By Rosa

It was only a matter of time that cook books were going to be interactive. 

America’s Test Kitchen: Let’s Get Cooking has 300 recipes from appetizers to desserts.  It’s good for beginners and those who like to try new things.  It allows you to have the entire family and friends help out and get involved.

Before choosing any recipe, you are informed on how many calories it has, how long it takes and most important which ingredients you will need.  Out of all of the recipes, I chose to cook the Big Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (I love chocolate chip cookies).  Before I started, I looked at the ingredients and made sure I had everything.  Next, I made sure I had the utensils I was going to need near me and then my cooking adventure began.

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By Divina

Don’t you just love Dora?  She is so cute and now this Holiday season your kids can help her save the Crystal Kingdom and take care of her Puppy.

Dora The Explorer: Dora Save the Crystal Kingdom Wii game retails at $39.99 and PS2 game $19.99.

Quick synopsis:  A greedy King has taken the crystals that make the Crystal Kingdom colorful.  Dora along with Boots have to bring the color back by having fun as they fly with butterfly wings and bounce off sparkling crystals.  The game is based on a direct to DVD movie of the same name.

So if your kids enjoyed the movie they are going to love the educational problem solving games that help them with your colors, shapes and sizes and of course their Spanish speaking.  

My favorite aspect of the game was the Storybook Helper which allows parents or a big brother or big sister to jump into the game if your little one needs some help.

This is perfect for children 4 to 6 years old. 

Dora The Explorer: Dora Puppy DS game retails for $29.99

Dora has a new puppy, Perrito and she needs help taking care of him. 

Your children can groom him, play fetch, hide and seek and even enter a puppy competition. 

There are over 10 activities to do with Perrito but my favorite was earning tokens to buy sweaters and hats for him.    Ha!  Yes, the original dancing hotdogs: Gabor and Ava have quite a collection of outfits and they are too cute.

Dora Puppy is rated for everyone.

By Divina

Until becoming a new mommy, I did not realize just how many educational leaps and bounds have been taken in Children’s television.

I really don’t like Baby Boy to watch too much TV.  He is only 1 and half but in our house Dora, Kai-lan and The Backyardigans are super stars.  So when 2K Play and Nickelodeon sent me copies of their new Wii, PS2 and DS games for our favorite shows I was very excited.

First my reviews on Ni Hao, Kai-lan with Dora and the The Backyardigans to follow in the next few days.

Do your kids love Ni Hao, Kai-lan as much as we do?

Well I have two games for you to add to holiday shopping list.   Ni Hao Kai-lan: Super Game Day (Wii and PS2 formatt) and Ni Hao Kai-lan New Year’s Celebration (DS).  This is the first time Ni Hao, Kai-lan fans have video games to play at home or take with them on trips.

2K Play and Nickelodean take the very best of the TV show Ni Hao, Kai-lan and make two fun and educational games for your preschooler.

I played the Ni Hao Kai-lan: Super Game Day in the Wii format and enjoyed it. 

The games were simple and fun like the badminton, water balloon toss and Soccer Challenge.

I loved how Kai-lan, Rintoo, Tolee, and Hoho encouraged each other and said "That was hard, but I did good" after a challenging game. How sweet.

In Ni Hao Kai-lan: Super Game Day Kai-lan and friends are just playing competition games. 

In Ni Hao Kai-lan New Year’s Celebration Kai-lan and friends are helping Grandfather get everything ready for the Chinese New Year festival.

Your children will be learning about Chinese culture, the language and helping each other as they play this game that makes washing dishes fun! 

The activities and controls are very simple so your 4 year old will not get bored and lose interest.

I thought the Celebration game was much more educational than Super Game day. In Celebration games your children learn to match colors and shapes and so much more.

Of course, in neither game there is foul language or violence so these games are perfect for your 4 to 6 year olds.

Way to go 2K Play and Nickelodeon! 

Ni Hao Kai-lan: Super Game Day Wii game retails at $39.99 and PS2 game $19.99

Ni Hao Kai-lan New Year’s Celebration DS game retails for $29.99