Clifford Phonics, for ages 4 to 6, makes learning to read more fun than a circus. Kids help Clifford fix broken attractions at the Birdwell Island Carnival and find decorations for the floats in the big parade. All the while they're building phonics, spelling, and vocabulary skills.

The program has seven activities, including tight-rope rhyming and silly stories. Kids can match pictures and words to blow up balloons or build words by matching them to pictures at the Ferris wheel or playing a Skee-Ball game that makes letters pop up. With each exercise they complete, they earn a prize they can redeem as a decoration for the float.