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Software and Games : GSP : Children's Fun & Learning
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
What's the story in Balamory? Invite your kids to join Miss Hooly, Pocket & Sweet, PC Plum, Archie, Spencer and Edie Mcredie in virtual Balamory and they will learn as they play. Based on the popular BBC TV children's programme, the BBC Balamory CD-ROM opens with the colourful introductory song viewers know so well. Children are then presented with a variety of games to test basic pre-school and early years skills.For younger children (3-4 years) the favourite will no doubt be Josie Jump's Hide and Seek game, where they must find Josie in a field of people, then click on her to make her jump. Equally rewarding for the smallest players is Spencer's Colour Challenge, where youngsters use basic mouse skills and number recognition to match colours with areas of the drawing--a kind of virtual colour by numbers.
All players will love Edie's Delivery Dilemma, which involves Pac-Man-like gameplay as youngsters work against the clock, using the arrow keys to direct Edie's bus around the town and picking up fruit dropped by the delivery van so that Pocket & Sweet can sell it in their shop. PC Plum Investigates asks children to sort through the evidence that is all mixed up on the policeman's desk, so he can sort out his cases--tasks such as "click on the things that are the same colour as the sea" make this game accessible to most players.
Slightly older children, (4-6 years) might like to try Archie's Word Wonder, where they must fill in the missing letters on words so that Archie's Word Machine can produce words for Miss Hooly's stories. The only criticism here is that words are sounded out by name only, and not phonetically, but otherwise this is a fun, testing game. Children of school age will also enjoy Pocket & Sweet's Shopping Spree--a fun shopping game that involves helping Penny and Susie put together all their orders, then adding up the cost at the end. If players tire at any point, they can take a break with one of six Miss Hooly stories.
The production quality is superb: colours are bright and images crisp and the clips from the show run perfectly. Each game is introduced and narrated by the corresponding character from the show, with original voiceovers, and the games are fun, educational and pitched perfectly at the target age-range. There are three difficulty levels for each task, to avoid frustration and aid development. Help is on offer on every screen, and children as young as three or four years old, who possess basic mouse skills, will be able to play the easier games unaided, and the others with assistance. Instructions are read out and printed on-screen, so children can follow as they listen, thus developing valuable reading skills. Great thought has obviously gone into matching characters with tasks, and the variety of games played and skills tested makes this a fantastic all-round package. --Lucie Naylor
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
Become a Human Body Explorer is an interesting CD-ROM full of information about the human body. It's aimed at children aged 6-10 years old, but would be best suited to older end of this age range.Seemore Skinless, the helpful skeleton, guides the children through a wide range of games, quizzes and experiments. Children can play four fun interactive games, which involve, for example, collecting body parts by answering questions and learning about the body and choosing how Seemore should spend his day. There is an excellent search feature so that children can access information screens on a very wide range of topics. (Parents of younger children may want to supervise children's use of this, as there is information about reproduction and how our bodies change.) Children also have the opportunity to create their own Secret File, which contains information about themselves and can become a scrapbook of facts.
So once children have visited the information screens, played the games, answered brainteaser questions and found out amazing facts, they will have discovered all they need to know about the human body.
Become a Human Body Explorer would be a good buy for parents or teachers of children aged 8-11 years old. It encourages children to explore and find out about the human body in a fun and interesting way. --Amanda York
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Avanquest Software
Once again, the BBC has produced a superlative software package for youngsters aged between three and six years old.Though this is a fairly large age gap to bridge, the content on Pingu: A Barrel of Fun achieves it effortlessly. For the younger end of the age group, there are shape-sorting, number- and letter-matching, sound- and colour-recognition puzzles to crack. For five- and six-year-olds, the "hard" rather than "easy" skill option will give plenty to amuse. For example, in the easy letter game, players must choose the initial letter of a given everyday object, whereas in the hard version, players must spell the whole word. (Hover over the letter and you get the name of the sound; once you've placed it, the voice-over tells you the name of the letter--an extremely sound educational approach.)
