The Smart Cycle by Fisher Price

The outdoors isn't the only place your kids can safely break a sweat. Now they can utilize their minds and bodies with Smart Cycle by Fisher Price! Playing video games and exercise combine to form one activity with the Smart Cycle. It's a stationary cycle, a game console, and a classroom all in one. Your child can play and learn at the same time.

It's both an advantage and a disadvantage that the Smart Cycle doesn't need a separate game console for its games. You can plug it directly into your TV or VCR, insert a game "key," and your child is off to the games. However, this also means that you have a limited range of game
choices and can't use the bike's controls to play another game system's games.

Smart Cycle is designed for kids ages three to six. The child sits in the seat of the bike and pedals to continue the game and steers through it by using the handlebars. There is also a joystick with large, colorful buttons for use with the games and learning material. The handlebars do not adjust for a child's height, something that
should be considered in future models. The seat does adjust for height.

The included racing game involves a race along roadways, during which your child can try to catch letters of the alphabet as he or she rides the bike. This is meant to teach stamina and the willpower to keep going and finish the race. Obstacles along the way include splash puddles and sharp corners; your kid will need to learn the right moves to stay in the game! Other games come with the Smart Cycle as well, including "Shape Lake," where kids can learn about different shapes, and "Math Mountain," where they can practice counting numbers. There is also a two-person car racing game in which kids can compete against each other, and a journal for snapshot compilations of completed exercises on the Smart Cycle.

Smart Cycle's joystick is a way for children to continue to use the system when their legs become tired. The idea behind this is that the mind tires more slowly than the body, and it's better for kids to continue to learn rather than to leave the game console entirely. The concern with this is that some children will only want to play the non-aerobic games, but it's too soon to tell whether this concern has any merit.

If he or she longs for more games, there are several optional game cartridges sold separately that you can buy. These games include popular commercial brand characters like SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Barbie, and Hot Wheels, because Barbie and Hot Wheels are a two-for-one deal in case you have a boy and a girl.

Assembly is about as simple as it gets. The instruction manual is straightforward. All you need is a Phillips head screwdriver and four D batteries. You will need to buy the batteries separately. The same red, white and yellow audio and video plug outlets that you would use for game consoles, VCRs and DVD-Rs are the only plugs you need on you television. The Smart Cycle is 26.7" long, 18.5" wide, and 25.1" wide. It can hold up to 200 lbs.

As for ease of use, the instruction booklet is vital to understanding how to play the video games. There are no built-in tutorials for kids to follow on-screen. This is a downside, as parents will need to help kids remember what to do to use the bike in the beginning. However, once you go over the steps a couple of times, kids will know what to do on their own, and the Smart Cycle isn't too easy or too difficult to control, which should result in lasting interest in using it.

Smart Cycle has enough different games to supply day after day of fun exercise and learning. The extra game cartridges with popular characters are what will send this system flying off the shelves before winter break starts.
 

 

 

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