Vtech - Fly & Learn Globe Reviews

• It's ok

  
  By A1JOU3XKPXQMQK on 2005-11-09
  I was really excited to get this for my 4 yr old dd last X-mas but she has never really played with it. It is very hard to navigate the plane and it doesn't stop when you reach your destination. Anyway, I would not recommend it. However, my 2 yr old liked playing with it but didn't learn anything...he just liked the plane!
  
  

• needs more work at the lab

  
  By A20AE8H0SBFEHH on 2005-12-29
  The concept was a good idea, but the execution a bit flawed. It was difficult to get the joystick to move to the exact location. It also didn't register the place that you wanted to find out about when you clicked on it.
  
  

• Fly & Learn Globe

  
  By A2OV8NA7OFXX9 on 2007-02-01
  The Fly and Learn Globe is a talking globe aimed at the preschool market. Unlike standard globes, it only depicts the continents and limits its teaching to approximately 20 or so "destinations". Also unique to this product is an attached plane that the child can "fly around the world" with the attached joy stick.
  
  There are five ways to play. Mode 1 (My first atlas): Landing on a destination will allow the child to hear about the place, its famous sites, the people that live there or learn some simple phrases (hello, thank you, good bye) in the native language. Mode 2 (Find our friends): The child listens to clues and is rewarded if they can fly to the correct friend. Some of the "destinations" are people. Mode 3 (Quiz time): The child listens to clues and is rewarded if they fly to the correct location. Mode 4 (Flight Adventures): The child is asked to find a series of locations. Mode 5 (Music & Sounds): When the child lands on a "destination" they will hear local music or a corresponding sound.
  
  I love VTech toys but this one misses the mark. A preschooler will enjoy flying the plane and hearing the plane sounds but will not have the eye hand coordination to land exactly on the destinations. If they can't hit the targeted destinations then they really will not be able to play in anything but Mode 1. In addition, activating the game requires a double click which I don't know if some preschoolers will remember to do. Finally, the places chosen for destinations don't quite make alot of sense to this reviewer and give a slightly unusual introduction to geography.
  
  Amazon lists the age range as 36 months -12 years but children old enough to master this toy will be very turned off by the graphics and the limited number of destinations. My son is 7 and declared this a baby toy. If you are thinking about getting a talking globe, I would try one of the Leap Frog products.
  
  
  
  

• I would actually give it NO STARS - waste of money & space

  
  By A1EEG1T6PE6E66 on 2006-08-08
  This toy contains MAYBE ten pieces of useful/educational information - all of it difficult to get to (joystick is hard to pinpoint with) and accompanied by time-wasting, annoying music.
  
  It's huge and does ONLY these few things.
  
  Plus, for the ages recommended, it's either too difficult to navigate (for preschoolers) or too "childish" (for anyone over 4).
  
  Much better to invest in one piece of geography (Geography with Pipo, for example) computer software for the same money, and TONS more info.
  
  

• My son loves it

  
  By A2PUIUVOF7RSU1 on 2006-06-10
  My son has asked for this toy every time we have gone to the store for the past month or so. Finally I gave in and got it for him against my better judgement. I had read the reviews here but and didn't think too highly of this toy but he really doesn't ask for much so I got it for him.
  Its a great toy! He has had so much fun flying that plane. I even sat down and gave it a go. I'm not having problems controlling it at all, it does register the places I want it to and its just a fun toy. Perhaps the batteries were low on the toys where it go bad reviews? I think its a great toy, the only thing I think could have been better would be for a few more places to be on the globe, even if that meant making it a bit bigger.
  Overall I think this is a great and educational toy.
  
  
• Pleased and enthusastic
  By A2FVTWIG4IRFBZ on 2006-01-30
  I like the activities the globe has to offer. It was easy for my 6 yr old to operate. Great activities for learning.
  
  
• Very Very fun and Gets Played with Often
  By A3P62937P3ZW4M on 2006-11-04
  I thought the $[...] price tag at Thinker Toys was steep, but then found it at Amazon for less than half that!! What a great deal and a really happy toy. May frustrate the wee ones, but is fun for my 3 1/2 year old.
  
