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Software and Games : Software Categories : Children's Fun & Learning : Ages 9-11
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Avanquest Software
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Focus Multimedia Ltd
If you're not able to own a real pet, especially a Cat or a Dog then Catz 5 could be the answer! Adopt a virtual pet, let it live in your PC, run across your Desktop, let it visit faraway Playscenes or play at home in the kitchen, backyard or salon, or create your own tailor-made Playscenes.You can feed it, play with it, love it and breed it. Adopt as many as you like, but you must take care of them all--neglected Catz run away and then you're in trouble. Did you know Catz have tails to help them balance? That their fur is soft to keep them warm and encourage owners to pet them? They have large, expressive eyes, twitching whiskers and they have agile paws for jumping, climbing, stalking and running. Catz are little kittens when you first adopt them and then they grow up over time into adult Catz.
Although aimed at young children, this package is most beneficial if they can read, in order for them to follow on-screen directions. This program is therefore most suitable for a minimum age of 7-8 years. Installation takes a while, and help may be needed from adults as monitor settings may need to be adjusted, and it's necessary to make sure Acrobat Reader 5.0 is installed so that the excellent User Guide can be accessed. It is absolutely essential to study this before playing with Catz 5 and it is a good idea to print it out for easy access. The excellent manual makes it easy for children to understand the package.
Now comes the fun! Choose from one of 15 breeds of Catz, from Alley Catz to Tabbies, from Persians to Siamese, with all their different personalities, likes and dislikes--but don't adopt too many, as they all have to be exercised, fed, loved, medicated when sick, brushed, played with, rewarded for good behaviour and squirted with water when they misbehave. Train them to do tricks, and allow them to earn toys as rewards (balls, pillows, stuffed parrots and so on). If you become confused remember to click on the Help Menu Bar.
Included is a Web Fun Pack, containing Petz clipart, animations and backgrounds, all Internet-ready to enable you to create your own Web pages. This particular version contains new features, but owners of previous Catz can bring their adopted Petz into Catz 5. This is compatible with Dogz 5, allowing your Dogz and Catz to play together, to create more breeds, win more toys and, ultimately, have more fun. --Susan Naylor
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Focus Multimedia Ltd
The Dogz of Dogz 5 are virtual pets and they live on your PC. They can run across your desktop, travel and explore faraway Playscenes, (a Canadian snow scene, a Big Top in a European Circus, a Wild West Town or an Arabian Palace); they can play in their Home Playscenes (Kitchen, Backyard or Salon) and have loads of fun in tailor-made Playscenes. Feed them and love them, breed them and play with them. You can adopt as many Dogz as you want, but you must remember to take care of them all.Did you know that Dogz have a tail to keep them balanced? That they have a keen sense of smell, and that their paws are padded and fuzzy, and that they use them to run, dig and scratch? Did you also know that you can get a good idea of how your pet is feeling if you look into its alert and expressive eyes? Best of all, Dogz love to be fussed and petted. Watch them grow from little baby puppies into adult Dogz.
Although aimed at young children, this package will be much more enjoyable for a child who can read and follow instructions, as it is necessary to follow onscreen directions. The program is therefore most suitable for a minimum age of 7-8 years old. The installation takes quite a while (information is on the CD-ROM sleeve) and help may be needed as monitor settings may need to be adjusted and it may also be necessary to ascertain if Acrobat Reader 5.0 is installed (the user manual cannot be accessed without this software). It is absolutely essential to study the manual closely before adopting any Dogz and it is a good idea to print it off for easy and quick reference. It is an excellent manual that is well set out, and it explains everything in simple, straightforward language, making it accessible to children.
Now for the fun! Choose from one of 15 breeds of Dogz, from Bulldogs to Sheepdogs, from Muts to Chihuahuas, with all their different personalities, likes and dislikes, but don't adopt too many--they must all be cared for. Love them and remember to feed them. Give them water, medicine when they're sick and don't forget to brush them. Exercise and play regularly with your Dogz; reward them for good behaviour and squirt them with water if they misbehave. Train them to do tricks. There are more than 100 toys to play with--lucky Dogz find some and there are more to be earned when you play the five mini games. Collect wonderful gifts with them during their doggy travels, such as exotic jewels. Treat your Dogz well and earn yourself a happy-pet certificate. Choose items of clothing and accessories to dress them; watch your Dogz fall in love and have puppies, and access their family trees as far back as eight generations.
A Web Fun Pack is included, which contains Petz clipart, animations and backgrounds, all Internet-ready to enable you to create your own Web pages. Particularly helpful are the tips on day and night cycles, how Petz grow, what happens when you cheat, how you can acquire new toys, and what to do if your pet runs away. Dogz 5 contains new features, but owners of previous Dogz can bring their adopted pets into this new version. Compatible with Catz 5, put the two programs together to create more breeds, fun and Petz. --Susan Naylor
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
Learning Ladder Year 6 is another excellent CD-ROM from Dorling Kindersley. It's aimed at children aged 10-11 and 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. This CD-ROM would be invaluable for any child in Year 6 who is preparing for their SATs.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 designing 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 find out about animals, food chains and gravity. 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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VU Games
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Mindscape
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Avanquest Software
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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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Electronic Arts
Combining imagination, creativity and the enduring appeal of LEGO building bricks, LEGO Creator: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is an exciting CD-ROM that allows Muggles to create and build their own magical Harry Potter universe.Explore the world of Harry Potter and master the advanced building techniques, and you can create, progress and ultimately control your adventures. Accompanying the CD-ROM is an excellent black-and-white pamphlet that should be read and fully absorbed before playing. Because of this, and the need for computer literacy, this reviewer thought the package suitable for children aged 8 years and above, though help may be needed for the less PC literate even at this age, or younger players who can't wait to get going.
