 5 year old twins last year for Christmas..they loved it, their Grandmother loved working it with them, I am telling you it was a hit! However, after about one month, it stopped talking on one quarter of the puzzle..the Northwest. I first thought it just needed a battery change, but after trying two sets of new batteries, I realized it was a goner, and no fun if it only partially worked. I buy pretty early for the holidays and taking this back or sending it back is usually limited to 30 days, so, I ended up paying $30.00 for a months worth of toy. It is a great toy, but keep this in mind when you buy, that if it goes bad, you have the reciept, etc.
  
  
• Awesome educational toy
  By on 2004-02-19
  My 4 year old loves maps, so this was a great Christmas present for him. Now he knows where all of the states are and almost all of the capitals! He also knows the Pledge of Allegience now. The only thing I don't like is the speaker is on the back of the puzzle, so if you set it on the carpeted floor or couch it's muffled (and you have to lay it almost flat otherwise the pieces will fall out). But the volume is real loud if you hold it upright and there's no volume control. But overall, it's a great toy and one of my son's favorites. I bought another one for a family member and she loves it too.
  
  
• GEOGRAPHY
  By A22ABS3ZVD2NBV on 2005-03-18
  THE SCHOOLS MAY HAVE REMOVED GEOGRAPHY FROM THE CLASSROOMS, BUT THEY CAN'T TAKE IT AWAY FROM THOSE WHO LEARNED IT MANY YEARS AGO. PRESUMEABLY THOSE OF US WHO WOULD BUY THIS ITEM. TAKE A LOOK AT THE PUZZLE OF OUR GREAT UNITED STATES. NOW, WISCONSIN MAYBE WANTS THAT PART OF MICHIGAN, BUT IT OPERATES UNDER MICHIGAN LAW AND IS CALLED UPPER MICHIGAN OR THE UPPER PENNINSULA OF MICHIGAN. NO WHERE IS IT CALLED WISCONSIN. I WAS RATHER CONFUSED RIGHT AWAY WHEN THE DESCRIPTION OF THE PUZZLE SAID THERE ARE 44 PUZZLE PIECES. THE LAST I KNEW, THERE ARE 50 STATES AND 48 CONTIGUOUS STATES. THE IDEA OF THIS TALKING MAP IS GREAT, BUT LET'S GET IT CORRECT FOLKS.
  
  GRANDPARENT LIVING IN MICHIGAN
  
  
• Inaccurate
  By on 2003-11-18
  The upper peninsula of Michigan is blue and looks like it's part of Wisconsin. My 5 year-old niece lives in Wisconsin and my parents are from the UP. I won't buy this product because I don't want my niece to think that the UP is part of Wisconsin!
  
  
• FYI: The actual manufacturer's age is 5+ (on the box)
  By A23ENF0S9T01NI on 2005-05-25
  Amazon incorrectly shows the manufacturer's recommended age as 3+. The box says 5+.
  
  Also, the sound quality on this toy is somewhat poor.
  
  
• Great toy!
  By A1BWJHZ5F8ULXM on 2005-10-27
  We have a neighbor who has this toy and we play with it all the time. I'm looking into getting one. My son is 2-1/2 and he loves it. What is really cool about it is that each puzzle piece has its own separate compartment so you can put as many pieces in as you want and they won't slip anywhere. Some of the pieces are small so you have to be careful around infants (don't want anybody to choke). Also, there is one puzzle piece that is 3 or 4 new england states combined in one puzzle piece. Doesn't really do a good job teaching the kids those states, but it's not a big deal. My son is really learning his states and where they are on a map. Great toy! Two thumbs up!
  
  
• Where's the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia?
  By A2TUCFNQCGU0G0 on 2003-05-23
  I'm sure this would be a wonderful map if it were accurate, but this toy, as well as many others, cuts off the northern panhandle of West Virginia. There is a small strip of the state, just a few miles wide that runs along the Ohio river between Ohio and Pennsylvania and it is distressing that so many map makers, particularly ones aimed at teaching our youth, continue to cut it off. I know, I live in Weirton, West Virginia, which is 30 miles west of Pittsburgh, PA.

