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Software and Games : Software Categories : Children's Fun & Learning : Ages 3-4
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Knowledge Adventure
Clifford Reading is another excellent package from children's publisher Scholastic, perfectly designed to help young children aged 4-6 years to develop early reading skills. It features Clifford, the ever-popular big red dog, known and loved by many children for more than 30 years.Throughout, your child will be asked to help Clifford to explore the fun-packed neighbourhood on Birdwell Island and take part in various activities, among which are the creation of t-shirts, making a theatre sign, helping Monique the artist to identify words and paint them, dunking Clifford in the sea, and returning Loretta's parrots to her boats.
All these activities are entertaining, involving situations only Clifford can create. Skills covered include letter recognition and sorting, visual discrimination, word building, phonics, word and object association, letter/sound recognition, upper and lower-case letters, sight-word recognition, sound blending, spelling, vocabulary, listening, memory, following directions, basic PC skills, fine motor skills and creativity.
All these have seven levels of learning that automatically adjust, according to your child's progress. Once a level has been completed, and all the letters and sounds have been mastered, a Bonus Book is given as a reward. The books earned will be placed on the bookshelf in Emily Elizabeth's bedroom, and they can be accessed at any time to be read, coloured or printed out.
The accompanying leaflet is excellent: it is extremely well set out and explains everything from technical support, installation, explanations of the activities, to reporting on a child's progress, and troubleshooting, using straightforward, simple language. --Susan Naylor
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Mindscape
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Play Zone
As the opening credits to Sabrina's enchanting adventure assert "She's not a normal girl, she's caught between the magic and normal world". The skills you will develop playing this game are certainly out of this world! Sabrina the Teenage Witch has lost a magical amulet at the Mall and it has fallen into the unscrupulous hands of Gem Stone who is using her powers to trap Sabrina's friends and wreak havoc. To avoid chaos at the Mall and rescue her friends Sabrina needs all of her magical powers and four mystical objects which you play games to help her find. Between the games, long animated segments featuring Sabrina and Salem explain the action and help to hold the attention. The controls are easy to use and the help pages offer clear instructions on how to play and which spells to use. In one addictive game Sabrina must rescue Harvey from the pyramid where he's been trapped. Players have to negotiate the maze of tunnels, remember routes and even play rock, paper, scissors with a mummy! Meanwhile in the "Smoothie Shack" you must zap falling pieces of fruit with magic before it falls on Sabrina and squashes her. A very entertaining game and a fun way to spend a couple of hours but just a small tip to speed up play slightly: use the mall directory to get to the action quickly rather than having Sabrina walk between game locations. --Rachel Ediss
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Atari
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Disney Hotshots: (Toy Story 2: Cone Chaos/Toy Shelf Showdown, Arcade Frenzy: Mushoot/Rooftop Ruckus)
Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Focus Multimedia Ltd
Every child is naturally curious and we all know that children like to play. The Jump Ahead Toddlers (ages one-and-a-half to three) CD-ROM has been specifically designed and produced to capture a child's imagination and to engage their attention by providing fun activities that will stimulate their young minds, making them want to play them again and again.Throughout, children are encouraged to learn letters and numbers, shapes and colours, learn about animals, to discover music and musical instruments, basic vocabulary, listening skills, mouse control, songs and rhymes, IT skills, hand-to-eye co-ordination and many more useful life skills. The music is bright and lively, the graphics are colourful and the whole is explicit, clear and easy to understand. The CD-ROM is easy to load and particularly helpful is a special mode to keep children from accidentally exiting the program. Help will obviously have to be given to the very young, as the program is aimed at children from 18 months to three years old, but before long, the child will want to do the activities by themselves. There is also a pamphlet that has basic information regarding installation and other technical hints and tips, which should be read before beginning.
This is one of a range entitled "Children", a range of "educational entertainment that not only keeps the little ones quiet, but teaches them essential core skills and tentatively introduces them into the realms of computing." --Susan Naylor
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Softkey
ABC by Dr Seuss has to be one of the most entertaining ways for your child to learn about the alphabet. Derived from the timelessly popular Dr Seuss books with their special brand of humour, rhyme and illustration, this CD-ROM will provide endless fun and laughter, not only for the three- to seven-year-olds it is aimed at, but the parents too. Presented as pages of a book, the product is easy to use, animated throughout and highly interactive.In the section "Read Me", Ichabod and Izzy guide your child through the alphabet, introducing them to Aunt Annie's Alligator, the Fiffer-Feffer-Feff and many more. Each letter of the alphabet has its own page and is shown in both upper and lower case. A zany scenario develops using that letter consistently. Even the goodbye on each page reflects the letter being worked on--Adios, Farewell Friends, Next and so on.
In the section "Play and Learn", the fun really begins. There are an amazing 400 alphabetical surprises hidden in the 26 pages of the ABC book and your child will want to find all of them! Mouse control will improve in this section as clicking almost anywhere produces mini sketches and songs. Your child will be enchanted by such sights as the barber playing boogie-woogie bass and the brief appearance of the Cat in the Hat.
The soundtrack is excellent throughout and your youngster can sing along with Ichabod and Izzy to the catchy and well-known ABC song.
Altogether this CD-ROM is a rare treat. (Even the animated credit titles under the Options menu are worth viewing.) It combines learning and fun in such a subtle way that it will be difficult for your child to distinguish between the two.