The sound game, a real highlight of the package, is an aural pelmonism, where players must match sounds to make the symbols disappear. In the harder version, the organ grinder plays a tune and players must match the sounds in the correct order. Though most sounds are everyday (telephone, cow, pig) there are some more exotic sounds (lion) that children may not recognise, but they can match them to the pictures shown.
For older players, there is a selection of five games to choose from, each with an easy, medium and hard skill option. In "Ice Flow", you must get Pingu across the water without wetting him so he can deliver birthday presents: a kind of basic Pingu Frogger! "Snow Maze" is reminiscent of a simple Pac-Man, but the added bonus is picking objects up along the way that you can build up into your own original picture at the end. "Fish Tennis" is bordering on the surreal--a kind of elementary tennis reminiscent of the original Atari game, but with Penguins not paddles and fish not balls! "Building Blocks" sets players a puzzle not unlike those in the Krypton Factor--matching shapes together to build up an overall object within a template. In the easy version, each shape is cut into three pieces; in the medium version it is four or five pieces and in the harder one, seven or eight. The only let-down to the game section is "Music Time", a recording synthesiser which allows you to play nursery rhyme tunes, sing along or record your own composition. Though the idea is great, the mouse dexterity required to make it work effectively is probably beyond the target age group, and the resulting sound quality on a home PC is poor.
That said, this is a minor blip in an otherwise fantastic package. It is easy to load, has great graphics that perfectly reproduce the TV programme, and while younger players may require supervision and help, they will still enjoy their favourite character, even if mastering the finer points of the package is beyond them. Whether your child is a fan of Pingu or not, there is plenty for him or her to get their teeth into. From early learning to elementary gaming skills, Pingu: A Barrel of Fun will definitely last the three years of the target age range and players will continue learning all the time. And, once your children has turned six, a simple and effective Uninstall option means your hard drive won't be clogged up forever. --Lucie Naylor
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Avanquest Software
Armchair adventurers relax. With the Become a World Explorer CD-ROM children can obey the call of the wild and see the world without leaving the comfort of their home. Once loaded, it's possible to whizz around the world in almost 80 ways with this fun and feature-packed CD-ROM learning adventure. As soon as you've filled in the virtual passport, you're off. The first stop on any interactive globe-trotting adventure is Sam's bedroom--it's perfect for click-happy kids with animations that come to life when you hit the objects scattered around.For beginner backpackers, a talking train gives a guided tour of how to find your way around the world, and what a choice there is. You'll find video clips, an interactive index, a country finder with each nation's flag and a wide range of fun games that test skills such as general knowledge and compass directions. A ringing phone launches more adventurous travellers straight into the globetrotting game that displays the strongest aspects of the software. Clues based on geographical sights and sounds lead players on an interactive journey around the world. Along the way, the players' knowledge of capitals, continents and customs are tested in a totally involving way with three difficulty levels encouraging repeat visits.
The beautifully detailed animated maps with pop-up info boxes and sticker book links are an impressive feature, as are the virtual postcards. And although the amount of features may mean younger players require some initial help, this superb software combines learning with plenty of fun and will ensure numerous repeat visits. --Martin Oliver
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Avanquest Software
Learning Ladder Years 1 and 2 is an extremely good CD-ROM aimed at children aged 5-7. It presents a huge number of activities that would help to support the school curriculum.Children can navigate their way around the playroom, which will develop their confidence with the mouse. Children will enjoy making things move on the screen. There is also a range of fun activities, such as painting and copying the tune.
The program also helps to consolidate and reinforce what children are learning in literacy, numeracy and science at school. There are games involving identifying sounds, making words, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division and much more. Children are rewarded with stickers as they complete activities correctly, which they will love collecting and putting in their own sticker book. --Amanda York
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Avanquest Software
Hey, hey, are you ready to play? It's time to come and play with the Tweenies software. Jake, Milo, Bella and Fizz are all waiting to improve your little one's writing, art, reading and listening skills, as well as develop early gaming talents.Tick, Tock, Tweenie Clock, Where Will It Stop?