Welcome to the second year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Set in three different environments--the world, the workshop and the mini-figure builder--the first things to be mastered are the gameplay controls that allow players to control the characters and the camera the game is viewed through. Next, discover portals, (magical LEGO archways that transport you to other areas of the game), collect chocolate frogs, find LEGO treasure chests, cast spells, (remember: you must have a wand) control your characters and make them fly, change the weather, create other pupils to attend Hogwarts, take snapshots--the list seems endless, but continue and complete exciting challenges and open even more play worlds.
Graphically superb, the package flows easily and is of the high quality anyone has played LEGO Creator games before would expect. With all the fun of a PC Game, and the educational content of a software package, parents should be as comfortable buying this as their children are playing it. In fact, children--beware of parental Muggles who love Harry Potter and also remember the joy and pleasure of building with LEGO, for you may have to work hard to keep them away from the controls. --Susan Naylor
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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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Softkey
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Avanquest Software
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Alternative Software
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Sherston
Sing your times tables with Percy Parker is an exciting alternative to traditional methods of learning the times tables. Children join in with the charismatic Percy Parker and his band as they sing entertaining, memorable songs about each times table. Singing is not only fun but by repeating the multiplication facts throughout the song children will be memorising their times tables. To aid learning, number sentences and multiplication grids are displayed on-screen during the songs. A comprehensive workbook accompanies the CD-ROM and provides learning ideas and photocopiable worksheets that will support the learning of times tables.
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Avanquest Software
Become a British Isles Explorer is a fun CD-ROM aimed at children aged 6-10 years old. It encourages them to play games, look at maps and find out a whole range of interesting facts about the British Isles through very informative information screens.Children will love the challenge of following Jo on his five journeys around the British Isles and collecting five medals to become a British Isles Explorer. Children can explore the map of the British Isles. They can look at regions, and towns to find out about famous places, people and much more. The trips can be recorded in the child's own travel log, together with stickers and photos that are collected along the way. A great way to reinforce the information they have found out. There are a range of fun activities for children to do, for example, recording the weather, sending postcards and printing out map outlines which can be filled in. There is also an excellent Index Menu that children can use to find out about a wide range of topics and look at word definitions. They could use this menu to answer any questions that they might be having trouble with.
Become a British Isles Explorer would be a good buy for children aged 7-11 years old and it would really extend their understanding of the British Isles. This would be excellent to use if a child was doing a topic or project on the British Isles. --Amanda York
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Avanquest Software
Become a History Explorer is an excellent CD-ROM in this series, which will turn any child into a budding historian. It's aimed at children aged 6-10 years old and encourages them to find out about eight exciting periods in history, through games, quizzes and information screens.Children will love the challenge of collecting the pieces of the time trail, so that they can rescue the history professor who has been trapped in time by the time fugitive. Children must travel in the time machine and explore each historical world in order to find all the pieces and become a history explorer. There is an excellent journal in which children can record their travels. This would help to consolidate what they have learnt about each period in history. Having answered questions along the way children are rewarded with stickers, which are kept in their journal. There are also activities to do, for example, design a coat of arms, which can be saved in the journals, along with photos and other souvenirs. There is also an excellent index menu that allows children to view information screens on a very wide range of topics. This would be particularly good to use if children were having trouble answering any of the quiz questions.
Become a History Explorer would be an excellent buy for children aged 7-11 years old who would love to complete the mission and rescue the history professor, while exploring an extremely good range of historical information. --Amanda York
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Avanquest Software
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Softkey
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Mindscape
Zoombinis are little blue guys and gals that inhabit a kingdom reminiscent of JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth, and ingeniously teach maths principals using puzzles instead of numbers. In the Zoombinis Mountain Rescue CD-ROM a group Zoombinis gets trapped in a cave, and it's up to players to organise a search party that can withstand the logical travails of a journey through this perilous and quirky terrain. There are nine "obstacles" along the rescue route. Players cross a bridge of turtles by sorting Zoombini search-party members by nose colour, hairstyle or other characteristics. Deducing (again based on features) which Zoombini can snowboard down which path furthers the mission as well. The search party is held up briefly in a cafeteria where it must use logic to wait on Norfs who drop oblique hints about what they want, or don't want to order. Each game will stretch your child's ability to use forethought and analysis to assess a situation. Even the easiest of the three levels is designed to be challenging, so be prepared to help out along this creative and strenuous path.The genius of this Windows-only program is that it turns sophisticated mathematical concepts into engrossing activities. We played a game called "Boolie Boggle" endlessly--Boolies either smile or frown, and in this game, the object is to change frowns into smiles by bumping Boolies with pinballs. Pretty easy until you start getting chains of Boolies and chains of pinballs. Soon your mind is throbbing as you try to figure out what a sequence of three pinballs will do to two frowning Boolies. "Binary addition" sounds pretty intimidating, but that's exactly what "Boolie Boggle" is teaching. "Algebraic thinking" and "information-age maths" are among the other things this program teaches--mercifully, it manages it with little creatures and 3-D mazes instead of formulas and numbers.
As this journey unfolds, members of the search party drop off due to mismatched noses, wrong path choices and other errors. Fortunately, there is a practice mode where kids can play the games without sacrificing their Zoombini friends. Puzzles change elements, so there's no way to "learn" a level then repeat it by rote. There is also a very thorough parents' guide, which is helpful for parents who have, err, forgotten about binary numbers. Zoombinis Mountain Rescue is a gentle, yet challenging program that will probably even work its subtle magic on maths-phobes. --Anne Erickson