About.com Rating

Bottom line:: Minnie's Masquerade contains 5 episodes of the educational show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Kids will learn about shapes, colors, matching and more as they watch the entertaining stories with the option of answering interactive questions using a DVD remote or Mickey Mote.
MPAA Rating: TV-Y
Genre: Preschool educational
Guide Age Recommendation: 2-5
Runtime: Approx. 120 minutes

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Minnie's Masquerade - Overview

In the title episode on this DVD, kids will enjoy watching Mickey, Minnie and the gang get ready for a costume party!

Kids will learn about colors, shapes, matching, patterns and more as they watch their Clubhouse friends find costumes and decorate for the "mousquerade" ball. As the finale, kids can dance "Minnie's Minuet" with Minnie and her prince, Mickey. The DVD also includes the following four episodes:

• "Minnie's Mouseke-Calendar"
• "A Surprise for Minnie"
• "Secret Spy Daisy"
• "The Friendship Team"

This Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD includes the "Discovery Mode" option. Discovery Mode works with the Mickey Mote or the DVD remote, and it allows kids to interactively answer questions embedded within the episodes.

Minnie's Masquerade - Guide Review for Parents

Preschoolers love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for the classic Disney characters, the simple and engaging format, and the musical episodes centered around fun themes. The title episode on this DVD, Minnie's Masquerade, is an example of just such an episode. While the DVD cover may look a little girly, the episode has elements for both boys and girls. Parents will like that the episode helps kid learn about shapes, colors and patterns, among other things.

All the episodes on this DVD work with "Discovery Mode," and the questions vary from very easy questions that ask kids their preferences between a few choices, to questions that ask kids to identify things like shapes and colors or "trivia" from the show. Parents can also vary the difficulty level by choosing level one or level two questions on the bonus feature menu. Answering the questions is fairly fun for kids, depending on their age and attention span for such things. My kids tend to really get a kick out of it for one or two episodes and then they're done.

Personally, I prefer DVDs that have a double length feature episode or special instead of just a random collection of episodes. But, the five episodes on this Mickey Mouse Clubhouse are good ones, each with solid educational elements and fun themes. Also, the DVD comes with a colorful cardboard masquerade mask that kids can enjoy wearing around.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Minnie's Masquerade - Expand the Learning: Fun Ideas for Educational Play

• Planning a party seems like pure fun to kids, but it can also be a very educational endeavor. Help kids plan a little masquerade party of their own for the family or friends. Help kids make a list of party guests, plan food and activities, and create invites. Count out guests, party favors, cups and other party necessities. Plan a color scheme, and use fun shapes in the decorations. Go even further, and have kids ask guests about their favorite foods, colors or shapes, and make a bar graph to see which answers are the most popular.
• A couple of the episodes on the DVD have Minnie, Daisy, and other characters acting as detectives or spies. Create a mystery for your child, and have her find clues to figure out the answer. You could hide her snack and leave clues for where to find it, or hide 10 objects around the house and have your child check the items off a list as he finds each one.
• The clubhouse art studio pops out a couple times in these episodes. In "Minnie's Masquerade," Mickey and Minnie make crowns for their party costumes. Help kids make their own crowns or party hats, using lots of different colors and shapes to decorate them.
• For more fun games and activities, visit the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse website.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.