Unique, unpredictable, stimulating, surreal--the extraordinary world of Dr Seuss will prove to be an unforgettable experience. --Tracey Hogan
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Avanquest Software
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Knowledge Adventure
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Electronic Arts
Join Winnie the Pooh and his friends in this exciting CD-ROM, produced by Disney, which offers lots of opportunities for infant children to learn in a magical way. It has been produced in consultation with American educational experts and it is well thought out, as well as fun and challenging to use. Christopher Robin has gone to school, and Pooh and his friends decide that they would like to go too. Most of the activities have different difficulty levels, and gold stars are offered for successes. Accompanying the CD-ROM is an excellent black and white users' manual, which obviously is aimed at older helpers, and should be read before commencing. It uses simple language and is easy to use. Particularly helpful are the "thoughtful hints" and "musical hints" for two of the games, but it should be remembered that it was produced for the US market, so some spellings differ.Help "Shape Sorting" in Rabbit's kitchen, and develop sorting, categorisation, size/scale recognition, shapes and colour skills. Join the "Treasure Hunt" with Tigger, and learn strategic thinking, problem solving, listening skills and following directions. Create your own "Thoughtful Spot" and develop visual creativity. Create "Number Balloons" in Roo's Carnival Booth, and learn number recognition, counting and simple addition and subtraction. Join Eeyore in his "Musical Mix and Match", and try music composition. Go to "Owl's Workshop" in his library and let your child learn about letter identification in words, word recognition, early reading and spelling.
It is also possible to print out workbook pages, stickers, ID cards, flashcards and much more, which "...provide hours of creative play while helping your child practice all the skills learned in Disney's Winnie the Pooh Infants".--Susan Naylor
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Infogrames
Sir Topham Hatt is facing infrastructure problems: the island of Sodor needs more lines if it is to accommodate its increasing number of rail travellers, and Sir Topham has asked for your help in Building the New Line.Load the CD-ROM, sign in and meet Thomas and all his familiar friends. Choose Junior Engineer or Senior Engineer mode, depending on ability (or confidence!) and start laying your track. Once your track is in place, move through the activities to deliver cargo, add landscaping features such as trees, bridges, tunnels and so on. When you're happy with your track, advance to Play Mode and bring your new line to life.
Your engine can now travel around the track, interacting with all the other familiar personalities and sights of Sodor. Click on the items you put in place in build mode and complete the resulting activities. For example, click on the hay bales in the Farm Yard and watch as they spill on the track. Get your engine to help clear them away, so the track is safe and debris-free. Switch tracks, control your speed, and visit The Works if you need any maintenance. Once you've left The Works, decorate your engine and the station, ready for The Grand Opening, a celebration party that will reward little drivers for their help in Building the New Line. Once the party is over, Sir Topham will send you a postcard as a memento of the big day, and this can be printed out.
Similar to previous CD-ROMs in the Thomas & Friends range, the sound and graphical quality of the package is great, and all the characters are faithful reproductions of their book and screen counterparts. The package is fun, and will amuse as well as challenge first PC users, as they learn mouse control, hand-to-eye coordination as well as other basic PC skills (clicking, moving, cause-and-effect of onscreen activities). There are plenty of rewards to keep little ones interested, and lots of fun to be had along the way. This is recommended for boys and girls of 3-5 years. --Susan Naylor
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Encore
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Play Zone
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Focus Multimedia Ltd
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Atari
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Avanquest Software
Villains' Revenge is an opportunity to revisit the classic Disney films of Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. In Wonderland Maze you are invited to move a little caterpillar up and down a maze. You have the ability to spin the maze around in order to find ways through for the caterpillar. You can drag the caterpillar with your mouse and it makes funny squelching sounds. This is a very entertaining game that is bound to appeal to younger children.The second game in the title, Pirate Block, is a more complex strategy adventure board game. Peter Pan and Captain Hook have decided to settle their differences on the board. To win the game, you have to either capture six pairs of your opponent's coins or create a line of six coins in a row. You can choose to be Captain Hook or Peter Pan. There is a multi-player option as well so you can play against one, two or three of your friends. They can choose which characters they want to be from the likes of Wendy, Captain Hook, Smee or Peter Pan.
Both games are quick to install and are likely to appeal to parents as well, who will probably remember seeing the films when they were younger. --Justin Hunt
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Avanquest Software
In Disney's Arcade Frenzy, one of your jobs is to help Mushu the dragon defend a Chinese village by shooting fireworks to stop the advance of the evil Huns.Mushoot is a compelling game and you have plenty of weapons at your disposal as the Huns come over the hills towards you. If you use your right mouse button you can launch an avalanche rocket. And for every enemy you send scurrying back, you get bonus points. All the time, the dragon urges you on like an enthusiastic football coach, cracking jokes and celebrating the hits. He is desperate to fend off the "creepy Huns". Mushoot is an addictive game which is simple to play and it is likely to appeal to all ages.
In the second game, Rooftop Ruckus, you join the sharp-tongued monkey Abu and leap across rooftops putting on lights. It's a high-speed chase and you have to watch out for the evil genie who comes running after you. The instructions are clear and the animation is excellent. The characters are very engaging and complain if you leave the game too early. Anyone who enjoyed the movie Aladdin will find this game fun and entertaining. You are awarded extra points for picking up bags of gold or for making guards slip.
Both games can be played solo or with friends and they will appeal to beginners and experts. --Justin Hunt