  
• READ THIS COMMENT BEFORE YOU BUY
  By ALGR9IM9GOENV on 2007-01-02
  THis toy is a waste of money. I am another who agrees w/ previous comments that it's very hard to navigate w/ the joystick (it's not very precise movement) ESPECIALLY for a child (3 year old- forget about it). as an adult, i had a very hard time getting it to land exactly where intended. I also noticed that, even though the desired location appeared to be inside the little magnifying glass, it would not read as such. good idea- but horrible execution. And NO- my batteries were not low- they are NEW! i think that previous reviewer who had absolutely no problems is suspect...
  
  
• VTech Fly & Learn Globe review
  By A1NN9RU4H0W7ZK on 2007-02-08
  Way too difficult for a tiny child with tiny hands to manage the "airplane" magfifying glass. "Sites" difficult for a grown up to determine, let alone a 3 year old. Would have been nice if they had made the states and countries identifiable. We do enjoy it even with these limitations. Just don't expect too much. I also think there should be more games....it is very limited in it's educational scope.
  
  
• Way disappointed...
  By AKFF59O8JA4RC on 2007-03-09
  This toy is just not what I thought it was going to be like... It's a very cool idea that was not made up the right way... Unfortunately!!!.. it's hard to be used by a kid (even by an adult). I think they could've identified more countries to make it more fun.. they missed Central America!!!!!...(they missed 7 countries doing that, what a way to teach world geography!) besides they say people who are hispanics speak HISPANIC!!!.. that's not even a language.. It's spanish, and I think that even a kid can know better than that. If you're making a toy that will provide world geography the least that you can do is looking up the right information so you don't make this kind of mistakes. I'm from Ecuador and I speak Spanish. If you get this toy, please make sure you tell your kids that we are hispanics, but we speak SPANISH. Thank you!!!...
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Kid tested, uncle approved
  By A3QAWCUYW2NIZH on 2007-07-10
  My wife's sister's husband's mom bought this for my niece... I'll give you a second to work that one out ... and she LOVES it. She flies the plane around the globe even after having the toy for almost a year.
  
  After seeing how much she liked it, I bought this as a Christmas present for one of my friend's kids (four, the same age as my niece), and he loves it too (or at least so my friends say). Here's how I know that little boy got something out of this toy:
  
  My wife and I as well as my friends were vacationing in Mexico. On the phone the little boy said, "Daddy take care of Mommy when you're in Mexico. They have dangerous Pyramids there." Now there were no pictures of Mayan pyramids on this globe, and he probably got mixed up with Egypt, but the point is that he was at least somewhat aware of the wider world out there!
  
  Would definitely recommend this to anyone with kids 3 or older. My only (minor) critique is that the "North South" control on the joystick is WAY too sensitive. You can go from the South to the North pole in about a second, and even adults have trouble steering it. The East-West control is an appropriate speed. My niece just physically moves the plane North-South while using the joystick East-West (the toy holds up well to this).
  
  
• Okay, but there are better toys
  By AEWYUPCNDV7HY on 2006-12-26
  As far as educational toys go, there certainly are better.. how about LeapPad World Geography or one of the LeapPad Globes? Your child would learn more with Leappad but I do think that this subject is far too advanced for pre-schoolers. My 4 year old daughter received this last year as a Christmas gift and although it looks nice on her dresser, it rarely gets played with. When it does get played with, it's usually a fight with her brother to see who can get it to work right. I like the fact that this is a game, a globe, and educational all rolled into one, but it needs some further improvements before I would buy one for anyone else.
  
  
• great globe!
  By A2H1R6VSH8PL7Y on 2007-01-09
  We bought this for our Godson who is 4 and he loves it! Great way to learn travel and distance at this age. It was important for us because he is in Arizona and we are in Michigan. Now he realizes why we only see each other sometimes rather than every day!
  
  
• Great fun for Learning!!!
  By A2ZIMEVPRHM3EX on 2007-01-11
  This is a very neat learning toy that both parents and kids can do together or the kids can do it themselves. It has several different learning modes that does an excellent job of teaching not just about different countries but cultures as well. I bought it for my seven year old son and he loves it and would definately recommend it to others!
  
  
• Great Toy but Low Accuracy
  By A24Y8Q3UOVFCQ7 on 2007-01-12
  A great and wonderful idea, the globe give your child basic geography understanding but it may be frustrating 'cause its low tolerance can make you give wrong answers.
  