Immerse your youngster in the colourful and familiar Tweenies world, brilliantly represented in sound and graphics on your PC. Everyone will love "Messy Time", with the three different print and play games, as well as instructions on how to make finger puppets, masks, badges and spinners. Then there's "Doodles Mail"--write to the Tweenies via Doodles, receive a reply, and see little faces light up. Watch favourite characters during "Telly Time", and join in the action songs in "Song Time". "News Time" will test pre-school general knowledge and Tweenies trivia, while "Playtime" encourages early gaming skills with "Catch", "Flying Rocket" (an arcade-style game) and "Snap". Then, if you're sitting comfortably, there's the old faithful, "Story Time".Clear, colourful and easy to use, the Tweenies software will appeal greatly to children from the age of three, but there's plenty to keep the five- and six-year-olds happy as well. Language development, numeracy, creativity, elementary computer skills and good old-fashioned fun are all encouraged, and the whole package is designed to support Key Stage 1 in English, Art, Maths and Information Technology. Whether you select your own activities, or let the Tweenie Clock pick at random, child appeal is absolutely guaranteed. Though simple in principle, all the games and learning activities have the repetitive quality toddlers love and thrive on. This is every bit as good as the TV show with one major advantage--it lasts much longer. --Lucie Naylor
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Avanquest Software
Learning Ladder Year 3 is another excellent product from Dorling Kindersley. This CD-ROM is packed with a good range of activities tailored to support the Year 3 school curriculum. Children can navigate their way around the playroom, looking for fun activities. These include the printing machine, which they can use to create their own labels, invitations and cards.Children can then improve their literacy, numeracy and science skills by undertaking a wide range of activities that help to consolidate Year 3 work. Children can, for example, choose correct word endings, solve addition and subtraction problems, label skeletons and identify correct habitats for animals. These are just a few of the carefully thought out and clearly explained activities here.
Children should be able to use this program independently. They are rewarded with stickers for each activity they complete correctly and will enjoy collecting these and putting them in their own sticker album.
Learning Ladder Year 3 would be an excellent buy for any Year 3 child. It consolidates the learning that is taking place at school and develops children's competence on the computer. --Amanda York
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
Learning Ladder Preschool is an excellent CD-ROM packed with a wide range of activities for 3-5 year olds. Woody the Pencil guides children through the different activities, which are very well explained.Children will enjoy becoming familiar with the mouse and navigating around the room making toys move and change. They will also enjoy doing the different activities such as painting the colouring book, having a go at recording their voice, listening to a story, doing puzzles and much more.
By clicking on the different bears children can carry out activities related to words, numbers, time, directions/space, shapes and nature/objects. Each of these areas contains 18 different games for children to play, so there is plenty to keep them occupied. There's also a good range of activities, many of which support the Early Years Curriculum at school. For example, there are activities that work on identifying sounds in words and on ordering, counting, matching, etc.
Children are rewarded with stickers when they complete an activity correctly and they will love collecting these in the sticker book. This would be an excellent buy for parents who want to introduce their child to using the computer in a fun and educational way. --Amanda York
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Avanquest Software
Learning Ladder Year 4 is a fantastic CD-ROM aimed at Year 4 children. It is structured so that children listen to a lesson and then carry out exercises that help to consolidate the literacy and numeracy they are learning as part of the school curriculum.Exercises can be done at five different levels of difficulty, so that children are challenged and continue to make progress. For every 400 points that a child scores, they are rewarded with new pictures to use with the printing machine. As they gather more pictures they can enjoy making their own cards, invitations and labels, which can be printed out.
Children can also have lots of fun navigating around Science City and learning lots of facts along the way. For example, they can have a go at the science quiz and find out about roots, leaves and flowers. The progress tracker clearly shows how each child is getting on with a system of green and red lights. This would quickly show parents where more help is needed. --Amanda York
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
