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I'm not sure who was more excited about receiving the Oregon Smart Globe Adventure a few weeks ago, little J or John and I. I absolutely love anything to do with maps, countries, capitals but have never actually owned a globe so this was very exciting. The Smart Globe Adventure is an interactive globe giving you the chance to explore and learn about 220 countries, interesting facts, play games and even unlock a 3D Augmented Reality feature using an app on your smartphone.
The Smart Globe comes with a smart pen so this took little J a while to get used to. He is only really familiar with touch screen on his iPad and our phones but once we showed him how he could easily use it.
We explained to little J that The Smart Globe was a map of the world and the first thing he wanted to do was spin it. It is so much fun spinning a globe around, it does spin left and right but it does not spin up or down. This can be annoying if you are playing a game and it asks you to find Antarctica and the pen doesn't quite reach it.
Once he had finished spinning he asked where we are on the globe. We showed him the UK and he used his smart pen to touch it. It played a little song but to find out more about the UK or other countries we would have to go to the base of the globe and choose an activity. If you leave the globe idle for a few moments it will ask you what you would like to do.
First we chose a 'find' game. You can choose from Continents, Capitals, Countries and our personal favourite The Ultimate Challenge.
Once you have chosen what 'find' game you would like to play the Smart Globe will ask you to find and touch as many of your chosen topic as possible. It does tell you what to look for and plays music while you try and find it, the music will go faster as your time starts to run out.
The Ultimate Challenge is our favourite and is a time challenge were you have to find as many places as you can in the time provided. We are very competitive when it comes to this game as so far we can't seem to get more than 10 on Level 1 however we are still trying.
Next you can choose a 'touch' activity. There are lots to choose from including Continent, Name, Capital, Population, Area, Currency, History, Features, Geography, Language, Highest Point, National Anthem and Amazing Facts.
The touch activities are jam packed with lots of different facts about the countries you touch with your smart pen. Our personal favourite is listening to all the different National Anthems from around the world.
Within the 'touch' activities there are 6 that can also be played in French.
Next you can choose the 'compare' activities. You choose 2 different countries and the Smart Globe will compare the area or the population of both countries.
On the base of the globe there is a more detailed map of Britain and Ireland. Here you can do all the activities that are mentioned above but for cities too.
As we live in Liverpool it was nice to hear some facts about where we live.
The base also has a pause, repeat and volume button which you will need as it is very loud.
What We Loved
Great Quality
Makes learning fun with lots of games and fun facts
220 countries to explore
6 French activities
Detailed map of Britain and Ireland which allows us to find out more about cities we are close to.
Love hearing little J playing with the Globe and then shouting to us 'Where's Japan Mum?"
Will be a perfect learning tool throughout Little J's school journey.
What Could Improve
There are some places, mainly on the bottom of the globe which the pen doesn't quite reach and it takes quite a while for the globe to detect the pen.
When playing some of the games you have to be quite precise with pen, this can get a little frustrating especially if you are playing the Ultimate Challenge and trying to beat your score.
At the moment we haven't quite grasped the AR side of the globe yet as there are just so many features to get to grips with we are just having fun exploring at the moment.
Little J has just started reception so I know from a learning point of view the globe will be a perfect tool throughout his school journey. for now we are enjoying finding out facts, exploring the globe and playing games.
The Smart Globe Adventure is recommended for age 5+ however little J is still only 4 and he really enjoys it.
You can find out more about the Smart Globe Adventure by visiting
Oregon Scientific Store and it is also available to buy over on
Amazon
The Mickey Roadster track is simple to set up - even I was able to do it. I followed the instructions and every piece is labelled. I'm not sure if you can see it on the piece above but They all have letters and numbers on to make it easier to build. 