  
• Great concept...make sure you get one that works.
  By A1BWQ3RK97WELK on 2007-01-27
  When I first heard of this..I thought it sounded great. As a mother and teacher, I couldn't think of a better toy. However, I did learn some new things. For example, the Pacific Ocean is right next to Europe (Asia doesn't exist unless you are lucky enough to hit the 1mm spot that the globe will register as Asia). There is only South Africa..the rest of the continent...nonexistant! I expect better out of Vtech! Oh well..another toy that looks great, but is a waste of money!
  
  Update: While in the store, I saw this again. I played with it while in it's box and it seemed to be great. Much more accurate. So, I returned my defective one for the new one. We've had the newer one for about a year now. It's great. My children like to toy..and it's educational. The toy registers the correct locations now. I guess we just had a defective one before.
  
  
• Hard to use
  By AFNOCITRY927Q on 2007-03-05
  This toy has really neat sounds and a lot of activities. The problem with it is that it is hard to control. The joy stick flops around, and it is hard to stop on the place you choose. It is hard for me to control as an adult, so you can imagine that a 4 year old has a really rough time. My doughter got so frustrated with it she just quit playing with it.
  
  
• Good concept, but needs work
  By A3A9SFNCUGNHTU on 2007-05-08
  I bought this for my 6 year old niece for Christmas. When it arrived, I was disappointed. I ended up giving it to my 3 year old. She liked it, but lost interest in it. When my two nieces came over (the 6 year old and a 10 year old), they lost interest much quicker. They knew more information than the toy offered by what they learned in school. I think the concept is great, it needs more...more information about more places than currently offered. Back to the drawing board I say.....
  
  
• Good first step in geography
  By A28U45TM55YKZ9 on 2007-05-17
  I bought this for a [...] I was able to show her very quickly how to use the gears and buttons to find the countries. After only a few times, she was able to find several countries on her own. The plastic seems a little fragile, so I'm not sure how long this will work, but for the price, it's a good deal.
  
  
• Wonderful first globe, lots of learning potential.
  By A25RPYMGCS4EB7 on 2007-07-18
  We purchased this globe a few years ago for my then three year old. He still plays with it, and the music and controls are easy enough and can with stand my one year old. I just purchased the newer model (shown) for our nephew. Hope he gets as much enjoyment from it as we have!! I have recommended it many times!
  Stacy
  
  
• good toy
  By A2EGDCMU5225SK on 2007-01-09
  we bought this last year, and it still works fine, and my son is very rough with toys. it's a nice beginning to the concept of the earth, and other country's/continents.
  
  
• Good Early Exposure to Globe
  By AWIQPZST6O2BE on 2007-11-28
  I bought this at a toy outlet at a great price for my kindergarten classroom. They were all interested in it, especially at the beginning of school. It is hard to get the plane in an exact spot. Most kids just like moving the plane aroud and don't really answer the questions. Even so, I think this is a great toy to expose a young child to the concept of a globe and what our earth looks like.
  
  
• 3 year old knows where machu-pichu is
  By A1Z6KO0UZL2TR8 on 2007-12-17
  My friend gave this toy to my son for his 3rd birthday. Let me say it's such an educational toy. Not only he learned that Machu-Pichu is in South America, he learned where the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean is on the map. Some reviews complain about the joystick and the plane not landing on the right area. The concept of giving children educational toy is for parents to guide them with it instead of giving them the toy and learn for themselves. My son being only three years old and knowing where the Statue of Liberty, Sydney Opera house, Great Wall of China, etc is a great accomplishment.
  
  
• so many choices
  By A11N9HCSGFHFXU on 2007-12-25
  My 5 year old grandson loved the joy sick and the plane - but with all teh options - he easily slides the pointer along the choice options in mid sentence. We are afraid he is going to burn out the motor. Once we cslm him down - and he can respect the toy for what it is suppose to do - I think he will love it. In the begining it is a lot of fun and nois and I don't think he was understanding it's purpose
  
  
• Globe Fun
  By A2KIQ4CXDVPABM on 2008-01-03
  My five year old and seven year old daughters love this globe. It teaches about different continents and significant landmarks on those continents. It also has the local music and specific words spoken in the language common to the countries. It's a lot of fun.
  
  

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