Review: Discovery Kids Smart Animal Scanopedia

Written on Dec 9, 2008 by Steve and filed under Jakks Pacific, News, Reviews

The Discovery Kids Smart Animal Scanopedia, by Jakks Pacific, is meant for children 3-years-old and up.  The Scanopedia, and the animals that you can scan with it, provide a fun way to learn about many different animals – from the sounds they make to the habitats they live in.  The Scanopedia will even quiz you about a particular animal.

In the Box

You’ll find the scanner (that uses 3 AA batteries, which are included), one Smart Animal (White Bengal Tiger), and a map in the main box.  If you decide to buy additional animals, there are a few different sets and these “add-on” packs include just the animals or animal habitats in some cases.

Features and Usage

The scanner itself couldn’t be much simpler to use.  Once batteries are installed, you’re ready to go and any button will power it on.  The tip of the scanner is used to scan the Discovery Kids logo on the animals, or the spaces on the fold-out map.  This technology is similar to the LeapFrog Tag Reader, that uses micro-printing for the scanner to figure out what it has scanned.

There are a few buttons on the scanner.  The Fact button will cycle through the built-in facts for the last animal that you’ve scanned.  The Quiz button will ask a question about the last animal that you scanned and you can answer the questions using the True and False buttons.  Finally, there is a scroll wheel that lets you access animals that you’ve unlocked.

The included map is a pretty large fold-out poster that is covered in animals (which can all be scanned by the scanner).  The map can also be used to launch one of three games – just scan the right area to play: Guess that Call, Where in the World Does That Animal Live?, and Guess That Habitat.  The one downside of the map is that it won’t last long in most households unless steps are taken to protect it.  It’s a heavier-stock paper, but it’s still easy to tear and will wear down quickly as kids sit on it, fold it up, and unfold it.

The Smart Animals are high-quality plastic figurines, about 3 inches in size.   Each Smart Animal has a Discovery Kids logo that can be scanned.  Once scanned, you can access six facts and four quizzes about that animal.  In addition. by scanning the Smart Animal, there are 8 additional Bonus Animals, on the map, that are unlocked.  Each Bonus Animal has two facts and three quizzes.  So, to unlock all of the animals on the fold-out map, you’ll have to buy every pack of Smart Animals.  For our review, we had the White Bengal Tiger that came with the scanner, and we had the “Forest Animals” pack that included a leopard, moose, tiger, and red panda.

The facts that are available for each “discovered” animal include:

• Class and Location – What class does the animal fall under and where does it live?
• Height and Weight

Then, if it’s Smart Animal, there are four more facts:

• Lifespan
• Food
• Discovery Fact 1 & 2

The quizzes (one question per quiz) include questions on:

• Predator or prey?
• Habitat
• Diet
• Who is bigger? (only for Smart Animals)

Bottom Line

If your child has an interest in animals and just sponges up animals facts, the Smart Animals Scanopedia is a worthwhile investment for the opportunity of self-lead learning.  While Jakks Pacific says that the Scanopedia is for ages 3+, in my experience, children 5 years and younger may find it frustrating to work with on their own.  However, as we all know very well, each child is different and while one child may be frustrated looking for a particular animal on the somewhat crowded map, another child will have a blast exploring every single animal that they can find.  The additional packs of Smart Animals vary in price, so I’d recommend trying one of the cheaper packs to see how your child likes the Scanopedia and then you can decide later if you want to collect them all.

4 out of 5 stars

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