  Don't buy this toy if you want your child to know the REAL shape and locations of the United States!
  
  

• Great learning toy!
  By A394IYA0QS9E8E on 2005-11-19
  We bought this for my son's 4th birthday....he absolutely loves it! He learned the Pledge of Allegiance and most of the words to "America, the Beautiful" in a couple of days! My 17 month old also loves listening to it!
  Really worth the $$!!!
  
  
• My kid is a geography whiz now!
  By A1TA2B6NEAKJV8 on 2005-11-28
  My 4 year old daughter LOVES this and plays with it all the time. She knows ALL of the states and capitals...it is amazing!
  
  
• Awesome learning toy!!!
  By A29WKYZ8MLWU8Z on 2005-12-05
  This puzzle is so great! I searched and searched for a puzzle of the United States for my 5 year old daughter. I was looking for something to help her learn the states/capitals, etc. This seemed to be perfect and IT WAS!!! Now, my 22 month old son loves to play with it too!!
  
  Take a chance, BUY THIS TOY. It is NEVER to early to LEARN!!!!!
  
  
• GREAT STORAGE DRAWER FOR PUZZLE PIECES
  By on 2004-01-25
  My son is a USA puzzle nut, so he was thrilled to receive this gift. What I especially like about this puzzle is: #1:Each shape fits into its own compartment, so my 2 year old daughter can figure it out too if she keeps turning the piece around until it fits #2: There is a storage drawer on the side for easy clean up. I just wish there were a volume control on it (when the states are pushed, the name of the state is recited along with other facts, but I can live with that.
  
  
• Love this puzzle
  By A2TKMD6RLT8HPA on 2004-12-14
  I bought this for our 3 almost 4 year old son because he is obsessed with maps. He took to it right away and plays with it daily. I can't beleive how fast he has caught on to all the states/capitals and already is singing "America the Beautiful" I love this puzzle as much as he does. On our map the UP part if Wisconsin is yellow to match Michigan. I saw on a previous review it was the same color as Wisconsin and that could be confusing because it's part of Michigan and should be colored that way. It was correct on ours so maybe they fixed that.
  
  Anyway, HIGHLY recommend this toy. It's a great puzzle and learning toy at the same time.
  
  
• A great way for kids to learn their states
  By A18I7DW50VCTT on 2005-02-23
  This is the best learning aid I have seen so far for getting kids to learn the fifty states. My six-year-old son has been able to memorize them all, and he started with this map when he was three. Now my younger son, age three, is starting to learn with the same map, and my older son is beginning to work on state capitals.
  
  The map's audio identifies each state when pushed, also gives the state's nickname, and its capital. The board also has permanently affixed buttons that play the Pledge of Allegiance and the song America the Beautiful. The map pieces can be lifted out of the board and presented as a puzzle challenge. This really helps children identify states by their shapes. Many competing map puzzles just stick together six or seven states into a simple puzzle piece. Only the tiniest states in New England and the Atlantic Coast are joined into single pieces on the map, so most states are the shape of their puzzle piece.
  
  If I had a nitpick about this map, it's that it would be nice to have a locking feature that can prevent the pieces from falling out once the puzzle is assembled, because young children will scatter and lose the state pieces. It was more important to my kids to build the name and location recognition than to solve the puzzle challenge, so our temporary solution was to take clear packaging tape (the wide rolls) and gently tape over the whole map, to hold all the puzzle pieces in place. Now that the kids are much more responsible about cleaning up, we've removed the tape.
  
  
• Great learning toy!!
  By A41NXBP091WM5 on 2005-07-08
  I bought this for my daughter when she was four. She is now six and still plays with it all the time! I'm amazed at how much she has learned. We live in Michigan and I am aware that it is attached to Wisconsin on the puzzle but I assure you that my daughter knows that the U.P. is part of our state. Now, I will warn you that the music will drive you CRAZY!! But a little duct tape over the speaker can fix that little annoyance. I think its a small price to pay for my daughter knowing the pledge of allegiance when she started preschool. And YES they still say it every morning in our school district!!!
  
