Children will experiment with the blocks by placing them in the different slots with different shapes face-up. If they line the blocks up in the order of the rainbow, the melody will play in its original order. Placing all of the blocks each with the same shape face-up will create a piece with a common musical arrangement or instrument. Each block can be pressed into its slot to hear its melody individually or the big blue playback button can be pressed to hear the entire masterpiece.

The accompanying booklet contains many suggested methods of play. Younger children will likely be happy with simply playing around and experimenting with the different sounds and melodies they can produce. At some point, when a child is ready, parents might suggest arranging the blocks according to the shapes on the faces of the blocks. Parents might want to write down a musical pattern for an older child to reproduce — this creates a wonderful musical puzzle. Perhaps future releases of this product will contain a "song book" to serve this purpose.

Designed by neuroscientists and music educators, this "smart toy" truly has smart features. It is based on the latest brain research that shows the powerful effect that music has on young developing minds. This research, often referred to as The Mozart Effect, suggests that early exposure to classical music and training in music actually helps form important and beneficial connections in the brain. Research has revealed a powerful connection between music and cognitive abilities as well as spatial reasoning skills. As such, early training in music can actually help a child with math and reading skills later in life.

The sound is outstanding and of orchestral quality, and has two levels of volume, as well as output for headphones. We were surprised at the quality of the music coming from a toy — the high tech digital audio and stereo speakers produce very powerful and rich music.

Children will learn about patterns, colors, shapes, and even some basic musical notation. Child testers simply couldn't get enough of this toy — they were drawn to the powerful sounds and melodies, and delighted in creating different musical patterns.

There are currently two other cartridges available that will help extend play and are sold separately:

• The Sounds of the Orchestra is designed to introduce children to the different lively sounds of an orchestra, and the featured arrangements include the violin, bassoon, flute, trumpet, piano, and an ensemble of these instruments.
• The Rhythms of the World introduces kids to the different rhythms from around the world. Each shape represents a different rhythmic phrase: American March, Native American, African Beat, Exotic Blend, Singles, and Energy (Contemporary percussion).