  
• Great Learning Tool!!!
  By A3VGWCJ5C4TE8E on 2005-10-11
  My son received this puzzle for Christmas when he was 2 and still loves it now. One day he started rattling off the States and their capitals, my husband and I were floored. For a child that enjoys puzzles this is a wonderful addition.
  
  
• Was great for a year
  By A9KOHVIS70IF8 on 2005-10-23
  We all loved this toy!!!! My son got this for his 4th b-day and he actually kept it all together. We only ran into a problem when it started telling us about Lousiana, when no one was near it. Very scarey in the middle of the night! Tried to change the batteries. Didn't help........may have just been ours, but be forwarned. :)
  
  
• Wonderful Toy
  By AVM1YNZ26JJ4R on 2005-08-20
  I bought this map toy for my 4 year old son and he LOVES IT!! He had shown an interest in maps and I thought he would enjoy it. He plays with it everyday and within 2 weeks already has memorized half of the state names and knows where all the state pieces go. The only thing that he doesn't understand is when they give the state nicknames.
  
  
• Good toy if it worked.....
  By A1DP4ZD33ELOOG on 2006-02-09
  I like the idea of this toy but the lower half of the puzzle has never worked. I have replaced the batteries and tried various things but... nothing.
  
  I was also disapointed at the representation of New England, where I live, and Hawaii, where I used to live. The accuracy of the map lacks something but I can see it would be a good first learning tool, if it worked.
  
  
• Wonderful!
  By A3S4HL2QE9SSRP on 2006-06-30
  This was bought as a Christmas gift intended for my [...], but my [...] fell in love with it instead. At age two he knows pretty much all of the states and their capitals thanks to this map.
  
  The volume is just the right level, not too loud. It's wonderful that it comes with it's own storage drawer for the states, which actually stays shut and doesn't spill all over while you carry it around. You do have to be careful not to let it get stepped on though. States that get stepped on stop working. Some of the smaller states are a definite choking hazard for kids who still put things in the mouth.
  
  
• Fun and Educational!
  By A2VTP5A89JHC5K on 2005-01-05
  This toy was purchased for my 4 yr old daughter and 2 yr old son. They both absolutely LOVE putting it together and within 1 day learned The Pledge of Allegiance. It is so amazing to see my daughter recognize some of the states before putting it together!
  
  This really is a wonderful educational toy and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in teaching their children a little about geography.
  
  
• Worth every penny!
  By A32423IFH1HEPN on 2005-09-18
  We got this for my 2.5 year old son, he loves to memorize things and this toy was right up his alley. He is now 3.5 and knows every state, capital, motto, and where they go in the puzzle. It certainly didn't take him a year to learn it all, I just can't remember how long that took. Anyway, the Wisconsin/Minnesota thing is correct on our toy, and I think the sound quality is very good. The words are very understandable for the most part. I know someone else who reviewed it had a problem with having multiple states on one puzzle piece but good grief, do you really want teeny tiny pieces laying around? We all love this toy.
  
  
• I only wish it would have worked
  By A6SEZYU4VJRO7 on 2006-08-04
  I waited for months for this toy to be in stock. I finally got it in, and it didn't work. Half of the states do not function. I had to go through a big hassle with amazon.com, and I got most of my money back. If you order it, check all the states immediately to see if they work. I checked a few before I wrapped it for my son's birthday, but by the time he opened it and we found out it didn't work well, the 30 days had expired on returns. Amazon did accept the return anyway, but it took a while. Buy a wooden puzzle,and tell your kids the info on your own.
  
  
• Good but needs some quality control!
  By AY1NUCXXJ5WD5 on 2007-01-01
  This is a fun and educational toy that my child just loves. However on some pieces the name of the state was printed upside-down. Apparently they need better quality control. Other than that, everything else seems to work fine (we are keeping our fingers crossed on this one because of some of the other reviews I've read).
  
  
  
• Excellent Toy
  By A3P09N99T4VIXZ on 2007-01-07
  My son (5) and daughter (2 1/2) both love this toy. They have learned a lot of U.S. geography in just 2 weeks!
  
  

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